In 1977, two staff reporters at the Patriot, both in their twenties, occupied highly advantageous positions during the nineteen months of the Emergency to observe the turmoil wrought in the capital city of Delhi. In For Reasons of State, they have supplied first-hand evidence of the ruthlessness with which people’s homes were torn down and the impossible resettlement schemes introduced. The nation found itself in a whirlwind of fear, confusion, violence and destabilisation, stemming from forced sterilizations, heartless evictions in the thousands, and the cruel imprisonment of many. Part reportage and part human stories, this definitive volume evokes the life and times of the Emergency and how it unfolded, and remains perennially relevant.