This is a historical image of the firebrand socialist George Fernandes in chains after his arrest in 1976, published in Time magazine. This photograph with raised, but bound hands, was splashed by the world print media, mainly Time and Newsweek, which stirred the international public opinion and the conscience of human right activists against the Emergency rule in India.

Fernandes was hailed as an anti-establishment hero during the Emergency, and it was this image that became symbolic of the political repression of the period. Fernandes was then just 47 years old.

For those of you who were not born then, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a state of Emergency on the country. Democracy was suspended for 19 long months and India was reduced to a tin-pot dictatorship.

Read distinguished journalist and the author of Indira Gandhi: A personal and political biography, Inder Malhotra's 2010 column for Rediff.com on those dark days.