"The Emergency certainly taught Indira Gandhi that she had completely misread the democratic commitment of the people of the country. The centralization of power today has woken citizens to the fact that they cannot take for granted a cylinder of oxygen, let alone a dignified place at the crematorium. Here's the governance paradox. On the one hand, there is little evidence that institutions of governance have the ability to act unless directed by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, or the home minister, Amit Shah. At the same time, the Central government's administrative machinery reminds us of its ominous presence continuously. It has simply turned its attention from caring for people to punishing protesters."