Rukhsana sultana: Emergency time in India’s politics is known as a black chapter. On 25 June 2025, 50 years of Emergency are going to be completed. The BJP will celebrate this day as Constitution of Killing Day across the country. During the Emergency, Rukhsana Sultana was a big political power, whose Muslim men were scared on hearing their names. He was considered close to Sanjay Gandhi, son of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, due to which his stature was very big in Delhi politics.
Rukhsana Sultana’s fear was among Muslim men
In the era of Emergency, the growing population in the country was seen as a big problem, which was given a big responsibility to Sanjay Gandhi Rukhsana Sultana to control. Many media reports claimed that Sanjay Gandhi had tasked Rukhsana Sultana to get 8 thousand Muslim men sterilized.
It is said that Rukhsana Sultana went beyond this and got 13 thousand Muslim men sterilized. After which Muslim men used to have fear in their names. Whenever she passed through Jama Masjid and Turkman Gate, the Muslim men there used to lurk in their respective homes.
Indira Gandhi did not like Rukhsana
Senior journalist Rashid Kidwai has also mentioned Rukhsana Sultana in his book 24 Akbar Road. He has written that Rukhsana Sultana was so close to Sanjay Gandhi that his wife Maneka Gandhi and mother Indira Gandhi did not like Rukhsana. Sanjay Gandhi also entrusted Rukhsana to remove illegal construction from Jama Masjid.
Rukhsana Sultana was married to Shivendra Singh, but both were divorced in a few days. His daughter is Amrita Singh, the first wife of Bollywood’s well-known actress and actor Saif Ali Khan.
Indira Gandhi was more worried about Sanjay Gandhi
PN Dhar, who worked as Principal Secretary of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, mentioned his book The Emergency and Indian Democracy Sanjay Gandhi. He wrote that in those days, PMH (Prime Minister’s Housing) had become a hub of unconstitutional activities. He wrote that Indira Gandhi was more concerned about Sanjay Gandhi and was finding herself isolated in her family.