On the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded the countrymen of the importance of democracy and launched a scathing attack on the Congress. Describing the Emergency imposed on 25 June 1975 as a dark chapter of Indian democracy, he said that this was the time when the Congress government in power suppressed the Constitution and institutions. Prime Minister Modi said that 25 June 1975 is remembered as the saddest day in the democratic history of India after independence. On that day, the then Congress government tried to crush the basic spirit of the Constitution by imposing Emergency. The voice of Parliament was suppressed, censorship was imposed on the media and an attempt was made to control the judiciary. He said that the 42nd Constitutional Amendment is the biggest example of that oppressive thinking.
Salute to the fighters of democracy
PM Modi said that during the Emergency, the poor, the deprived, the Dalits and the minorities suffered the most oppression. He said that people from all over the country united to protect democracy and the Congress government was forced to hold elections, in which it suffered a crushing defeat. The Prime Minister paid tribute to all those democracy fighters who did not compromise on their principles and fought to save the democratic structure of the country. He said that they were from every region, every ideology but their aim was one – restoration of democracy.
Modi said that at that time he was a young pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and was actively involved in the movement against the Emergency. This experience taught him the value of democracy and the importance of civil liberties. He said that his journey has been recorded in the book The Emergency Diaries published by Bluecraft Digital Foundation, the foreword of which has been written by former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda. The Prime Minister urged citizens that if they or their families have experiences related to the Emergency, they should share them on social media, so that the youth can be made aware of the horrors of that period.
In the end, he said that today’s government is constantly striving to empower the spirit of the Constitution, strengthen democracy and realize the dreams of the poor and deprived.