'How Congress Trampled Over Our Democratic Ethos': PM Modi, Amit Shah Recall 1975 Emergency

Recalling the June 25 of 1975, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday shared interactive images that shows basic things that were banned during Emergency. It included songs by Kishore Kumar, movies on Bhagat Singh and quotes of Rabindranath Tagore. Home minister Amit Shah said that the Emergency imposed to quell the voices against one family is a dark chapter in the history of independent India.

“This is how Congress trampled over our democratic ethos. We remember all those greats who resisted the Emergency and protected Indian democracy,” PM Modi tweeted along with BJP’s Instagram post that has images titled ‘The Emergency – an Unbelievable Phase in India’s Democracy’.

Home minister Shah tweeted, “Salute to the sacrifice of all the countrymen who fought relentlessly for the protection of the Constitution and democracy of the country while suffering the brutal tortures of the ruthless rule for 21 months.”

Some party units are observing ‘black day’ on Friday . While CPM in West Bengal’s Durgapur will hold its annual convention after a gap of five years, BJP in Bengaluru will mark the day by “honouring” chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who was then detained when then Prime Minister and Congress leader Indira Gandhi had clamped Emergency on the country.

According to a report in The Telegraph, the CPM’s decision to resume the convention on Emergency was taken at a meeting of the party’s West Burdwan district committee. A CPM leader was quoted as saying that most leaders decided to hold a convention on the 46th anniversary of Emergency as the party felt the Narendra Modi government had imposed an “undeclared Emergency” on the country. Around 250 people have been invited to the event to be held with strict adherence to Covid protocol.

CPM leaders in Durgapur said that mode of governance of both PM Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee was harming democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, a report in The Indian Express stated that BJP will observe June 25 as ‘Black Day’ to remind the nation of the Emergency imposed by the Congress in 1975, when many leaders and journalists had been arrested. CM Yediyurappa, who was then detained under MISA, will be honoured at 11 am at his residence.

Haryana BJP president OP Dhankar too said that they would observe June 25 as a black day.

According to a report in ANI, the saffron party will be holding video conferences to mark the undemocratic step taken by Congress by “murdering democracy”. Press conferences too will be organised across the country to mark the day. BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav and national secretaries Y Satya Kumar and Vijaya Rahatkar will supervise these events.

‘The Emergency’ refers to a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when then PM Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across India. The restrictions were officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution, citing ‘internal disturbance’.

The order allowed elections to be cancelled and civil liberties to be suspended. Most of Gandhi’s political opponents were imprisoned and the press was censored. The Emergency was in effect from June 25, 1975, until it’s withdrawal on March 21, 1977.

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