Today, on the 46th anniversary of the Emergency, members of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), including PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, attacked Congress.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the attack on Congress by saying the 21-month period “witnessed a systematic destruction of institutions.”
Prime Minister took Twitter to criticize Congress. PM Modi tweeted, “The ‘Dark Days of Emergency’ can never be forgotten. The period from 1975 to 1977 witnessed the systematic destruction of institutions.
Let us pledge to do everything possible to strengthen India’s democratic spirit, and live up to the values enshrined in our Constitution.”
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The tweet was followed by another, which read, “This is how Congress trampled over our democratic ethos. We remember all those greats who resisted the Emergency and protected Indian democracy.”
With this tweet PM also added a link to an Instagram post in which BJP has listed various things which were banned during the time of Emergency. The Instagram post consisted of seven to eight photographs. The first photograph read, “The Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975. An unbelievable phase in India’s democracy.” This picture was followed by six photographs asking the same question – “Can you believe this was banned?” The six pictures featured legendary singer Kishore Kumar, Freedom Fighters Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh, quotes, and pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
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The caption of the post read, “Can you believe what all were banned by the Congress during Emergency? A throwback to the darkest phase in India’s democratic history.”
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah while attacking Congress said that the Emergency was an act to suppress the voices of people that were raised against one family (Gandhi family). He also termed Emergency as the ‘dark chapter in the history of independence.’
Amit Shah tweeted, “Emergency imposed to quell the voices against one family is a dark chapter in the history of independent India. 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.”
He further tweeted, “On this day in 1975, Congress killed the world's largest democracy by imposing emergency on the country in the interest and arrogance of power. Innumerable Satyagrahis were imprisoned overnight in the prison cell and locked the press. Taking away the fundamental rights of the citizens, made the Parliament and the court a mute spectator.”
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Every year, BJP celebrates June 25 as the “Black Day” and routinely attacks Congress on the controversial years.
In March, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s grandson Rahul Gandhi called Emergency ‘a mistake’ and said, what happened was ‘wrong’.
Emergency:
On June 25, 1975, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared an Emergency for 21 months (from 1975 to 1977). The Emergency is one of the most controversial periods of India’s history post-independence.
Emergency was officially issued by then-President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution. He stated that the emergency has been imposed because of the “internal disturbance”. The Emergency came into effect on June 25, 1975, and was withdrawn on March 21, 1977.
This period gave PM Indira Gandhi unlimited power to rule by decree. The elections were suspended and civil liberties were held back. Indira Gandhi sent many of her opponent politicians behind the bar and the press was also censored, the government was also accused of using the public as well as private media for pushing government propaganda.
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Jayaprakash Narayan, Raj Narain, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Arun Jaitley and many other opposing leaders were imprisoned. Organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jamaat-e-Islami were banned.