Terming Congress a ‘history-sheeter’, Union minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abaas Naqvi said that the party was guilty of clamping Emergency in the country and suggested that a chapter on Emergency be introduced in the text books so that today’s children could know the tyranny of the ruling Congress then. “The Congress has failed to shed its dictatorial attitude and it is a `history sheeter’ in throttling democratic values. The party believes in the undemocratic mentality of Emergency,” Naqvi said while addressing a programme organised in lucknow on Tuesdayto mark ‘Black Day’ on the 43rd anniversary of Emergency.
“The country suffered Emergency thrice— twice during the 1961 and 1971 wars and then in 1975. The Congress crushed democratic rights of the people for their own vested interest,” he said. Advocating introduction of a chapter on Emergency in the text books, Naqvi said that the students should know what happened in 1975 and who were responsible for it. “Those who have not seen Emergency, they should know what happened, what dictatorship was, how people were harassed and faced torture of politicians and how the Constitution was crushed to save Indira Gandhi,” he said. Naqvi also supported the demand of ‘loktrantrik Senani’ (those who went to jail during Emergency) to give them more government facilities. State BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandey said that to meet vested interests, Emergency was clamped in the country. He said that due to Emergency, several families were disintegrated and politicians were insulted. Pandey, who is himself a ‘loktrantrik Senani’, said that he too had to face several hardships during Emergency and even had to go to jail. Senior BJP leader lalji Tandon said that he was an eyewitness to the torture made on politicians during the Emergency. In the function, several loktrantrik Senanis were honoured by the Union minister.