Accusing Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of turning democracy into constitutional dictatorship by imposing Emergency, Senior Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday drew parallel between her moves with those of German dictator Adolf Hitler who, he said, also seized emergency powers in 1933 on false ground claiming he was doing it for the ‘protection of the people of the State.’
In an article ‘The Emergency Revisited’, Jaitley said unlike Hitler, Indira went a step ahead by endeavouring to transform India into a “dynastic democracy”.
In his Facebook post, the Minister wondered whether the script of Emergency, which was imposed more than 4 decades ago on June 25, 1975, was inspired by what had happened in Nazi Germany in 1933.
“Both Hitler and Mrs. Gandhi never abrogated the Constitution. They used a republican Constitution to transform democracy into dictatorship,” Jaitley wrote in the second part sub-titled as ‘The Tyranny of Emergency’.
“The pretext for imposition of Emergency was that on February 27, German Parliament House, known as “Reichstag” had been set on fire. Hitler claimed that it was a communist conspiracy to burn Government buildings and museums. Thirteen years later, in the Nuremberg trials, it was established that Reichstag fire was the handiwork of Nazis and Goebbels had conceived it. Hitler continued to maintain that his actions were within the four corners of the Constitution”, he said.
Jaitley said but there were a few things which Hitler did not do which Gandhi did.
“She prohibited the publication of Parliamentary proceeding in the media... Unlike Hitler, Indira went ahead to transform India into a 'dynastic democracy’, ” the Minister said. “The press censorship laws imposed in India and in Germany were almost similar. You had effectively a one party system in play,” he said.
As regards the economic programme, the Minister drew a similarity between the agenda of Hitler and Gandhi.
“Hitler had announced a 25 point economic programme. Mrs Gandhi had announced 20. To cover up the gap, Sanjay (Gandhi) announced his 5 point economic and social programme. Dissent became a sin and sycophancy the rule,” Jaitley said.
Hitler continued to maintain that his actions were within the four corners of the Constitution, Jaitley said, adding “Mrs. Gandhi imposed the Emergency under Article 352, suspended fundamental rights under Article 359 and claimed that disorder was planned by the Opposition in the country”.
like Hitler, Indira arrested most opposition members of Parliament, and therefore procured, through their absence, a two-third majority of members present and voting and enabling the passage of several obnoxious provisions through Constitution amendments, he said.