Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that no Indian will ever forget the manner in which the spirit of the Constitution was violated during the Emergency, as he affirmed his Government’s commitment to strengthening constitutional principles. In a series of social media posts on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Modi said it was one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history. The Modi Government had announced last year that the Emergency anniversary will be commemorated as “Samvidhan Hatya Diwas”.
While the Union Cabinet passed a resolution to commemorate and honour the sacrifices of individuals who valiantly resisted the Emergency and its attempt at subversion of the spirit of the Indian Constitution, a book titled The Emergency Diaries — Years that Forged a Leader, highlighting Modi’s fight for the “the ideals of democracy” was released by Home Minister Amit Shah.
Saluting every person who stood firm in the fight against the Emergency, the PM said these were the people from all over India, from all walks of life, who worked closely with each other with one aim: to protect India’s democratic fabric and to preserve the ideals for which freedom fighters devoted their lives.
“It was their collective struggle that ensured that the then Congress Government had to restore democracy and call for fresh elections, which they badly lost,” he said.
Shah said the Emergency was not a national necessity but a reflection of the anti-democratic mentality of the Congress and “just one person”, a reference to then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Paying tributes to those who suffered after the imposition of Emergency by the Indira Gandhi government on June 25, 1975, Shah said the day reminds everyone that when those in power become dictatorial, the people have the power to overthrow them. The home minister said the Emergency was the “Age of Injustice of Congress’ hunger for power”.
The Cabinet led by prime minister also observed a brief silence as a mark of tribute to the victims of the Emergency and resolved to commemorate and honour their sacrifices. “The Union Cabinet paid tributes to their exemplary courage and valiant resistance to the Emergency’s excesses,” Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said in his media briefing of the cabinet decisions.
The Cabinet resolution further said the year 2025 marks 50 years of the ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ - an unforgettable chapter in the history of India where the Constitution was subverted, the Republic and democratic spirit of India were attacked, federalism was undermined, and fundamental rights, human liberty and dignity were suspended.
On the book account of Modi’s life through Emergency day era which was released during the day, the PM noted the book chronicles his journey during the Emergency years. It brought back many memories from that time, he said. “I call upon all those who remember those dark days of the Emergency or those whose families suffered during that time to share their experiences on social media. It will create awareness among the youth of the shameful time from 1975 to 1977,” the PM said and recalled that he was a young RSS pracharak during the period.
“I am glad that BlueKraft Digital Foundation has compiled some of those experiences in the form of a book, whose foreword has been penned by former PM HD Deve Gowda, himself a stalwart of the anti-Emergency movement,” Modi stated in his social media post. The publisher in a post said the book delves into the compelling role Modi played in the fight against the Emergency.
Evading detection as a member of the banned RSS during the Emergency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled in different disguises but it did not stop him from visiting a jail, of all the places with high risk for him, as a “swamiji” to speak to the incarcerated activists for nearly an hour, according to a book.