NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday 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 posts on X on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Modi said it was one of the darkest chapters in India's democratic history.
The values enshrined in the Constitution were set aside, fundamental rights suspended, press freedom extinguished and a large number of political leaders, social workers, students and ordinary citizens jailed, he noted.
The prime minister said, "It was as if the Congress Government in power at that time placed democracy under arrest."
The Modi government had announced last year that the Emergency anniversary will be commemorated as "Samvidhan Hatya Diwas".
The 42nd Amendment, which made extensive changes to the Constitution and was reversed by the Janata Party government, is a prime example of the shenanigans of the Congress government that imposed Emergency, he said.
He added that the poor, marginalised and downtrodden were particularly targeted, including their dignity insulted."
"We also reiterate our commitment to strengthening the principles in our Constitution and working together to realise our vision of a Viksit Bharat.
May we scale new heights of progress and fulfil the dreams of the poor and downtrodden," Modi said.
Saluting every person who stood firm in the fight against the Emergency, the prime minister said these were the people from all over India, from all walks of life, from diverse ideologies 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.
Congress leaders should 'repent' on June 25 every year: Scindia
Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said the Congress leaders should "repent" on June 25 every year, as he recalled the imposition of Emergency under the party's rule on this day 50 years ago.
Taking a veiled dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Scindia on Tuesday said nothing can be achieved by just "roaming around" with a copy of the Constitution.
He also accused the Congress of playing politics over Babasaheb Ambedkar, a day after the party leaders staged a protest seeking the installation of the statue of the Constitution's chief architect on the premises of the Madhya Pradesh High Court's Gwalior bench.
The minister said the Grand Old Party had defeated Ambedkar in elections by fielding a candidate against him.
"The political party which trampled Babasaheb's Constitution through a dark chapter on June 25, 1975 (when Emergency was imposed) is now talking about the Constitution.
Nothing can be achieved by just roaming around with the (copy of) Constitution in hand.
The Constitution has to be kept alive in the soul," Scindia told reporters.
The BJP MP further said the Congress and its leaders should repent on June 25 every year.
"The party which fielded a candidate against Ambedkar and defeated him in elections, the party whose government removed Babasaheb from the council of ministers, is now glorifying him. This is akin to a thief scolding a police officer," he added.
Meghwal recalls role of those who fought for democracy
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal recalled the role of people who fought for democratic values during the imposition of Emergency.
The minister dubbed the 21-month long Emergency as a "black chapter" in the history of the country's democracy.
"This was the time when freedom of expression, civil rights and constitutional values were crushed," he wrote on X.
He recalled the role of those who fought for rights in that "dark period" while facing inhuman torture and oppression with indomitable courage.
Congress continues to have dictatorial mindset of Emergency: Nadda
BJP president J P Nadda said the Congress continues to have the same dictatorial mindset that was behind the imposition of the Emergency 50 years back, stating that it believes only one family has a right to govern the country.
In his remarks on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, he said the Congress is still unable to reconcile to the idea of a person from a humble background, like Narendra Modi, as prime minister.
While Rahul Gandhi and the Congress cite the Constitution, he said the opposition party has still not apologised for the Emergency, the 21-month period between June 1975 and March 1977 during which opposition leaders were jailed, the press censored and civil liberties suspended by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Undemocratic amendments were introduced to the Constitution and its soul was distorted, he said of the era.
Nadda claimed that the law and order situation in the Congress-ruled states remained as it was in the Emergency, marked by suppression of dissent, religious appeasement and arrogance of power.
Recalling the jailing of opposition leaders, including from the Jana Sangh, the forerunner to the BJP, during the period, Nadda noted that Modi as an RSS functionary had then defied the government and spread awareness among people about the excesses of the Congress.
Nadda also urged people to read the book, 'The Emergency Diaries - Years that Forged a Leader, which highlights Modi's role in fighting the Emergency.
It is necessary to keep the memory of the Emergency and its consequences alive, he said, asserting that Indira Gandhi had turned the country into a laboratory for family rule and cult of personality.
Nadda noted that the Congress government during the Emergency punished an honest Supreme Court judge like Justice H R Khanna, who was superseded for the post of Chief Justice of India, for an order that went against the government.
A citizen had then no right to move court even if shot by police, he noted.
Paying tributes to those who staked their lives to protect democracy, Nadda said it was "a black chapter" in Indian democracy as the Constitution was "murdered".
The Congress continues to have the same dictatorial mindset, he alleged.
