New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of having fostered the dark days of the emergency, reminding how the grand-old-party trampled upon the Constitution of India.
"Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the emergency. The Dark Days of Emergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India, which every Indian respects greatly," PM Modi wrote on his X handle.
The Congress government disregarded every democratic principle, he charged. "Just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections," he wrote.
According to the PM, those who imposed the emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution. "These are the same people who have imposed Article 356 on innumerable occasions, got a bill to destroy press freedom, destroyed federalism, and violated every aspect of the Constitution," his post on X read.
He took the opportunity to say the people of India have rejected the Congress party, time and again. "The mindset that led to the imposition of the emergency is very much alive among the same party that imposed it. They hide their disdain for the Constitution through their tokenism, but the people of India have seen through their antics, and that is why they have rejected them time and again," the Leader of the Lok Sabha wrote.
BJP president and Union Minister JP Nadda, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and S Jaishankar, shared their thoughts on the 49th anniversary of the proclamation of the emergency in the country.
The saffron party has announced that it would commemorate the emergency proclamation anniversary across the country, remembering the 21-month state of emergency imposed on June 25, 1975, by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wrote, "Exactly 49 years ago, the then Congress government imposed an emergency in India. Emergency is a dark chapter in the history of our country's democracy that cannot be forgotten, even if one wants to. The way the misuse of power and the open game of dictatorship were played during that time raises a big question mark on the commitment of many political parties towards democracy."
"If democracy is still alive in this country today, the credit goes to those people who struggled to restore democracy, went to jail, and had to undergo so much physical and mental torture. The coming generations of India will remember their struggle and their contribution in protecting democracy," the Minister added.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar, on his X handle wrote: "On the anniversary of the declaration of emergency, recall the dark period for Indian democracy and the courage shown by those who resisted that challenge. The collective response of the nation defined our generation. It will remain a constant reminder of the need to keep working to protect, preserve, and fight for our democracy."
Nadda wrote about how the emergency shook the pillars of democracy and suppressed voices that wanted to safeguard constitutional values.
"June 25, 1975--this is the day the Congress Party's politically driven decision to impose a state of emergency shook the very pillars of our democracy and tried to trample over the Constitution given by Dr. Ambedkar. During this period, those who today claim to be guardians of Indian democracy left no effort to suppress voices raised in defence of constitutional values," he said.
"Today, we reflect on the sacrifices made by our great heroes who bravely stood as preservers of democracy during the #DarkDaysOfEmergency. I am proud that our party belongs to that tradition that resisted the emergency tooth and nail and worked to protect democracy," he added.
