BJP State president Suresh Kashyap took a dig at the Congress on the 47th anniversary of the Emergency imposed in India by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The planned and systematic destruction of India’s democratic institutions during the dark days of the Emergency by the Congress party will never be forgotten, he said.
Kashyap said India was under Emergency for a period of 21 months from June 25 1975 to March 21 1977.Proclaimed by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed due to internal disturbances under Article 352 of the Constitution of India on the recommendations of the government led by PM Indira Gandhi, the Emergency is the darkest chapter of India’s history.
During this time, fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution were suspended, media was censored and a crackdown on civil liberties was common.“Today we remember the great heroes who fought to protect Indian democracy and Constitutional values,” he added.
Kashyap said Emergency reminds us of the horrors and the darkest days of democracy in India. Those who cry hoarse, and desperately concoct stories of democracy at risk, should flip through pages of history.
He said 25 June will be remembered as a dark day in Indian democracy it was on this day in 1975 that an authoritarian, insecure and power-hungry ruler curtailed civil liberties, subverted democratic institutions and undermined the judiciary to impose Emergency.
He said that our workers will also be visiting the households of workers who went to jail during emergency under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).