Short Edit: Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas? Someone Could Have Given A Little More Thought To The Words
OPINION: The Centre has decided to observe June 25 as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas'. At first glance, one would be taken aback at the coinage of the phrase 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas', wondering if it means 'Kill Constitution Day' or 'Constitution Murder Day'. Both would anyway indicate that it's a day to murder (figuratively, of course) the ideals of the Constitution, if translated literally.
Obviously, it is a day to remember the day when "people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities", as mentioned in the gazette notification. The room it leaves for confusion is big, in a country like ours that does not speak only one language.
While Emergency will without a doubt remain a black chapter in the history of independent India, whether a specific day was required to be officially notified or not remains a topic of debate. Moreso, because the idea may just get lost in translation.
READ ON ABP LIVE | Govt To Observe June 25 As 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas', Honouring Emergency Victims: Home Minister Amit Shah
To observe 25th June as #SamvidhaanHatyaDiwas will serve as a reminder of what happens when the Constitution of India was trampled over. It is also a day to pay homage to each and every person who suffered due to the excesses of the Emergency, a Congress unleashed dark phase of… https://t.co/om14K8BiTz
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 12, 2024
Prime Minister Narendra Modi regularly talks about moving ahead and out of the past, and the PM and the BJP have left no stone unturned to emphasise this. They changed Raj Path to Kartavya Path to shed colonial legacy, replaced the naval ensign, and even repealed the three criminal laws. But it seems to draw the line when it comes to Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress, never missing an opportunity to highlight how certain decisions of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Manmohan Singh harmed India.
Although PM Modi claims that observing 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' will serve as a reminder of what happened when the "Constitution of India was trampled over", and that "it would be a day to pay homage to each and every person who suffered due to the excesses of the Emergency", the move is clearly intended as a political weapon.
Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas: Will It Get Lost In Translation?
The Congress has repeatedly acknowledged that Emergency was indeed wrong and that it paid for the same with a heavy electoral thrashing in 1977. But the BJP seems to be bent on milking the Emergency even today and seeks to drive the "excesses" of the Indira Gandhi government into the consciousness of the present-day voter.
All may be fair in war and love, and the ruling BJP is free to do everthing it pleases to within the legal framework of India. However, the least it could have done is put a little more effort into selecting the name for the day.
The BJP must not forget that India is not just the Hindi belt.
The nation has regions like the Northeast, East, and South where not many speak the language. The government should have thought of an English alternative too for such regions. Even the English part of the Gazette notification shared by Home Minister Amit Shah mentions the Hindi phrase in the English (Latin and Roman) script and repeats the same in the Devnagari script within brackets.
On June 25, 1975, the then PM Indira Gandhi, in a brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing the Emergency on the nation. Lakhs of people were thrown behind bars for no fault of their own, and the voice of the media was silenced.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 12, 2024
The… pic.twitter.com/9sEfPGjG2S
A simple Google translation of 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' throws up the result "Constitution Assassination Day". One might even translate it to "Constitution Murder Day" or "Kill Constitution Day", implying the ridiculous notion that the government was exhorting people to "murder" the Constitution. What would citizens be even expected to do on the day?
If that's the best the BJP could come up with, it begs the question: "Was the move necessary at all?" One might even ask, has PM Modi's heart suddenly started bleeding for the "victims of Emergency" after it failed to get an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha polls? Why did the BJP government not observe such a day when it had a full majority?
The BJP has realised that the Hindu-Muslim narrative will not work on voters anymore ('mangalsutra', 'Muslims to be given Hindus' wealth', 'Hindu garam hua hai', etc). The Opposition's "Protection of Constitution" plea seems to have resonated well with voters. In his election campaigns, Rahul Gandhi was never seen without a copy of the Constitution. And soon, many other Opposition leaders followed suit.
The BJP first tried to dismiss Rahul Gandhi, saying he was carrying a "Chinese Constitution". And it has now resorted to dismissing the very idea that the Congress can be expected to adhere to the Constitution's ideals. Does the BJP really fear for a loss in the next elections? If not, they might have to answer what prompted the government to introduce an official day called "Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas".
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