Lucknow, Jun 25 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Wednesday said inclusion of the words "secular" and "socialist" in the Preamble to the Constitution during the Emergency was "a brutal assault on the soul of India".
Adityanath inaugurated a symposium titled "The Dark Chapter of Indian Democracy" at Lok Bhavan, marking 50 years since the declaration of Emergency.
Speaking at the event, he said the Congress should apologise to Dalits, the marginalised, and the people of India for suppressing voices that BR Ambedkar had empowered through the Constitution.
"Congress silenced the very communities Ambedkar gave rights to," he said.
Adityanath announced cashless medical facilities for Emergency-era democracy activists and their families. He also slammed the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for their "silence" on the occasion, accusing them of now submitting before the very party they once opposed during the Emergency.
"These parties once resisted Congress' authoritarianism, but now kneel before it for political gain," he said.
Accusing Congress, SP, and RJD of undermining democracy, he said: "These dynastic parties have no moral right to invoke the Constitution. Whenever given a chance, they have strangled democracy. Today exposes those who traded India's democratic values for their selfish ends." Reflecting on the imposition of Emergency, Adityanath said, "Congress didn't waste a moment in dismantling the Constitution Ambedkar drafted after immense personal sacrifice. On June 25, 1975, Congress took over the legislature, executive, and judiciary. Media was muzzled through censorship, and more than one lakh pro-democracy activists were jailed." Calling June 25 a date of national betrayal, he said, "The Congress and the then prime minister Indira Gandhi declared Emergency to protect their grip on power, not the country. That sin cannot be forgotten." He claimed that even today, some individuals remain under the sway of that political family. "While revolutionaries once cried 'Tera vaibhav amar rahe maa', Congress counters with 'May my power remain, even if democracy perishes,'" he remarked.
Adityanath cited several instances to highlight Congress' alleged anti-democratic conduct, including barring Ambedkar from Parliament in 1952, the 1975 Emergency, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and Rahul Gandhi's 2013 tearing of a Cabinet-cleared ordinance in Parliament.
Earlier, he inaugurated an exhibition titled "The Tragedy of the Emergency", showcasing newspaper headlines and visuals from the time, depicting atrocities committed against pro-democracy activists.
Some of these activists shared their experiences during the symposium - from going underground to being tortured in police custody.
At the event, Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said, "The entire nation was turned into a prison to protect one Prime Minister's chair." Legislative Council Chairperson Kunwar Manvendra Singh also recalled his time in Bareilly Jail and described the Emergency as a "symbol of unchecked power".
Adityanath felicitated 26 "democracy warriors" with shawls and mementos.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)