New Delhi: Criticizing the Congress on the 47th anniversary of the Emergency imposed in the country by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday alleged the grand old party snatched constitutional rights of every Indian for power. “On this day in 1975, the Congress snatched constitutional rights of every India for power and imposed Emergency. The Congress regime left even the foreign rule behind in terms of brutality. I pay my tribute to the patriots who sacrificed everything to re-establish democracy and defeat the dictatorial mindset,” he tweeted.
BJP president J.P. Nadda said the “planned and systematic destruction of our country’s democratic institutions during the dark days of the Emergency” will never be forgotten.
“The planned and systematic destruction of our country’s democratic institutions during the dark days of the Emergency by the Congress party will never be forgotten. Today we remember the great heroes who fought to protect Indian democracy and Constitutional values,” he tweeted.
Echoing similar sentiments, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also hit out at the Congress.
“Emergency 1975, this day! 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 wrote on the micro-blogging platform.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on his part said “history will always recall it as a Black Day for Indian democracy”.
“On this day, 47 years ago, 25 Jun 1975, PM Indira Gandhi declared Internal #Emergency, suspended all fundamental rights,ordered arrest of opposition leaders and curtailed freedom of press. History will always recall it as a Black Day for Indian democracy. #DarkDaysOfEmergency,” he tweeted.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said June 25 will be remembered as a “dark day in Indian democracy”.
“25 June will be remembered as a dark day in Indian democracy - it was on this day in 1975 that an authoritarian, insecure & power hungry ruler curtailed civil liberties, subverted democratic institutions & undermined the judiciary to impose EMERGENCY,” he tweeted.
India was under Emergency for a period of 21 months from June 25 1975 to March 21 1977. The fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution were during this time suspended, the media was censored and a crackdown on civil liberties was common.
Emergency was proclaimed by then president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on the recommendations of Indira Gandhi-led government.