Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Government has decided to observe June 25, the day the Emergency was declared in 1975, as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” to commemorate the “massive contributions” of those who endured “inhuman pains of the period”, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced Friday.
This is being seen as yet another attempt by the BJP to corner an increasingly aggressive Congress’s allegations that it was attempting to take away reservation and change the Constitution.
On X, Shah, while reposting a gazette notification issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, wrote: “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… The Government of India has decided to observe the 25th of June every year as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas.’ This day will commemorate the massive contributions of all those who endured the inhuman pains of the 1975 Emergency.”
According to the notification, after the Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, there was “gross abuse of power… and people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities”.The people of India have abiding faith in the Constitution and the power of its resilient democracy, it said.
Reposting Shah’s announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the day will “serve as a reminder of what happens when the Constitution of India is trampled upon.”
The Emergency card is important for BJP, which has been under attack from Opp over alleged attempts to “change the Constitution”. Several leaders who were at the forefront of the anti-Emergency agitation are now part of INDIA bloc and BJP sees itself as the only party that has consistently opposed the Congress, starting from the JP Movement. The pitch also complements the BJP narrative as the Congress has repeatedly accused the RSS of raising only Hindutva issues.
“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,” the PM wrote.
Other senior BJP leaders also posted in support of the move.
BJP president JP Nadda thanked PM Modi and said the decision will remind people of “the importance of democracy” every year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman wrote: “Many who endured, lived to tell the tale. Many others, even students, just ‘disappeared’… Never again, hence remember and recollect.”
The latest decision follows repeated statements against the Emergency by PM Modi, President Droupadi Murmu and other senior BJP leaders.
PM Modi even kicked off the 18th Session of the Lok Sabha on June 24 with a mention of the Emergency. The next day, the BJP held nationwide programmes and its leaders issued statements targeting the Congress.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
