After 48 years, ‘dark days of emergency remain unforgettable’: PM Modi

PM Modi also paid homage to those who opposed the emergency that was declared by then PM Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Updated on: Jun 25, 2023, 12:39:17 IST

By HT News Desk

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid homage to those who resisted the emergency that was declared by then PM Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975. On completion of 48 years of the ‘dark days of emergency’, PM Modi said the 21-month period remains an ‘unforgettable period in our history’.

Also read: 'Can't forget June 25, Emergency a dark era': PM Modi on 102th Mann ki Baat show

"I pay homage to all those courageous people who resisted the Emergency and worked to strengthen our democratic spirit. The dark days of emergency remain an unforgettable period in our history, totally opposite to the values our Constitution celebrates," he said in a tweet.

PM Modi was joined by his party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and his Cabinet colleagues who denounced the ‘torture, imprisonment, murder and stifling the voice of free press’ by ‘an insecure and authoritarian ruler’.

“Torture, imprisonment, murder, stifling the voice of free press - 25th June 1975 symbolises all that and more. Lest you forget, what the Emergency imposed on India and Indians entailed; do watch this video & see what the Congress party is capable of!” Union minister Smriti Irani said tweeting a video.

BJP also tweeted a black poster with light casted on Indira Gandhi's face along with words ‘the darkest chapter of Indian democracy’.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri shared a clip from PM Modi's ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio show where he talked about the atrocities being carried out during the period.

"The emergency declared on June 25 1975 by an insecure & authoritarian ruler will always be remembered as a crushing blow to democracy & human rights. It also puts under spotlight, a particular family's & political outfit's arrogance & lust to cling to power," he said.

Similarly, several ministers including Kiren Rijiju, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari along with Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also condemned the period.

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