New Delhi [India], June 25 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday addressed a gathering at the first-ever event organised to commemorate 25th June as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas' (Constitution Killing Day), pointing out that the Emergency was imposed on the day.
Terming the imposition of Emergency in India for 21 months from 1975 to 1977, the Home Minister said, "Bad incidents usually should be forgotten in life. And it is correct, but when it relates to social life and national life, then bad incidents should be remembered forever, so that the youth and teenagers of the country are cultured, organised, ready to defend, and ensure that such bad incidents are never repeated again."
Shah said with this thought in mind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to commemorate June 25 of every year as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas' and the Union Home Ministry issued a notification related to it.
"The manner in which the country was reduced to a prison during the Emergency, the soul of the country made dumb, the courts made deaf and pens of the writers were made to fall silent, keeping those things in mind and after giving it a thought, it was decided to commemorate today as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas'. This will bring awareness in the younger generations about the incidents that happened during the Emergency," Shah said.
He further said, "Remembering the Emergency is not just knowing history, but it is a warning."
Union Home Minister said that on the night of June 24, 1975, the Emergency was imposed, and an ordinance was promulgated to implement a dictatorial mindset.
"The Constitution, which was crafted after deliberation and discussion involving 2,66,000 words by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and other framers, was effectively nullified, and the then Prime Minister destroyed the spirit of the entire constitution by just saying that - The President has declared emergency. The essence of the Constitution was destroyed with just one sentence," said the Home Minister.
He said that two significant events took place on June 12, 1975: the Allahabad High Court invalidated the election of the Prime Minister and barred her from contesting elections for six years. "A state of shock spread across the country, though the Supreme Court later granted a stay on the order. Simultaneously, on June 12, the Janata Morcha experiment succeeded in Gujarat, bringing an end to the rule of the opposition party and establishing the Janata Party government. Alarmed by these developments, the Emergency was imposed on June 25."
Shah said that while the reason given was that national security was under threat, the whole world now knows that it was the Prime Minister's position of power that was truly under threat.
Shah said that Jayaprakash Narayan's slogan of "Sampoorna Kranti" had revolutionised the entire nation.
"The movement, which began in Gujarat, had reached Bihar. The government in Gujarat fell, elections were held, and the then ruling party was voted out of power. Subsequently, all opposition parties came together to form the Janata Party government, which served as a major warning for the then Prime Minister," he said.
Union Home Minister also said that by imposing the Emergency, the courts that granted stay were silenced, the newspapers were silenced, and even All India Radio was silenced.
"Around 1,10,000 social and political activists were thrown into prison cells. A Cabinet meeting was called at 4 am without any circulated agenda, and the Emergency was proclaimed. After thoroughly investigating the events during the Emergency, the Shah Commission stated that the acts of detention, forced sterilization, and demolitions had created an atmosphere of fear across the country that had no parallel elsewhere," said Shah.
"Newspaper offices were shut down, 253 journalists were arrested, 29 foreign journalists were expelled from the country, and several newspapers protested the Emergency by leaving their editorial columns blank--most notably, The Indian Express and Jansatta. Their electricity supply was cut off, parliamentary proceedings were censored, the judiciary was effectively brought under control, and democratic rights were completely suppressed throughout the country," Shah reminded.
The Minister said that judges in the judiciary who delivered verdicts against the government were prevented from becoming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
"Singer Kishore Kumar and actor Manoj Kumar's films were banned. Actor Dev Anand was barred from appearing on Doordarshan, and the films Aandhi and Kissa Kursi Ka were also banned," he said.
The Home Minister said that in the election held after the Emergency, for the first time in the country, a non-Congress government was formed with an absolute majority.
"It is important to remember that day so that no one in the future can impose a dictatorial mindset on the Constitution of this country," Shah said.
He said that during the Emergency, a mindset had developed that the party was bigger than the nation, the family was bigger than the party, the individual was bigger than the family, and power was more important than national interest.
In contrast, today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Home Minister said the idea of "Nation First" resonates deeply in the hearts of the people.
"This transformation has been made possible due to the struggle of thousands of warriors of democracy who spent 19 months in jail. Today, under PM Modi's leadership, 1.4 billion Indians are striving with commitment to make India number one in every field globally by the year 2047, and are moving forward with determination toward that goal," added Shah.