Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 25 : Observing the 50th anniversary of the Emergency on Wednesday, senior Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chaudhary said that an 'undeclared emergency exists' today and noted a lack of political freedom in the country.
"The current situation bears a striking resemblance to that past condition. Today, an undeclared emergency exists; freedom of speech is not absolute. Anyone speaking against the government faces prosecution, fabricated lawsuits, and arrest," Chaudhary told ANI.
He added, "Even now, true political freedom is lacking. The values established during the freedom movement and the purpose of India's independence are disregarded."
Remembering the Emergency, he called it the second freedom struggle and said that the press was completely censored.
"When the emergency was imposed and the struggle that followed, it became the second freedom struggle. I am also a political activist and was active in that struggle; I witnessed it... The country's situation was dire; nobody could speak or write. There was complete censorship of the press..." SP leader Chaudhary said.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Mehrotra on Tuesday recalled him and other SP leaders being jailed during the Emergency and said that the Constitution and democracy were murdered.
While the Centre is observing June 25 as 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas', Mehrotra said that they will be observing a 'Samvidhan Raksha Divas' on Wednesday.
"Tomorrow, June 25, marks 50 years since the Emergency. Fifty years ago, the Constitution and democracy in the country were murdered, and the government was run through a dictatorship. We were imprisoned during the Emergency...We have decided to observe June 25 tomorrow as 'Samvidhan Raksha Divas'...We will tie a black band on our arms and take a pledge to protect the constitution," Mehrotra told ANI.
The Central government has decided to mark the 50 years of the Emergency as 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas'. The then President Fakhrudin Ali Ahmed and the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government imposed an Emergency on June 25, 1975.