Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas: The National Democratic Alliance government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared June 25 as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas”. In a gazette notification on Friday, the Home Ministry noted that the Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The national emergency was imposed by then Prime Minister and Congress leader Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975. The period of emergency lasted for about 21 months, starting from the midnight of June 25, 1975, till it ended on March 21, 1977.
PM Modi said the observance of ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ would serve as a “reminder of what happens when the Constitution of India is trampled upon”.
The Prime Minister said it is a day to pay tribute to everyone who suffered due to the excesses of the Emergency, “a dark period in Indian history by the Congress”.
The ministry notification said the Centre has decided to observe June 25 every year as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ to “pay tribute to all those who fought against the gross abuse of power during the Emergency and to recommit the people of India to not support such gross abuse of power in any manner in the future.”
It said the people of India have unwavering faith in the power of the Constitution and its resilient democracy.
Why June 25 will be observed as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas
Union Home Minister Amit Shah shared the notification on X and said, “This day will remember the enormous contribution of all those who bore the inhuman pain of the Emergency of 1975.”
Attacking the Congress, he said that observing ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ will help keep alive the immortal flame of individual liberty and protection of our democracy in every Indian, “thus preventing dictatorial forces like the Congress from repeating those horrors”.
Amit Shah said in a series of posts on X that on June 25, 1975, “the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing Emergency on the country, exhibiting a dictatorial mindset”.
“Lakhs of people were put behind bars without any fault and the voice of the media was suppressed”, the Home Minister said.
Shah said the decision taken by the Narendra Modi-led government is to “honour the spirit of millions of people who fought to revive democracy despite facing unspeakable oppression at the hands of the oppressive government”.
Congress hits out at Centre
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday hit out at “non-organic” PM Modi after the Government of India announced that June 25 will be observed every year as “Samvidhan Hatya Diwas” to commemorate the Emergency declared in 1975 by the Indira Gandhi government.
In a series of tweets on Twitter, Jairam Ramesh said, “Another headline-grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-organic PM who imposed an undeclared Emergency for ten years before the people of India dealt him a decisive personal, political and moral defeat on June 4, 2024 – which will go down in history as Modi Mukti Diwas.”
Clashes in Parliament earlier too
In the recently concluded Parliament session, Speaker Om Birla condemned the period of Emergency, and the House observed two minutes of silence in memory of those who lost their lives during that period.
Birla said, “This House strongly condemns the decision to impose emergency in 1975. At the same time, we appreciate the determination of all those who opposed the emergency, fought and took the responsibility of protecting India’s democracy. 25 June 1975 will always be known as a black chapter in the history of India.”
He said, “On this day, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed an emergency in the country and attacked the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar. India is known as the mother of democracy all over the world. Democratic values and debate have always been supported in India. Democratic values have always been protected, they have always been encouraged. Indira Gandhi imposed a dictatorship on such an India. India’s democratic values were crushed and freedom of expression was strangled.”
(With agency input)