Key Points

Addressing the 'Aapatkaal Ke 50 Saal' programme, HM Amit Shah said, "It has been 50 years in the documents, but even today, the wound in the hearts of crores of Indians inflicted by the tyranny of the Congress remains as fresh as it was during the Emergency."

Taking an aim at the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, without naming him, HM Shah said: “I want to ask leaders who swear by the Constitution: What right do you have to talk about the Constitution? What did your party do during the Emergency? Was any permission taken from Parliament?”

“I want to remind these leaders that they belong to the same party, which turned into a destroyer of the Constitution,” he said.

He said during the Emergency, the entire country had turned into a prison. Everyone was thrown into jail cells, and no one was given a chance to hear.

The judiciary, executive, legislature, media and artists were all enraged but unable to react, he said.

Leaders like George Fernandes and Acharya Kriplani were jailed and, that too, without any explanation, he said.

Some people question the benefits of remembering an incident that took place 50 years ago, but I insist that the exercise is a powerful means to guard against the return of such dark days, he said.

“An event that shook the foundation of a democratic nation and dictatorial mindset should be remembered to prevent their supporters from rearing their heads again,” he said.

Emergency was hated by the masses and was appreciated only by the then dictator and her coterie, he said, in a veiled reference to late PM Indira Gandhi, who imposed the Emergency on June 25, 1975.

“It took 21 months for democracy to return after the imposition of the Emergency. Therefore, I call the night of June 24, 1975 as the longest ever in the country as it ended with the lifting of Emergency,” he said.

The Constitution, which guaranteed citizens’ civil liberty and laid down judicial practices and which took over two years in the making and involved 1,100 hours of debate, was dismissed by the “Kitchen Cabinet’s declaration” in one minute, he said.

A democratic nation’s multi-party system was sacrificed on the altar of a dictator’s ego, he said.

“Imagine being turned into a dictator’s slave from a citizen overnight. Imagine a mediaperson being branded anti-national overnight. Imagine a student, – a nation’s future – being treated as a threat to the establishment,” said HM Shah.

Even social workers were jailed for being a threat to the nation, he said, adding that 1.1 lakh people were jailed.

- IANS