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“There was gross abuse of power by the Government of the day and people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities,” the government declared in the official notification
The Government of India has declared that June 25th will be observed annually as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’, meaning the Day of Murder of Constitution. This decision, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to honour the resilience and sacrifices of millions who fought to revive democracy during the Emergency period.
PM Modi shared the announcement, emphasising the significance of the observance. "To observe 25th June as #SamvidhaanHatyaDiwas will serve as a reminder of what happens when the Constitution of India was trampled over. It is also a day to pay homage to each and every person who suffered due to the excesses of the Emergency, a Congress unleashed dark phase of Indian history," PM Modi wrote on X.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also took to X, sharing the government notification. The notification stated, “there was gross abuse of power by the Government of the day and people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities.”
Shah explained, "The Government of India has decided to observe the 25th of June every year as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas.' This day will commemorate the massive contributions of all those who endured the inhuman pains of the 1975 Emergency.” He further expressed, "On June 25, 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in a brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing the Emergency on the nation. Lakhs of people were thrown behind bars for no fault of their own, and the voice of the media was silenced.”
The declaration follows PM Modi's earlier remarks at the beginning of the 16th Lok Sabha session, where he urged everyone to ensure there is no subversion of the Constitution as during the Emergency. The Prime Minister called for safeguarding the Constitution to prevent any attempts to "blacken" it. During the session, President Draupadi Murmu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also referred to the Emergency in their speeches, prompting strong protests from the opposition.
Notably, soon after the election results were declared BJP had demanded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to tender an apology to the country on behalf of his party for imposing Emergency, which came into effect from June 25, 1975 and ended on March 21, 1977, after a 21 month period.
The Emergency in India was triggered by the ‘State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain’ case, where Raj Narain, having lost the 1971 election to Indira Gandhi, accused her of electoral fraud and misuse of state resources in the Allahabad High Court. Represented by Shanti Bhushan, Narain's case led to Gandhi becoming the first Prime Minister to be cross-examined in court, enduring a five-hour session. On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha found Gandhi guilty of misusing government machinery during her election campaign. He nullified her election, disqualified her from Parliament for six years, and banned her from contesting elections. Gandhi appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict on June 24, 1975, suspending her parliamentary privileges but allowing her to remain Prime Minister pending appeal. Tensions escalated as opposition leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan called for protests. On June 25, 1975, Gandhi invoked Emergency powers, leading to media blackouts, mass arrests, and curtailed freedoms until early 1977.
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