In honour of the “inhuman pain” that individuals maintained during the Emergency that was enforced on this date in 1975 endured, the federal government has proclaimed June 25 to be “Samvidhaan Hatya Divas.”
“Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi throttled the soul of Indian democracy by imposing the Emergency on June 25, 1975, exhibiting her dictatorial mindset. Lakhs of people were jailed without any reason and the media was silenced. The Indian government has decided to observe June 25 as Samvidhaan Hatya Divas. This day will be dedicated to the sacrifice of all those who suffered inhuman pain during the 1975 Emergency,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in an X post on Friday.
Samvidhaan Hatya Divas” loosely translates to “the day the Constitution was murdered”.
His post was endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reiterated that June 25 would pay homage to those “who suffered due to the excesses of the Emergency, a Congress unleashed dark phase of Indian history”.
“To observe 25th June as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas 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,” he added in his post.
There was a heated discussion about the Constitution when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government made its statement. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Modi, was accused by the Congress of disrespecting the Indian Constitution during the campaign for the just finished Lok Sabha elections. The BJP vehemently denied any such allegations.
The BJP ultimately won 240 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, falling 32 seats shy of the majority. However, the BJP-led NDA easily won 293 seats, opening the door for Prime Minister Modi to serve a historic third term. The Congress increased its total to 99 in 2019 (up from 52).
The Congress, buoyed, has begun hammering home its constitutional argument. During the inaugural meeting of the 18th Lok Sabha in June, party members and a few of its supporters swore allegiance to the Constitution.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi made a dramatic U-turn by stating that the Congress party, which had previously enforced the Emergency, had no right to declare its support for the Constitution. Speaker Om Birla called the Emergency the “darkest chapter in India’s history” in the Lok Sabha, sparking objections from the Congress and some of its allies as the country observed the 49th anniversary of its implementation.
Citing both domestic and foreign concerns, Indira Gandhi declared a 21-month emergency, restricting fundamental liberties and stifling the media. Among those jailed were a number of prominent opposition politicians, such as BJP mainstays AB Vajpayee and LK Advani, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Janata Party leader JP Narayan. Congressmen who dissented were also imprisoned.
Jairam Ramesh, a senior Congress lawmaker, referred to it as a “headline-grabbing exercise.” Additionally, he charged that PM Modi was “systematically assaulting” the Indian Constitution and all of its institutions, ideals, and ideas.
“Yet another headline-grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-biological PM who had imposed an undeclared Emergency for ten long years before the people of India handed him a decisive personal, political, and moral defeat on June 4, 2024 – which will go down in history as ModiMukti Diwas. This is a non-biological PM who has subjected the Constitution of India and its principles, values, and institutions to systematic assault. This is a non-biological PM whose ideological parivar had rejected the Constitution of India in Nov 1949 on the grounds that it did not derive inspiration from Manusmriti. This is a non-biological PM for whom democracy means only ‘demo-kursi’,” Ramesh wrote in an X post.
Samajwadi Party leader Fakhrul Hasan Chaand said, “The agencies and laws were misused in the BJP government and many leaders from the opposition were troubled. Emergency, whether declared or undeclared, is not right for democracy. It weakens the democracy. If the Congress party cannot be forgiven for the emergency in 1975, BJP cannot be forgiven for today’s situation…”
JMM MP Mahua Maji said, “…BJP which had raised the slogan of crossing 400 could not get 400 and had to limit itself to 200…INDIA alliance got the mandate that they got because the Constitution was in danger…We should talk about what development are you (BJP) doing at present, in which direction are you taking the country, are you able to maintain communal harmony here as per the constitution or not…Now elections are going to be held in 4 states for the BJP. Before the elections, they want to mislead people…”
RJD leader Manoj Jha said, “Look who is talking?…They have destroyed the Constitution…They should keep a mirror in front of them. A few years ago Partition Horrors Remembrance Day was announced, but they are not talking about it….The people of India will not fall for your ‘jumlas’ now….”
