Prime Minister Narendra Modi terms Emergency as one of India’s darkest periods and stresses that 40 years back greed of power, bound the country in shackels of Emergency.
Lakhs of democracy loving people were put behind the bars and Newspapers locked while 40 years later, present government want to preserve the dreams under which all citizens prosper under a democratic system.
40 years later Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to the country, “a vibrant liberal democracy is the key to progress and that everything should be done to strengthen democratic ideals and ethos.”
Recalling the dark hours of Emergency, the Prime Minister said that the greed for power was the driving force behind the imposition of Emergency.
Paying homage to the contributions of Jai Prakash Narayan in galvanizing masses against the Emergency, Narendra Modi hailed the selfless contribution of the lakhs of people who had resisted the attempt to thwart democracy by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on this day in 1975.
PM called on the nation to live the lessons learnt from the Emergency and to move forward.
Earlier in the day, in the first in a series of tweets he said, “We mark 40 years of one of India’s darkest periods- the Emergency, when the then political leadership trampled over our democracy.”
“Inspired by the call of JP, several men & women across India selflessly immersed themselves in the movement to safeguard our democracy. We are very proud of the lakhs of people, who resisted the Emergency & whose efforts ensured that our democratic fabric is preserved”, PM tweeted.
On a personal note, the Prime Minister recalled memories and lessons learnt during this dark phase of history.
He tweeted, “Personally, the Emergency brings back many memories. As youngsters, we learnt a lot during the anti-Emergency movement. Emergency was a great opportunity to work with a wide spectrum of leaders & organisations fighting for the same goal- return of democracy.”
As a young RSS Pracharak in 1975, Prime minister Narendra Modi had dedicated himself to restoring democracy in the country even going underground to fulfill the responsibilities of making arrangements for mass movement, gatherings, meetings and the distribution of literature. The Emergency was finally lifted almost two years later in the wake of a widespread mass movement.