Bhopal: June 25:The Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh felicitated 25 persons who were detained in jails under MISA and D.I.R. during emergency at a function held at his residence here today. He presented them shawls, Shrifal, bouquets and sanction letters for the honorarium.
Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister called them true sentinels of democracy saying that the state government feels proud in felicitating them.
Prominent among those present at the function included former Chief Ministers Shri Sunderlal Patwa and Shri Kailash Joshi; Minister of State for G.A.D. Smt. Ranjana Baghel; State BJP President Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Organization General Secretary Shri Makhan Singh.
The Chief Minister said that on this day 33 years ago emergency was imposed in the country. This is a chapter in the history of Indian democracy and independent India that no one would like to read. Shri Chouhan said that those who opposed the emergency that had robbed the citizens of their constitutional rights and violated the constitutional processes are fighters of the second freedom. The Chief Minister recalled the untold miseries and sufferings to which the MISA and D.I.R. detainees were subjected during the emergency.
Shri Chouhan said that the freedom fighters who fought the British to free the country from their subjugation know the period of their detention and punishment. But those detained during the emergency were now aware as to how long they would languish in the jail and where to appeal.
The Chief Minister said that they should not be called MISA detainees but true sentinels of democracy. He said that opposition of the emergency strengthened democracy in India. Shri Chouhan hoped that their struggle would inspire the future generation to rise to the occasion in case democracy is threatened in future. He said that a nodal officer would be appointed in districts to finalize the list of the persons who were detained under MISA during the emergency. The social workers who were sent to jail in false cases would be included in the list, but the people of criminal tendency would not excluded.
Earlier, the Chief Minister felicitated Shri Kailash Joshi, Shri Sunderlal Patwa, Shri Kailash Sarang, Smt. Savita Vajpaiyee, the wife of late Hashmatulla Warsi Smt. Parvin Warsi, the wife of late Shri Riyaz Ali Kaka Smt. Hazarabi, Shri Ramji Kotwani, Shri Giriraj Kishore, Shri Gaurishankar Kaushal’s son Shri Dharmendra Kaushal as Shri Kaushal is indisposed, Shri Komal Chandra Bhandwari, Shri Vishwanath Vyas, Shri Pooranlal Rai, Shri Fida Hussain, Shriyut Shrivallabh Sharma, Shri Kasturchand Jain, Shri Ramgopal Sharma, Shri Gangaram Rai, Shri Ramchandra Maya, Shri Maganlal Goil, Shri Keshav Pandey, Shri Purushottam Sanghi, Shri Omprakash Sharma, Shri Khuman Singh Shivaji, Shri Laxaminarayan Nayak and Shri Madhukar Rao Chitale.
At the outset Shri Sunderlal Patwa and Shri Kailash Joshi also spoke on the occasion and recalled the hard days of the emergency. They hoped that the country and the people would never see such days again.
The President of MISA Bandi Sangathan Shri Kailash Soni dwelt at length on the contribution of MISA detainees in protecting democracy. He praised the state government for felicitating the sentinels of democracy saying that Madhya Pradesh is the first state to do so.
Earlier, a portrait of Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan was garlanded. The function began with singing of Vande Mataram and concluded with the National Anthem Jan Gan Man. A poem of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpaiyee ‘ Toot Sakate Hain Magar Ham Jhuk Nahin Sakate and Ghazals of Dushyant Kumar and Suryabhanu Gupta were sung under the music direction of Shri Zulfikar on the occasion.
Shri Vinay Upadhayaya conducted the function. Smt. Ranjana Baghel proposed a vote of thanks.