Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the 123rd edition of his monthly radio address ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday, marked the 50th anniversary of the Emergency as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ and denounced it as one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history.
PM Modi stated that those who imposed the Emergency in 1975 not only murdered the spirit of the Constitution but also attempted to reduce the judiciary to a puppet and crush civil liberties. He emphasised that it was a time when press freedom was stifled and over one lakh people were jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).
“Indians refused to compromise on democracy,” Modi said, crediting the people’s resolve for ultimately defeating the authoritarian regime and restoring democratic order.
To mark the solemn occasion, the Prime Minister played archival audio clips of former Prime Ministers Morarji Desai, Babu Jagjivan Ram, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, each recalling the traumatic period of mass arrests and suppression.
In his audio excerpt, Morarji Desai described the Emergency as a time when “freedom was snatched, newspapers were silenced, and the judiciary was rendered powerless.” He called the arbitrary arrests and inhuman treatment of people “rare even in world history.”
An evocative clip of Atal Bihari Vajpayee described the post-Emergency election victory as a “peaceful revolution,” declaring that “the wave of people’s power has thrown the killers of democracy into the dustbin of history.”
Babu Jagjivan Ram echoed this sentiment, calling the 1977 elections “a great campaign of the people of India to change the circumstances and strengthen the foundation of democracy.”
PM Modi urged citizens to remember the sacrifices of those who stood firm against authoritarianism and to remain vigilant to safeguard democracy and the Constitution.
The Prime Minister also touched upon other themes during his address, including the International Yoga Day celebrations, where crores of participants joined across the country, and stressed the importance of national health, religious pilgrimages, and eye disease prevention initiatives.
