NEW DELHI: On the 46th anniversary of the emergency imposed from 1975 to 1977, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the “dark days” marked by the period “can never be forgotten”. He Congress trampled over India’s democratic ethos during this period. “The dark days of emergency can never be forgotten.
The period from 1975 to 1977 witnessed the systematic destruction of institutions. Let us pledge to do everything possible to strengthen India’s democratic spirit, and live up to the values enshrined in our Constitution,” PM Modi tweeted. “This is how Congress trampled over our democratic ethos. We remember all those greats who resisted the emergency and protected Indian democracy,” he added. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also remembered the period and said that the Emergency was imposed in the nation to quell the voices against one family and termed it as a dark chapter in the history of independent India. Emergency was declared for a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution due to the prevailing “internal disturbance”, the Emergency was in effect from June 25, 1975, until its withdrawal on March 21, 1977.
The order vested upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be suspended and civil liberties to be curbed. The final decision to impose an Emergency was proposed by Indira Gandhi, agreed upon by the President, and thereafter ratified by the Cabinet and the Parliament (from July to August 1975), based on the rationale that there were imminent internal and external threats to the Indian state.
The Emergency is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India’s history.
