‘Emergency imposed to save Indira’

Union home minister Rajnath Singh pays floral tribute to Syama Prasad Mookerjee at a felicitation function for people detained during the Emergency in New Delhi on Saturday. (Photo: Biplab Banerjee)

Felicitating detainees of the Emergency declared in the 1970s, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said that the detainees of Emergency acted as saviours of democracy. He said that the proclamation of Emergency was not done in a situation of any constitutional crisis or foreign attack but to save the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from been dethroned after the political developments of 1971-72.

Mr Singh was speaking in a function organised by the Delhi BJP on Saturday to felicitate party workers and social activists detained during the Emergency period in 1975-77.

Mr Singh said that democracy is a part of Indian culture and whenever any government tries to throttle democracy or the rights of the citizens, it will face the wrath of the people like the Congress did in 1977.

“During the Emergency, false cases were registered against the people, RSS and Jan Sangh workers were jailed for 18-19 months without any chargesheet. Those who sacrificed during the Emergency did not do it expecting any honour or special privileges, their faith in democracy made them give the best moments of their lives for the country. The Congress acted like the colonial British regime and did not allow the saviours of democracy to even meet their families for 18 months,” added Mr Singh.

BJP’s national general secretary (organisation), Ram Lal, said that the sacrifices made by the Emergency detainees were similar to the sacrifices made by great revolutionaries during the British era. “I believe that Emergency detainees got inspiration from the great revolutionaries of the freedom movement,” he added.

Sharing his experience, senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said that the Emergency, during which the constitutional rights of the people of the country were subverted, remains a blot in the post-Independence history of the country. “The people of the country revolted against this authoritarianism,” added Mr Malhotra.

Delhi BJP president, Satish Upadhyay said, “Our generation is lucky that along with the freedom fighters who freed India from the British rule, we have the opportunity to take inspiration from the the saviours of democracy, many of who lost glorious opportunities fighting the then autocratic Congress regime between 1973-77.”