June 25 is observed as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ — a day when fundamental rights were suspended, press freedom extinguished, and countless political leaders, social workers, students, and ordinary citizens were imprisoned—he said

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack against the Congress party for the 1975 Emergency imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi, calling it “one of the darkest chapters in the nation’s history” and a “grave assault on Constitutional values”

Paying tributes to “Indians who stood tall in defence of democracy during one of the darkest chapters in the nation’s history” which he termed as “grave assault on constitutional values,” the Prime Minister said June 25 is observed as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ — “a day when fundamental rights were suspended, press freedom extinguished, and countless political leaders, social workers, students, and ordinary citizens were imprisoned”

He reiterated commitment to strengthen the principles in the Constitution and working together for the vision of a Viksit Bharat and called the anti-Emergency movement a “learning experience, which reaffirmed the vitality of preserving our democratic framework”.

Recalling his experiences as a young RSS Pracharak, he said the anti-Emergency movement was a learning experience for him. “It reaffirmed the vitality of preserving our democratic framework. At the same time, I got to learn so much from people across the political spectrum. I am glad that BlueKraft Digital Foundation has compiled some of those experiences in the form of a book, whose foreword has been penned by Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji, himself a stalwart of the anti-Emergency movement,” he said in a post on X

The Pm also called upon all those who remember those “dark days of the Emergency or those whose families suffered during that time to share their experiences on social media to create awareness among the youth of the shameful time from 1975 to 1977.”

“On this day, the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution were set aside, fundamental rights were suspended, press freedom was extinguished and several political leaders, social workers, students and ordinary citizens were jailed. It was as if the Congress Government in power at that time placed democracy under arrest!

“No Indian will ever forget the manner in which the spirit of our Constitution was violated, the voice of Parliament muzzled and attempts were made to control the courts. The 42nd Amendment is a prime example of their shenanigans.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday also slammed the Congress on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency,  asserting that people of India will “never accept dictatorship”.

“India overcame that dark chapter because the nation never bows down to dictatorship,” he said, slamming the Opposition, particularly the Congress party, for accusing the ruling dispensation of disregarding the sanctity of the Constitution. “The party that now calls for protecting the Constitution was the one that murdered democracy,” he said, speaking at an event organised by the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Foundation to mark the 50th anniversary of Emergency imposed by the then Congress government led by Indira Gandhi

“Remember the morning when Indira Gandhi announced the Emergency on All India Radio. Was Parliament consulted before this? Were the opposition leaders and citizens taken into confidence…Those who talk about protecting democracy today — were you ‘rakshaks’ (protectors) of the Constitution back then, or its ‘bhakshaks’ (destroyers),” Shah said.

Emergency was imposed in the country on June 25, 1975, after which several opposition leaders were imprisoned, and fundamental rights, including the right to free speech under Article 19(1)(a), suspended. Curbs were also put on the media, and freedom of the press was restricted. Gandhi invoked special constitutional powers to declare Emergency which remained in effect from June 25, 1975, to March 21, 1977, and is seen as one of the darkest periods in India’s history. It also changed the face of Indian politics.

When Emergency was lifted, the people of India elected the country’s first non-Congress government at the Centre and the Congress lost dominance as a top political party