Shah releases book on Emergency on Samvidhan Hatya Diwas
New Delhi, June 25 (UNI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah today released a book, titled 'The Emergency Diaries - Years that Forged a Leader', a compilation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's experiences during the anti-Emergency movement, at an event to mark 'Savidhan Hatya Diwas'.
In his address, Shah said this book mentions Narendra Modi's work as a young Sangh Pracharak during the Emergency, how he fought by remaining underground during the 19-month-long movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan and Nanaji Deshmukh, a Home Ministry statement said.
The book details how he went to the homes of people jailed under the MISA Act and talked to their families and arranged for their treatment. The book describes Modi distributed many newspapers published secretly in markets, squares, among students and women, and that he led the struggle as a 25-year-old youth of Gujarat, Shah said.
He said that Modi used to work underground at that time, sometimes as a saint, sometimes as a Sardarji, sometimes as a hippie, sometimes as an incense stick seller or sometimes as a newspaper seller.
"The Emergency was imposed to re-instate dynastic politics, but Modi went door-to-door, village-to-village and city-to-city to protest against it, and finally he uprooted the dynastic politics from the entire country in 2014," the Home Minister said.
He said that there are five chapters in this book on media censorship, government repression, the struggle of the Sangh and Jansangh, description of the victims of the Emergency and from dictatorship to public participation.
Shah appealed to the youth of the country to read this book so that they can know that the youth who fought against the dictatorship in his early days is the same youth who is strengthening the roots of democracy in this country, and he is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Present on the occasion were Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta among others.
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The day is observed by the government as 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas.'The meeting of the Union Cabinet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Senior journalist Rajat Sharma, who was jailed for 10 months during the Emergency, recalled the 'dark night' when it was imposed and senior political leaders arrested, the struggles he endured and his attempts to keep up the flame of democracy and flow of information by bringing out a 'cyclostyled newspaper' that was then delivered to homes of people. In an interview with ANI, Rajat Sharma recalled being part of Jayaprakash Narayan's student protest. The senior journalist, who is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of INDIA TV, recounted facing police sticks after arrest but not having fear in his mind. 'I still remember that particular dark night almost 50 years ago when Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency to save her chair. We were all a part of Jayaprakash Narayan's student protest. We got to know that all big leaders of the country, including Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prakash Singh Badal, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Raj Narayan, LK Advani, all of them were arrested and sent to different places in the country, like Ambala, Rohtak, Bengaluru,' Rajat Sharma said. Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for observing Emergency Day as a 'black day', saying that the party is tarnishing the very Constitution that gave it power. The CM also reaffirmed Congress' role in building democracy in India and called the BJP's criticism an insult to democratic values. 'Congress established democracy and framed the Constitution. Today, BJP is observing 'Murder of Democracy Day' by defaming that very Constitution. It is this Constitution that brought them to power, and now they are disrespecting it,' Sukhu said, taking a direct dig at the BJP government's campaign of observing June 25 as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas.' The Indira Gandhi government had imposed the Emergency on June 25, 1975. The day is observed by the government as 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas 'The meeting of the Union Cabinet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Union Cabinet resolved to commemorate and honour the sacrifices of countless individuals who valiantly resisted the Emergency and its attempt 'at subversion of the spirit of the Indian Constitution, a subversion which began in 1974 with a heavy-handed attempt at crushing the Navnirman Andolan and Sampoorna Kranti Abhiyan'. 'The year 2025 marks 50 years of the Samvidhan Hatya Diwas - an unforgettable chapter in the history of India where the Constitution was subverted, the Republic and democratic spirit of India was attacked, federalism was undermined, and fundamental rights, human liberty and dignity were suspended,' the resolution said. (ANI)
