Cong glorified its Jail Yatras, real revolutionaries went to Kala Pani: Jitendra
Jammu, June 27 (UNI) Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Friday said that Congress glorified its Jail Yatras while real revolutionaries went to Kala Pani.
Addressing a press conference here to mark 50 years since the declaration of Emergency in 1975, describing it as the darkest blot on Indian democracy, Dr Singh exposed what he called the decades-old DNA of Congress marked by nepotism, authoritarianism, and suppression of democratic values, warning that while Emergency may have formally ended, its mindset still persists in some political quarters.
Dr. Singh underlined that the seeds of authoritarian tendencies were sown long before 1975.
'Before the nation began voting for Narendra Modi, this psyche of entitlement had already taken root,' he said. Referring to the Congress Presidential elections of 1946, he recalled how 12 out of 15 Pradesh Congress Committees voted for Sardar Patel, but Jawaharlal Nehru was imposed as Prime Minister under Gandhiji's pressure, despite Patel's overwhelming mandate.
'This was the first betrayal of democracy — when the popular choice was overruled for dynastic favoritism,' Dr. Singh said, quoting Dr. Rajendra Prasad who had remarked, 'Gandhi has once again sacrificed his trusted lieutenant in favor of glamour.'
Dr. Singh called out the Congress leadership's glorification of jail-time, pointing out that most leaders were imprisoned post-1933, under far more comfortable conditions than revolutionaries like Veer Savarkar and Comrade Dhanwantri, who endured Kala Pani.
'Had Discovery of India been written before 1933, it would have been from a colonial dungeon, not a jail library,' he quipped.
Dr Singh chronicled how Indira Gandhi was installed as Prime Minister in 1966 by K. Kamaraj under the assumption she would be a puppet. But within three years, she split the Congress, disrespected internal democracy, and laid the groundwork for authoritarianism.
'Her lust for control created Sanjay Gandhi's extra-constitutional power center, where real power was usurped from democratic institutions,' he said.
Referring to PN Haksar who was a Kashmiri Pandit, her own Principal Secretary, Dr. Singh quoted, 'She is blind where that boy (Sanjay) is concerned,' pointing to her compromised judgment in the face of dynastic emotion.
Recalling the historic student movements of 1974, Dr. Singh described how the youth of Gujarat and Bihar sparked a revolution against Indira's misrule, culminating in the Allahabad High Court's 1975 judgment that found her guilty of electoral malpractices.
'Instead of stepping down, she imposed Emergency, arrested dissenters, censored the press, and suspended civil liberties,' he said.
Dr Singh lambasted the infamous 42nd Constitutional Amendment, branding it the most 'notorious assault' on India's democratic spirit.
"They extended the life of Parliament from 5 to 6 years, introduced the terms secular and socialist opportunistically, and muffled every voice of dissent,' he thundered.
Highlighting how this abuse extended even to Jammu and Kashmir, he said, 'The Emergency allowed Congress to misuse Article 370 to extend the J&K Assembly term to six years. The reversal came only in 2019, under the leadership of PM Modi.'
Dr. Singh further said, 'Like Raj Kapoor's famous line in film 'Awara' — 'You are punishing me, but the gutter I came from still exists' — the Congress mindset of suppressing truth, glorifying dynasty, and throttling democracy still haunts us.'
He warned against whitewashing the past, saying, 'We must remember every stain — not to glorify it, but to remind future generations who betrayed democracy. If we erase the memory of Emergency, we risk inviting its shadows again.'
In conclusion, Dr. Jitendra Singh gave a clarion call 'If we want India's democratic journey to continue uninterrupted, we must constantly guard against those who disguise dictatorship in the garb of legacy. The Emergency may be history, but the mindset behind it is a threat that must be defeated — intellectually, politically, and democratically.'
UNI VBH GNK 2010
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