Latest news with #Emergency-era
Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in Constitution': Kharge slams RSS leader over Preamble
The political debate over the words 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Preamble of the Constitution ensued with the Congress reiterating its vehement opposition to a few BJP leaders' suggestions to remove the Emergency-era terms. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday hit out at RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale calling him a 'man of Manusmriti' and asserted that the grand old party will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in the Constitution. 'He doesn't want the poor class people to come up. And what was practiced thousands of years ago, he wants the same to continue. That's why he doesn't like socialism, secularism and liberty, equality and fraternity,' Kharge said. Claiming that it was not Hosabale's suggestion to remove the words, rather of the RSS, Kharge said, 'RSS is always against the poor people, the downtrodden and Scheduled Caste and other communities. If they are so interested, they could have removed untouchability. They claim they are the champions of the Hindu religion. If they are so, they should remove untouchability.' 'Instead of that, simply talking, making noise and creating confusion in the country–that is very bad, and we are against it. The party will fight tooth and nail if any word is touched in the Constitution,' Kharge added. The row kicked off after Hosabale made a pitch for a discussion on whether the words 'socialist' and 'secular', inserted in the Preamble of the Constitution during the Emergency days, should continue to remain. He made the remarks during an event on the Emergency and he said, 'the preamble of the Constitution Baba Saheb Ambedkar made never had these words.' 'During the Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not work, and judiciary became lame, then these words were added.' The RSS leader said discussions were held on this issue later but no effort was made to remove them from the Preamble. 'So whether they should remain in the Preamble should be considered,' he added. Later, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jitendra Singh, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma followed suit questioning the Emergency-era amendment of the Preamble.
Hans India
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Intended to keep judiciary enslaved
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday recalled the Emergency imposed 50 years ago, calling it one of the darkest chapters in India's democratic history in his monthly Mann ki Baat address. Referring to the Emergency imposed in 1975, Modi said, "Those who imposed Emergency not only murdered the spirit of the Constitution but also tried to suppress the judiciary as puppets. "He said the country marked 50 years since the Emergency was imposed a few days ago and observed it as 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas'. "We must remember those who bravely fought against Emergency. This inspires us to remain vigilant to safeguard our Constitution," he said. During the address, the Prime Minister also played archival audio recordings of speeches by leaders such as Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Jagjivan Ram, who had recounted the atrocities faced by people during the Emergency period. The Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, and lasted 21 months until March 1977. It was marked by the suspension of civil liberties, press censorship, and widespread arrests of political leaders. Modi's criticism of the Emergency-era actions, delivered without directly naming the Congress or then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, came at a time when the ruling BJP and opposition parties are engaged in a sharp exchange, with the opposition alleging that an undeclared Emergency exists under the Modi government.
India Today
29-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Those behind Emergency wanted to enslave judiciary: PM Modi in Mann Ki Baat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday played remarks of leading anti-Emergency politicians in his monthly radio broadcast to slam the then-Congress government for atrocities on people, and said they should always be remembered as it inspires people to stay alert to keep the Constitution in his Mann Ki Baat programme, Modi said those who imposed the Emergency not only murdered the Constitution but also made the judiciary their condemnation of the Congress for the Emergency-era excesses, without naming the party or the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, came amid an ongoing bitter war of words between the ruling BJP and opposition parties, which have claimed that an undeclared Emergency prevails under the Modi , , BJP (@BJP4India) June 29, 2025 Modi said in his address that with the power of public participation, big crises can be said, "I will play an audio for you. In this audio you will get an idea of the magnitude of that crisis. How grave that crisis was."advertisementIn the audio, Morarji Desai, the prime minister after the Emergency, said the "oppression" of the Indira Gandhi regime was going on for several years but reached its peak in the last two years after the Emergency was said, "People's right to freedom was snatched away, newspapers were left without freedom. Courts were made completely powerless. And the way more than one lakh people were put in jail and then arbitrary rule continued, it is difficult to find its traces in the history of the world."Modi said in the broadcast that people were tortured on a large scale during the Emergency for the 21-month period between 1975 and 1977. There are countless examples of atrocities on people that cannot be forgotten, he also played bits of speeches of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former deputy PM Jagjivan Ram related to the Fernandes was shackled, he noted and recalled that anyone could be arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) at that were harassed and freedom of expression throttled, he of people were arrested and subjected to inhuman treatment, but it is the strength of Indians that they did now bow and accept any compromise with democracy, he finally won, the Emergency was lifted and those who imposed it lost, he that the 50th anniversary of the Emergency was commemorated recently as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas', he said those who fought against it must always be Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975 by the then prime minister Indira the defeat of the Indira Gandhi government in 1977, Vajpayee said, according to the audio, "Whatever happened in the country cannot be called just an election. A peaceful revolution has taken place. The wave of people's power has thrown the killers of democracy into the dustbin of history."Modi said, "We should always remember all those people who fought the Emergency with fortitude. This inspires us to remain constantly vigilant to keep our Constitution strong and enduring."- EndsTune InMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Narendra Modi
NDTV
29-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
"Those Who Fought Emergency Should Always Be Remembered": PM Modi On Mann Ki Baat
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday played remarks of leading anti-Emergency politicians in his monthly radio broadcast to slam the then Congress government for atrocities on people, and said they should always be remembered as it inspires people to stay alert to keep the Constitution strong. Speaking in his Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast, PM Modi said those who imposed the Emergency not only murdered the Constitution but also made judiciary their puppet. His condemnation of the Congress for the Emergency-era excesses without naming the party of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi came amid an ongoing bitter war of words between the ruling BJP and opposition parties, which have claimed that an undeclared Emergency prevails under the PM Modi government. PM Modi said people were tortured on a large scale during the Emergency for the 21-month period between 1975 and 1977. There are many examples which cannot be forgotten, he added. He played bits of speeches of former prime minister Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former deputy PM Jagjivan Ram related to the period. George Fernandes was shackled, he noted and recalled that anyone could be arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) at that time. Students were harassed and freedom of expression throttled, he added. Thousands of people were arrested and subjected to inhuman treatment, but it is the strength of Indians that they did now bow and accept any compromise with democracy, he said. People finally won, the Emergency was lifted and those who imposed it lost, he said. Noting that the 50th anniversary of Emergency was commemorated recently as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas', he said those who fought against it must always be remembered. The Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975 by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The Hindu
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
‘Mann ki Baat': Those who fought Emergency should always be remembered, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (June 29, 2025) played remarks of leading anti-Emergency politicians in his monthly radio broadcast to slam the then Congress government for atrocities on people, and said they should always be remembered as it inspires people to stay alert to keep the Constitution strong. Speaking in his Mann Ki Baat programme, Mr. Modi said those who imposed the Emergency not only murdered the Constitution but also made judiciary their puppet. His condemnation of the Congress for the Emergency-era excesses without naming the party or the then prime minister Indira Gandhi came amid an ongoing bitter war of words between the ruling BJP and opposition parties, which have claimed that an undeclared Emergency prevails under the Modi government. Mr. Modi said in his address that with the power of public participation, big crises can be confronted. He said, "I will play an audio for you. In this audio you will get an idea of the magnitude of that crisis. How grave that crisis was." In the audio, Morarji Desai, the prime minister after the Emergency, said the "oppression" of the Indira Gandhi regime was going on for several years but reached its peak in the last two years after the Emergency was imposed. Desai said, "People's right to freedom was snatched away, newspapers were left without freedom. Courts were made completely powerless. And the way more than one lakh people were put in jail and then arbitrary rule continued, it is difficult to find its traces in the history of the world." Mr. Modi said in the broadcast that people were tortured on a large scale during the Emergency for the 21-month period between 1975 and 1977. There are countless examples of atrocities on people that cannot be forgotten, he added. He also played bits of speeches of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former deputy PM Jagjivan Ram related to the period. George Fernandes was shackled, he noted and recalled that anyone could be arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) at that time. Students were harassed and freedom of expression throttled, he added. Thousands of people were arrested and subjected to inhuman treatment, but it is the strength of Indians that they did now bow and accept any compromise with democracy, he said. People finally won, the Emergency was lifted and those who imposed it lost, he said. Noting that the 50th anniversary of Emergency was commemorated recently as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas', he said those who fought against it must always be remembered. The Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975 by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. After the defeat of the Indira Gandhi government in 1977, Vajpayee said, according to the audio, "Whatever happened in the country cannot be called just an election. A peaceful revolution has taken place. The wave of people's power has thrown the killers of democracy into the dustbin of history." Mr. Modi said, "We should always remember all those people who fought the Emergency with fortitude. This inspires us to remain constantly vigilant to keep our Constitution strong and enduring."
