"Youngsters of India should know about history of Emergency": BJP leader Navile Annappa
Jun 25, 2024
Hassan (Karnataka) [India], June 26 : Advocate and former BJP District President of Hassan, Navile Annappa said that the youngsters of India should know about the history of the state of Emergency imposed in 1975 by then-prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Speaking to ANI on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Annapa said, "Today is a black day of Emergency. And cut all the rights of the people of India, freedom of speech, and media... Youngsters of India should know the history of the Emergency," Annappa said.
"Today, the Bharatiya Janata Party has condemned this day as a black day," he said.
Replying to a query, Annappa said, "BJP since the beginning has protected the Constitution of India. While Congress has deviated and amended the Constitution against the view of Baba Saheb Ambedkar".
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi in sharp criticism of the Congress said that the dark days of the Emergency are a reminder of how the Congress Party trampled over the Constitution of India.
Taking to X PM Modi posted, "Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the emergency. The Dark Days of Emergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India, which every Indian respects greatly."
He further said that just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle.
"Just to cling on to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections" the Prime Minister wrote on X.
Naidu on Tuesday said that the Emergency in 1975 had tainted the country's democracy and there should be a lesson in textbooks for students to be made aware of how it came to be imposed in the country.
Speaking on the 50th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency, Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said, "The Emergency has put a taint on the country's democracy. There should be a lesson in the textbooks for all the students about what was and how it was imposed. Students should know that an emergency was imposed and how lakhs of people were arrested."
The Emergency, which is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history, was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from June 25, 1975, to 1977.
There were political arrests, mass forced sterilisation and beautification drives among others during the period.
All key opposition leaders at the time, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, and Jay Prakash Narayanan, among others, were either jailed or placed under detention.
