Murder of Democracy || People in jail, country in fear and family in power, this is the summary of emergency || Is there an undeclared emergency during the tenure of Modi government too
50 years of emergency have been completed but the horrific memories of this period are still not erased from the minds and hearts of the people of India. On June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared emergency on Indira Gandhi's behest only without the recommendation of the cabinet. The constitution was kept aside, and all civil rights were banned. Democracy was over. This was the most undemocratic, dark and gruesome period of independent India. No civilized Indian can ever forget this and should not forget it. Therefore, the Modi government has decided to celebrate the Constitution Hatya Diwas (The Murder Day of Constitution) on 25th June every year, which is absolutely appropriate.
The biggest thing about the emergency was that it was not imposed to face any threat to the country, but it was imposed due to Indira Gandhi's personal interest. Elections were postponed and normal civil rights were abolished. Freedom of expression was abolished, and the government was running completely arbitrarily. The press was completely banned. MISA (Internal Security Act) was implemented, under which everyone was being put in jail without giving any reason. Opposition leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Morarji Desai were put in jails. Indira Gandhi put all her political opponents and those who were suspected of opposing her in jail.
The real reason for Indira Gandhi imposing emergency on the country was that the Prayagraj High Court had found her guilty of rigging the elections and had banned her from contesting elections for six years and also from holding any government post. Rejecting this order of the High Court, she appealed to the Supreme Court and on 24 June 1975, the Supreme Court partially changed the order of the High Court and allowed her to remain in the post. Reacting to this, Jayaprakash Narayan declared that protests would be held against Indira Gandhi every day across the country until she resigned, but the very next day on 26 June 1975, she declared imposition of Emergency on the country. The case of election rigging was related to the election in which she had defeated his rival Raj Narain, but who had challenged it in the Prayagraj High Court that Indira Gandhi had won the election by misusing the government machinery. This decision, which came four years later, annulled the election of Mrs Gandhi. The Congress Party, which came out completely in support of Indira Gandhi, supported the Emergency, calling her leadership indispensable for the country.
The Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh was banned because Indira Gandhi believed that this organization was close to the opposition leaders and due to its strong organizational base, it could protest against the government. Thousands of volunteers were put in jail. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then a pracharak of the RSS, was underground and involved in the activities of the organization. The whole country was in shock. The opposition that raised its voice for them was put in jail and there was a complete ban on the press. The then Chief Minister of the DMK government, M Karunanidhi criticized the Emergency and called it the beginning of dictatorship, due to which his government was dismissed on 31st January 1976. He was arrested and put in jail. The current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin also had to face torture in Madras Central Jail; it is a different matter that he is standing with the Congress today. The poor and weak sections of society suffered the most, whose livelihood was snatched away, and atrocities were also committed on them.
Sanjay Gandhi was the power center of the Emergency and on his instructions, millions of men were sterilized. People were put in jail without any reason. Incidents like Turkman Gate in Delhi happened in other parts of the country too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while describing the Emergency imposed by the then Congress government as a murder of the Constitution, said that no Indian can ever forget how the spirit of our Constitution was violated, the voice of Parliament was suppressed, and an attempt was made to control the courts. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment is a prime example of their black deeds. People in jail, country in fear and family in power, this is the summary of the Emergency. During the 21-month-long Emergency, the Constitution was amended 4 times, and 48 new ordinances were brought. In the 30th Amendment, the right to challenge the Emergency in court was also taken away, while in the 42nd Amendment, the fundamental rights were weakened, and the power of the judiciary was also limited.
Today, Congress leaders may go around saying that there is an undeclared emergency in the country during the tenure of the Modi government in the last 11 years, but this is nothing but the pain of being out of power and misleading the country to grave the power once again. If there was an undeclared emergency, the language with which Rahul Gandhi often insults the Prime Minister, the Election Commission, questions the constitutional institutions, would not have been possible. How could the Shaheen Bagh and farmers' movements, which caused national damage worth billions of rupees, be continued for a long time despite the undeclared emergency? How Nupur Sharma had to sit imprisoned at home, how an open game of Hindu genocide was played in Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal, how in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin and his deputy chief minister son could say that Sanatan is dengue and malaria. How Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified from parliament, could get relief from the Supreme Court. How the Supreme Court could hear the matter of removal of Article 370 and Wakf Amendment Act.
Rahul Gandhi may roam around with a copy of the constitution in his hand and accuse the BJP government of murdering the constitution and democracy, but it is an undisputed fact that in the states ruled by opposition parties, cartoonists, YouTubers, Journalists and Protesters get arrested on small issues. West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu are vivid examples of this. The day on which the emergency was imposed by Indira Gandhi has been declared as Constitution Hatya Diwas (murder of the constitution) by the Modi Govt. because the constitution dies only when the basic rights of the citizens are taken away, freedom of expression is taken away, freedom of the press is taken away, the courts are insulted and pressure is exerted on them to give decision according to their political wish. If we analyze the period of independent India till now on this basis, we find that the five members of the Gandhi family have murdered the Constitution in some form or the other by their dictatorial behavior. Jawaharlal Nehru had banned many books, films etc. by making the first amendment to the Constitution and had imprisoned many historians, writers, journalists and social workers. Indira Gandhi had declared an emergency to suppress the voice of opposition in contempt of the decision of the High Court. She had put all her political opponents and ordinary citizens in jail. The basic rights and freedom of expression of the citizens were snatched away. Newspapers could not print anything without the permission of the government. In the true sense, no one in the country could oppose Indira Gandhi and her government. Rajiv Gandhi had insulted the Supreme Court in the Shah Bano case by making a law and overturning its decision. Sonia Gandhi, who was indirectly in power during Manmohan Singh's prime minister ship, appointed Naveen Chawla, who was found guilty of the excesses of the Emergency by the Shah Commission and was declared ineligible for any constitutional post, as the Chief Election Commissioner. On Sonia Gandhi's instructions, thousands of protesters were jailed on charges of sedition for opposing election rigging. Rahul Gandhi publicly tore the bill passed by the cabinet. Even today, waving a copy of the Constitution, he attacks and insults constitutional bodies. It is also not hidden from anyone that Rahul Gandhi, who was sentenced to 2 years in a defamation case and was declared ineligible for membership of the Parliament, got his membership restored only by exerting pressure.
We all should keep making efforts so that the Constitution can be protected and this country does not have to face Emergency again. The amendments should be made in the Constitution only when it is in national interest because the nation is bigger than the Constitution and we need to protect and strengthen the nation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shiv Mishra ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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