Emergency 1975: Amit Shah said "Leaders in the Congress were feeling suffocated"
Highlights
- Amit Shah criticised "one family" for turning nation into a "prison"
- Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala hit back at the BJP
- Emergency that lasted till 1977 saw civil liberties being restricted
Home Minister Amit Shah today tweeted to honour those who fiercely opposed the Emergency as India completed 45 years since former prime minister Indira Gandhi took extreme freedom-curtailing measures in June 1975.
The Emergency that lasted till March 1977 saw civil liberties being restricted and political dissent was suppressed.
Alluding to the Gandhis, Mr Shah criticised "one family" for turning the nation into a "prison" overnight.
"On this day, 45 years ago one family's greed for power led to the imposition of the Emergency. Overnight the nation was turned into a prison. The press, courts, free speech... all were trampled over. Atrocities were committed on the poor and downtrodden," Mr Shah tweeted.
"Due to efforts of lakhs of people, the Emergency was lifted. Democracy was restored in India but it remained absent in the Congress. The interests of one family prevailed over party interests and national interests. This sorry state of affairs thrives in today's Congress too!" the Home Minister tweeted.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala hit back at the BJP. "As India's ruling party, BJP needs to answer: Why is its majoritarian rule described as Govt of 2 people only & all others as mere side kicks? Why is horse trading, mass defections & institution capture its only legacy? Why is it obsessed in its vile hatred of Nehru-Gandhi's?" he tweeted.
BJP chief JP Nadda also tweeted to honour the leaders who fought to restore civil liberties and end the emergency.
"India salutes all the leaders who, despite enduring torture, fiercely opposed the Emergency. It was the tenacity of our satyagrahis that India's democratic values successfully won over a totalitarian mindset," Mr Nadda tweeted.
He posted a photo message with the heading "The dark chapter of Emergency."
The announcement of the Emergency was made on June 25, 1975, days after the Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices and disbarred her as a parliamentarian for six years.
For much of the Emergency, most of Indira Gandhi's political opponents were jailed and the press was censored. Several other human rights violations were reported. The Emergency remains one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history.