On Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi greeted the people for Ramzan and Rath Yatra.
Highlights
- "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," PM Modi said in Mann ki Baat
- "No Indian, no patriot can ever forget the 1975 Emergency," he said
- "Nation had turned prison and the press became ineffective," he said
Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who is currently on a visit to the US -- has greeted the people on the occasion of Eid and Rath Yatra. June 25 also being the 42nd anniversary of the Emergency imposed on the country, he recalled what he dubbed the "darkest day in the history of India" on his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat.
"Eternal vigilance is price of liberty," PM Modi said. Democracy, he said, is not only a system but also our ethos and one needs to move forward keeping in mind what harms democracy.
"No Indian, no patriot can ever forget the 1975 Emergency," PM Modi said. "June 25 was the darkest day in the history of India and its democracy as the whole nation had turned into a prison and the press had become ineffective," PM Modi said. "Not even judiciary was spared from authoritarianism."
The Emergency, he said, will be remembered for the way in which people of India came together and safeguarded the democratic values.
Recalling how the nation's leaders had fought against Emergency, he also read out a poem penned by senior BJP leader and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his stay in jail at the time.
The Prime Minister also said Clean India has turned into a "people's movement" and Muslims of Mubarakpur in Uttar Pradesh have turned the holy month of Ramzan into an "opportunity to serve the society".
The people, he said, had been provided Rs 17 lakh from the government to build toilets. But they have refused to accept the funds, saying they would raise the money on their own, PM Modi said.