File Photo: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Terming the Emergency imposed by the then Congress government in 1975 as "darkest hours," Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today ruled out any possibility of its re-imposition in the country.
It were darkest the hours for democracy as both the political class from opposition and press were crushed by those in power, he said, recalling the Emergency, on the sidelines of inauguration of Markfed cannery at Chuharwali village near Jalandhar.
However, Mr Badal said that currently there was no such threat to Indian democracy at this juncture as the routing of Indira Gandhi Government in post-emergency era had given a befitting lesson to anti-democratic forces.
The Chief Minister, who was also imprisoned during the Emergency, said that Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had opposedthe Indira Gandhi Government despite of the feelers sent by the union government to support the move.
However, he said that the SAD followed the footsteps of great Sikh gurus who had always taught them to oppose injustice, tyranny and oppression.
Mr Badal said that it was a matter of conscience and moral values for them due to which the entire Akali leadership fought the battle against emergency from the front and courted arrest against the draconian policies of the then-Congress ruled central government.