Samvidhan Hatya Diwas (Emergency in India): The central government declared June 25 as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’. Home Minister Amit Shah gave this information by posting on social media on Friday, July 12. The government has also issued a notification regarding this.
Shah wrote, ‘On 25 June 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, displaying her dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of Indian democracy by imposing emergency in the country. Lakhs of people were put in jail without any reason and the voice of the media was suppressed.’
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PM called it a dark period, Congress said – another headline-grabbing exercise
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, ‘Celebrating 25 June as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas will remind us of what happened on that day and how the Constitution of India was crushed. This was a dark period brought by the Congress in the history of India.’
On the other hand, the Congress called this decision of the government another headline-grabbing exercise. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, ‘This is another headline-grabbing exercise by the non-biological Prime Minister, who imposed an undeclared emergency for ten years. After that, the people of India gave him a decisive personal, political and moral defeat on June 4, 2024 – which will be known in history as Modi Mukti Diwas.’
What did the government announce today?
Amit Shah today announced that the government has decided to celebrate June 25 as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’. He said that ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ will remember the great contribution of all those who suffered the inhuman pain of the Emergency of 1975. On June 25, 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, introducing a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing Emergency on the country. Lakhs of people were jailed without any fault and the voice of the media was suppressed. Prime Minister Modi wrote on X, “Celebrating June 25 as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas will remind us of what happened when the Constitution of India was crushed. It is also a day to pay tribute to everyone who suffered due to the excesses of the Emergency, which was a dark period brought by the Congress in Indian history.”
Notification has been issued
A notification has also been issued by the Government of India to celebrate 25 June as ‘Constitution Hatya Diwas’. The notification reads, “The Emergency was declared on 25 June 1975, the government of that time grossly misused power and committed excesses and atrocities on the people of India. The people of India have strong faith in the Constitution of the country and India’s strong democracy. Therefore, the Government of India has declared 25 June as ‘Constitution Hatya Diwas’ to pay tribute to all those who faced and struggled against the gross misuse of power during the period of emergency and recommitted the people of India to not support the gross misuse of power in any way in the future.”
Why did the BJP need to take such a step?
In April 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told in Sagar why he wants 400 seats. PM Modi had said in the Sagar rally that Congress wants to give reservation on the basis of religion.
Congress has given reservation on the basis of religion in Karnataka. It wants to implement this formula in the whole country. Modi needs to cross 400 to stop stealing the reservation of Dalits, tribals and OBCs. PM Modi said that I have to protect the reservation of Dalits, tribals and OBCs.
After this, the opposition accused the BJP of being anti-constitution. It said that if the BJP comes to power, it will change the constitution. Experts say that this caused losses to the BJP in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. The opposition protested every day about the constitution in the recent Parliament session. They raised the slogan of Save the Constitution. Most of the opposition MPs, including Rahul and Akhilesh, took oath with a copy of the constitution.
Expert said – there will be no benefit in declaring the day
According to political expert Rashid Kidwai, the kind of mobilization that happened on the constitution before the elections has benefited the opposition. The opposition propagated that the government is going to tamper with the constitution and reservation by winning 400 seats. This made the BJP a little uncomfortable. To counter this, the government declared the Constitution Hatya Diwas. So that those parties and leaders, who were once victims of the excesses of the emergency, would feel uncomfortable in supporting the Congress.
Kidwai says that if the emergency was bad, then the provision of emergency should be removed from the constitution. There will be no benefit in just declaring the day. Even today, many things are being done against the intentions of the constitution.
JDU said- we are with the government; Akhilesh said- emergency is being imposed only in Modi government
JDU leader KC Tyagi said, ‘We appreciate this decision of the central government. He too had the opportunity to go to jail during the Emergency. This also caused trouble to his family members.’
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, ‘In the last 10 years, this government has celebrated Constitution Hatya Diwas every day. You have snatched the self-respect of every poor and deprived section of the country every moment. He enumerated issues like the humiliation of tribals in Madhya Pradesh, the forced cremation of a Dalit girl in Hathras and asked if this is not the murder of the Constitution, then what is it? It does not sound good to talk about the Constitution from the mouth of this government.’
Akhilesh Yadav said, ‘BJP should tell which date it will choose for its dark days. 30 January should be celebrated as ‘Bapu Hatya Diwas’ or ‘Loktantra Hatya Diwas’ as it was on this day that BJP had rigged the mayoral elections in Chandigarh.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, ‘Modi government is imposing the most emergency in the country. This government will not last long. This government is not stable.’
PM had said- Those who impose emergency should not show love for the constitution
This year on 25 June, the 49th anniversary of the Emergency was observed. A day before this, on 24 June, in the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, opposition MPs took oath with a copy of the Constitution. The Prime Minister criticized the Congress for this. He wrote in a post on X that those who imposed the Emergency do not have the right to express love for the Constitution.
PM Modi posted four posts on X one after the other. He said that the mentality due to which the emergency was imposed is still alive in this party. In response to this, Congress leader P Chidambaram said that the public has voted this time to save the country from another emergency. Our constitution itself has reminded the public to prevent another emergency from coming.
PM had mentioned emergency on the first day of the Parliament session
Half an hour before the start of the Parliament session (24 June to 3 July), Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned emergency. 25 June is a day not to be forgotten. On this day, the Constitution was completely rejected. India was turned into a prison. Democracy was completely suppressed.
He had said that while protecting India’s democracy and democratic traditions, the countrymen will take a pledge that no one will ever dare to do what was done at that time. India’s new generation will never forget that the Constitution was completely rejected during the Emergency.Â
Know when and who imposed emergency for 21 months
Emergency was imposed in the country for 21 months on 25 June 1975. President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed the emergency order at the behest of then PM Indira Gandhi. After this, Indira announced emergency on radio.
The roots of the emergency were linked to the Lok Sabha elections of 1971, when Indira defeated Raj Narain of the United Socialist Party by more than one lakh votes in the Rae Bareli seat. But Raj Narain approached the Allahabad High Court alleging rigging in the elections.
On 12 June 1975, the High Court cancelled Indira’s election and barred her from contesting elections for 6 years. She approached the Supreme Court on 23 June 1975. The Supreme Court did not completely stay the High Court’s decision and allowed Indira to remain the Prime Minister. After this, Indira declared emergency in the country.
7 important things related to emergency
1- June 12, 1975: Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of irregularities in the elections held in Rae Bareli and expelled her from the post for six years. Janata Party leader Raj Narayan had filed a complaint in the court after losing the elections in Rae Bareli in 1971.
2- June 24, 1975: The decision of the Allahabad High Court reached the Supreme Court and there too Indira Gandhi got a shock and the decision was upheld but at the same time Indira Gandhi was allowed to remain the Prime Minister.
3- June 25, 1975: Congress leader Jayaprakash Narayan launched a movement demanding Indira’s resignation, which was called ‘Total Revolution’ and protests began across the country.Â
4- 25 June 1975: President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared emergency under Section 352 of the Indian Constitution at the behest of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. During the emergency, elections were postponed and arbitrary actions were taken by abolishing civil rights. Under the constitutional provisions, on the advice of the Prime Minister, he kept extending the period of emergency every six months till 1977.
5- September 1976: Compulsory male sterilisation was introduced. People were forced to go into hiding for a long time to avoid it.Â
6- January 18, 1977: Indira Gandhi dissolved the Lok Sabha and announced general elections in March. All leaders were released.
7- March 23, 1977: The Emergency ended.
