NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday recalled the “dark chapter of Emergency” imposed 50 years ago and urged citizens to remain vigilant to safeguard the Constitution.
In his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address, the PM quoted three prominent politicians from different ideologies, including two former prime ministers, to showcase how people from all walks had joined hands against imposition of Emergency in 1975.
Modi played archival audio recordings of speeches by former prime ministers Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former home minister Jagjivan Ram, recounting the atrocities faced by people during the Emergency period.
The PM quoted Desai as saying, “The oppression that happened for two years... reached its peak when Emergency was imposed on people and people were treated inhumanely.”
Modi added, “This is the voice of the former PM of the country, Morarji Bhai Desai, who spoke about the Emergency in a brief but very clear manner.”
“You can imagine what that period was like. Those who imposed Emergency not only murdered our Constitution but also had the intention to keep the judiciary as their slave,” he said.
The PM noted that over one lakh people were jailed, and politicians like George Fernandes were chained, with many enduring “severe torture” under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).
He mentioned Jagjivan Ram, who called the post-Emergency election “a great campaign to strengthen the foundation of democracy”, and Vajpayee, who described it as “a peaceful revolution” that “threw the killers of democracy into the dustbin of history”.
Shifting to other issues, the PM also mentioned the 10th International Day of Yoga (IDY) on June 21, which saw global participation.
He highlighted events like three lakh people practising yoga on Visakhapatnam beach, 2,000 Adivasi students performing 108 surya namaskars, and ITBP soldiers practising in the Himalayas.
In his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address, the PM quoted three prominent politicians from different ideologies, including two former prime ministers, to showcase how people from all walks had joined hands against imposition of Emergency in 1975.
Modi played archival audio recordings of speeches by former prime ministers Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former home minister Jagjivan Ram, recounting the atrocities faced by people during the Emergency period.
The PM quoted Desai as saying, “The oppression that happened for two years... reached its peak when Emergency was imposed on people and people were treated inhumanely.”
Modi added, “This is the voice of the former PM of the country, Morarji Bhai Desai, who spoke about the Emergency in a brief but very clear manner.”
“You can imagine what that period was like. Those who imposed Emergency not only murdered our Constitution but also had the intention to keep the judiciary as their slave,” he said.
The PM noted that over one lakh people were jailed, and politicians like George Fernandes were chained, with many enduring “severe torture” under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).
He mentioned Jagjivan Ram, who called the post-Emergency election “a great campaign to strengthen the foundation of democracy”, and Vajpayee, who described it as “a peaceful revolution” that “threw the killers of democracy into the dustbin of history”.
Shifting to other issues, the PM also mentioned the 10th International Day of Yoga (IDY) on June 21, which saw global participation.
He highlighted events like three lakh people practising yoga on Visakhapatnam beach, 2,000 Adivasi students performing 108 surya namaskars, and ITBP soldiers practising in the Himalayas.
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