Modi recalls 'dark' days of Emergency

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reminded people of the “dark night” when the Emergency was imposed in India on this day in 1975 under the then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s regime.

“June 25, 1975 — it was a dark night that no devotee of democracy can ever forget. No Indian can ever forget. The country had virtually become a prison,” he said during Mann Ki Baat, his monthly radio address. The voice of the Opposition had been smothered, he recalled.

“Several prominent leaders, including Jayaprakash Narayan, had been jailed. The judicial system, too, could not escape the sinister shadows of the Emergency. The press was completely muffled,” Modi said. “The believers of democracy fought a prolonged war and the great nation that India is, where the spirit of democracy pervades the very being of all its people, the strength of that spirit was demonstrated when the opportunity of elections came.

We have to further fortify that legacy,” he added, referring to the defeat of the then Congress government in the elections post-Emergency.

Cong slams NDA govt

On Sunday, the Congress hit back and accused the NDA government of imposing an “undeclared emergency” on the country during its regime, referring to the recent CBI action against NDTV promoters Prannoy Roy and his wife, Radhika.