'Mann ki Baat': Be vigilant to protect Constitution, says PM Modi

During his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the ordeals that the country and its citizens had to go through during the 1975 National Emergency and emphasised that people should be always vigilant to protect the Constitution.

Modi played three audio clips - of former prime minister Morarji Desai, former deputy PM Babu Jagjivan Ram and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee - on the excesses of the Emergency and the expression of public anger in the elections after it was lifted.

"With the power of public participation, big crises can be confronted," Modi said, before sharing the words of Desai. Modi alleged that those who had imposed Emergency "not only murdered our constitution but also had the intention to keep the judiciary as their slave". He referred to the atrocities on people and the handcuffing of socialist leader George Fernandes.


Recalling the 50th anniversary of the Emergency that fell on June 25, Modi hailed the people who fought it bravely.