People who imposed emergency did not just murder democracy but...: PM Modi in Mann Ki Baat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at the Congress party without naming it, saying people who imposed emergency did not just murder democracy but their goal was also to keep judiciary as their puppet, while speaking in the 123rd episode of Mann Ki Baat.

The prime minister added that Emergency was a tough period for India. "George Fernandes was chained up, students didn't have the freedom to express themselves. Democracy had entered a dark period during those years. Under 'MISA', anyone was arrested arbitrarily, people were tortured... Indians refused to compromise on democracy. Finally, people won and Emergency was lifted," Modi said.

Modi said people were tortured on a large scale during the Emergency for the 21-month period between 1975 and 1977. There are many examples which cannot be forgotten, he added.


"Thousands of people were arrested and subjected to inhuman treatment, but it is the strength of Indians that they did now bow and accept any compromise with democracy," he said.

He played bits of speeches of former prime minister Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former deputy PM Jagjivan Ram related to the period..




"People finally won, the Emergency was lifted and those who imposed it lost," he said.

Noting that the 50th anniversary of Emergency was commemorated recently as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas', he said those who fought against it must always be remembered.

Earlier on Wednesday, The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, passed a resolution to commemorate and honour the "sacrifices of countless individuals who valiantly resisted the Emergency" and were subjected to "unimaginable horrors."

In a series of posts on X, PM Modi described the Emergency as the "darkest chapter of Indian democracy" and reaffirmed his government's commitment to strengthening constitutional principles and opposing any attempt to subvert the spirit of the Constitution.

The resolution notes that the year 2025 marks 50 years of Samvidhan Hatya Diwas, a turning point in India's history when, it states, the Constitution was subverted and the democratic spirit of the republic was attacked.