Govt to observe June 25 as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' to commemorate Emergency

Another headline grabbing exercise, says Cong

PTI, NEW  DELHI,  JULY  12, 2024 : The Union government on Friday said it will observe June 25, the date Emergency was declared in 1975, as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” annually to pay tribute to those who suffered and fought against “the gross abuse of power” during the period.

The Emergency lasted till March 1977.

In a gazette notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the date was being declared as the Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas, or day of murder of the Constitution, to “recommit the people of India to not support in any manner such gross abuse of power, in future”.

The people “have abiding faith in the Constitution” and the “power of India’s resilient democracy”, read the gazette notification.

In a social media post, Union home minister Amit Shah said that on June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi, the prime minister at the time, had “strangled the soul of Indian democracy by imposing Emergency” by “showing her dictatorial mindset”.

“Lakhs of people were jailed without any reason and the voice of the media was suppressed,” said Shah. “[Observing the Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas] will remind us of the immense contribution of all those people who suffered the inhuman pain of the Emergency of 1975.”

Shah said that the decision aims to honour the struggle of millions of individuals “who fought to revive democracy despite facing innumerable tortures and oppression of the dictatorial government”.

The observance of the day will help keep alive the “eternal flame of protecting democracy and individual freedom inside every Indian so that no dictatorial mentality like that of the Congress can repeat it in the future”, the Union home minister added.

On June 26, newly-elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out a resolution describing the imposition of the Emergency in 1975 by the Congress government as a “black chapter” in India’s history.

Congress leaders accused Birla of adopting a “confrontational” stance against the Opposition at the start of the 18th Lok Sabha’s first Parliament session. Congress MPs also shouted slogans against the resolution.

Later that day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was glad that Birla had “strongly condemned the Emergency” and “highlighted the excesses committed during that time”.

The Opposition INDIA bloc fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election partly on the plank of protecting the Constitution, which they alleged is under attack from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

During the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha last month, several Opposition MPs carried copies of the Constitution to Parliament.

However, the Congress the government's move, terming it yet another "headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress' reaction came after the Home Minister Amit Shah made the announcement. Congress general secretary (in-charge, communications), Jairam Ramesh said: 

"Yet another headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-biological PM who had imposed an undeclared Emergency for ten long years before the people of India handed him a decisive personal, political, and moral defeat on June 4, 2024 - which will go down in history as Modi Mukti Diwas." 

"This is a non-biological PM who has subjected the Constitution of India and its principles, values, and institutions to systematic assault," Ramesh said on X. 

"This is a non-biological PM whose ideological parivar had rejected the Constitution of India in Nov 1949 on the grounds that it did not derive inspiration from Manusmriti. This is a non-biological PM for whom democracy means only demo-kursi," the Congress leader said.