In an apparent dig at Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the country must never forget how democracy was "murdered, throttled, and backstabbed" during the Emergency, imposed in India on June 25, 1975.
Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi on the occasion of the 79th Independence Day, the Prime Minister noted that it has been 50 years since the Emergency was imposed in the country, as he stressed that the countrymen must dedicate themselves to strengthening the Constitution.
"The Constitution was violated, we were cheated, we were stabbed in the back. India was turned into a prison, and the Emergency was imposed," he said. "No generation in the country should forget this sin of murdering the Constitution. They should not forget the sinners who murdered the Constitution. We should never forget how democracy was murdered, throttled, and backstabbed during the Emergency."
Emergency was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in June 1975, citing internal and external threats to the country. This year, the country also observed the 50th anniversary of the Emergency.
PM Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly criticised Congress for the Emergency. In June, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also released a book titled 'The Emergency Diaries — Years that Forged a Leader', a compilation of PM Modi's experiences during the Emergency.
Talking about the book, PM Modi earlier had said that he was just a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during the Emergency. He said that the Emergency had "reaffirmed the vitality of preserving" the democracy in the country.
"I call upon all those who remember those dark days of the Emergency or those whose families suffered during that time to share their experiences on social media. It will create awareness among the youth of the shameful time from 1975 to 1977," said PM Modi in an 'X' post on June 25, 2025.
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