Emergency was blot on democratic history of nation: Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], June 26 (ANI): On the occasion of the completion of 50 years since the imposition of the Emergency in the country, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, during the 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' programme, clearly stated that the Emergency was a blot on the democratic history of the nation.
Recalling the 'serious assault' made by the then government and the Prime Minister on the values of the Constitution, the Chief Minister said that Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas is observed so that the present and future generations of the nation remain aware of this dark chapter and awaken a sense of pride and dignity towards the Constitution.
CM Patel highlighted that during the Emergency years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi disguised himself to fight for the Constitution and democratic values. He pointed out that the then government compromised the Constitution for governance purposes. CM emphasised that the Prime Minister places the Constitution and national interest above all, showcasing profound respect for it to the nation and the world.
The Chief Minister said that while the Emergency was imposed when the Constitution completed 25 years, diminishing its glory, on the 60th anniversary of the Constitution, PM Modi, as the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, honoured it through a Samvidhaan Gaurav Yatra with the Constitution placed atop a royal elephant.
The Chief Minister reiterated his commitment to upholding the Constitution's spirit--'We the People'--to build Viksit Bharat under the Prime Minister's leadership. This will be achieved through 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas.'
The Prime Minister has enacted significant reforms, such as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, abolishing Triple Talaq, and the Citizenship Amendment Act, while respecting constitutional values. He has also protected citizens' interests by abrogating Articles 35A and 370 to build Akhand Bharat. The Chief Minister emphasised his role in safeguarding the Constitution for the nation's benefit.
Law and Judiciary Minister Rushikesh Patel, calling the citizens the guardians of democracy, stated that to ensure India, governed by democratic principles, never strays towards dictatorship, it is essential for citizens to remain aware of their fundamental rights.
'In the past, the then government imposed the Emergency and snatched away these rights. Therefore, under the guidance of PM Modi, the Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas-2025 programme is being organised across the country to raise public awareness so that today's youth can learn from this event and such a grave mistake is never repeated,' he said.
The minister elaborated on the idea behind celebrating Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas, stating that as per the Indian Constitution, citizens are entitled to several fundamental rights from birth, including freedom of speech and expression. In the past, on this very day--at midnight on June 25, 1975--the then government misused Article 352 of the Constitution to impose Emergency in the country in order to maintain its dominance and grip on power.
During the Emergency, fundamental constitutional rights of citizens were taken away, and both democracy and the Constitution were attacked. Today marks the completion of 50 years of that disgraceful incident. The day is being commemorated as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' to raise public awareness about it.
During the event, retired judge of the Gujarat High Court and legal expert Ravikumar Tripathi provided detailed insights on the Indian Constitution, the fundamental rights enshrined in it, amendments made to it in the past, misuse of various constitutional provisions, and the imposition of Emergency in 1975. He also sensitised the citizens about their constitutional rights. Additionally, Commissioner of Youth Services and Cultural Activities Department Alok Kumar Pandey extended a formal welcome and presented a holistic overview of the event at the start of the programme.
The Chief Minister, along with dignitaries and citizens, watched a documentary and a play about the Emergency.
The programme was attended by Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation Mayor Miraben Patel, Gandhinagar North MLA Rita Patel, Secretary of the Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Department K M Lala, Gandhinagar District Collector, M K Dave, Gandhinagar District Development Officer, B J Patel, as well as various officials of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation, government officers and employees, and a large number of citizens. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Complaint filed against RSS general secretary Hosabale over Preamble remarks
A police complaint has been filed against Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, accusing him of making 'unconstitutional, inflammatory and divisive' comments and seeking legal action against him. RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale stoked a political controversy last week over his comments on the Preamble of the Constitution (PTI) The complaint, filed by members of the Karnataka legal cell of the Indian Youth Congress, said that Hosabale's recent comments seeking to remove the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution were an 'attack on the constitutional ethos' and an 'incitement against the nation's founding values'. The complaint was filed at the Seshadripuram Police Station in Bengaluru on Sunday. While the police acknowledged the receipt of the complaint, no FIR was filed till the time of going to print. 'I am filing this complaint in the interest of protecting the sanctity of the Constitution of India and preserving public order and constitutional values as a dutiful citizen of India,' the complainant, Shreedhar MM, a representative of the Youth Congress, said. 'These remarks are not just ideational commentary. They are deliberate, provocative, and dangerous.' The complaint said that Hosabale's speech violated several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and amounted to 'an attempt to marginalize religious communities and promote disharmony'. 'These are not protected political speech,' the complainant wrote. 'They are an incitement to constitutional subversion and fall within the purview of cognizable criminal offenses.' The RSS leader stoked a political controversy last week, when, speaking at an event in Delhi on Thursday, he said, 'During the Emergency, two words, secular and socialist, were added to the Constitution, which were not part of the original Preamble. Later, these words were not removed. Should they remain or not… a debate must happen on this. These two words were not in Dr Ambedkar's Constitution. During the Emergency, the country had no functioning Parliament, no rights, no judiciary and yet these two words were added.' The changes were among those made in the contentious 42nd Amendment, passed in 1976. Citing his speech, the Congress workers sought legal action against Hosabale. 'Such attempts to publicly erode constitutional values must be treated with utmost seriousness and urgency,' the complainant added. 'A clear message must be sent that no one is above the Constitution.'
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Political row snowballs over demolition drives in Delhi
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday got into a war of words over demolition drives being undertaken in the Capital. While the AAP's national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the BJP-led Delhi government has gone back on its pre-poll promise of not disrupting slum clusters, BJP's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said that Kejriwal had built a 'Sheeshmahal' for himself and questioned why slum dwellers were not given flats in Narela and Bawana, as the BJP has done. A demolition drive in Wazirpur on June 16. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo) On Sunday morning, Kejriwal led a protest rally at Jantar Mantar, wherein he attacked the BJP and accused it of 'ruining Delhi in just five months.' Urging slum dwellers to protest against demolition drives, he said they must not vote for the BJP or the Congress in future elections. Sachdeva, meanwhile, called Kejriwal's public rally a 'flop' and said the AAP leaders 'once again exposed their anarchic and unconstitutional character'. He said that the AAP leadership had been spreading confusion for a month, but 'the slum dwellers of Delhi have rejected this false campaign.' At Jantar Mantar, Kejriwal said, 'Prime Minister Narendra Modi (in run up to elections) had said 'Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Makan', but what he meant was 'Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Maidan'. His promises are false and I urge you not to fall for them in future.' 'We had left a perfectly fine Delhi. But these people have ruined it. There are long power cuts, school fees have been hiked, and their ministers and MLAs are busy looting Delhi,' Kejriwal alleged. At the rally, dubbed as 'Ghar-Rozgar Bachao' movement, he urged the slum dwellers to unite. 'There are 40 lakh slum dwellers in the city. If you take to the roads, they will be forced to stop the demolitions,' Kejriwal said. 'The Anna movement started from this Jantar Mantar and it removed the Congress from power. From here, a new movement will begin, and the BJP's hold on power will also be shaken,' he said. In his 16-minute-long address, he also accused the BJP of targeting AAP leaders by lodging FIRs against them. 'Stop this game of FIRs and work for the people,' he said. Hundreds of rally participants were carrying placards with messages to save jhuggies and livelihoods, while some held images of the Constitution. 'I have four daughters who used to go to school but now cannot as they have to work,' said Santoshi Maurya, a resident of Jailorwala Bagh, whose house was demolished. 'Around 500 of us have not been allotted flats yet, despite having all the documents. The documents which the government allowed me to vote with, are now not enough,' she added. The political row comes amid a series of demolition drives at Wazirpur, Taimoor Nagar, Madrasi Camp, and Kalkaji, among other places. Delhi BJP chief Sachdeva alleged that the 'AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Gopal Rai, and others, in the name of slum dwellers, incited their workers to storm the Prime Minister's residence.' 'Ordinary slum residents in Delhi were asking Kejriwal: 'You've built a 'Sheeshmahal' for yourself in ten years — why haven't you allocated flats to the poor in places like Narela or Bawana?' he said. Sachdeva said that the BJP government was committed to giving a better life to slum dwellers, who were compelled to live in 'hellish conditions' along drains and railway tracks. 'Just as we have resettled slum dwellers from Kalkaji, Jailorwala Bagh, Kalandar Colony, and Kathputli Colony, going forward, through the 'Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makan' campaign, we will continue to provide new homes and new lives to slum residents,' he said. Delhi Congress chief Devendra Yadav said that Kejriwal was 'baking political bread' on the plight of the poor slum dwellers, as the AAP had failed to provide them a better life by implementing the in-situ construction of flats started by the Congress government. 'Over 11 years, the AAP government neither constructed any flat for the slum dwellers nor allotted the 45,000 flats constructed by the Congress government under the Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojna. Kejriwal is now shedding crocodile tears,' he said.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Will contest polls ‘for Bihar', says Chirag
1 2 Patna: Union minister Chirag Paswan on Sunday said he would contest the upcoming assembly elections "not in Bihar, but for Bihar," brushing aside what he described as attempts by jittery opponents to block his political path. Addressing a rally titled 'Bahujan Bhim Sankalp Samagam' at Rajgir in Nalanda, CM Nitish Kumar 's home district, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president appealed to the public to remain vigilant against what he called a "false narrative" being peddled by the opposition INDIA bloc. Paswan accused the alliance of misleading the public by claiming the Constitution and reservation would be in danger if PM Narendra Modi returned to power. "They tried the same scare tactics in the Lok Sabha election, but people didn't believe them and stood with PM Modi," he said. Taking aim at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Union food processing minister said, "These days, Rahul roams around waving the red book of the Constitution. But when will he apologise for the Emergency imposed by his grandmother Indira Gandhi, which was the real murder of the Constitution?" He added that those supporting the INDIA bloc were once victims of the Emergency. "Back then, some of them went to jail under Indira Gandhi's regime. Today they are aligning with the same Congress party. Jayaprakash ji gave the slogan of Sampoorna Kranti to overthrow the Congress. Lalu was with him then. Now he stands with the Congress that insulted JP," Paswan said. The Hajipur MP also hit out at RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, mocking his promise to bring change in 20 months if elected. "He should first return the land he got in exchange for jobs during his father Lalu Prasad's tenure as railway minister," he said. Paswan recalled his 2020 slogan 'Bihar First, Bihari First' and said it had caused discomfort to many back then. "Now that I'm returning to Bihar, their discomfort has only grown. Every drop of my blood is for Bihar. As long as Chirag Paswan is alive, there is no threat to the Constitution or to reservation," he said, urging voters to re-elect the NDA in Bihar.
