RSS BJP recall ‘horrors of Emergency’ on its 50th anniversary eve

Bengaluru, Jun 24 (PTI) RSS and BJP leaders on Tuesday recalled the "horrors of the Emergency" on the eve of the 50th anniversary of its imposition by the then Prime Minister, the late Indira Gandhi.

    At an event organised by Citizens for Social Justice, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy, and artist C S Krishna Shetty reflected on the draconian era when "civil liberties and citizens’ rights were curtailed".
    Speaking on the occasion, Yediyurappa said, “Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency in the country in 1975. Our sacred Constitution was sacrificed for her lust for power.”
    The BJP Central Parliamentary Board member recalled how fundamental rights, freedom of the press, judicial independence, and public rights were suppressed by “strangling the voices of freedom to sustain tyrannical rule.”
    “The Hitlerite misrule of power-hungry leaders still ignites anger. The sole reason behind the imposition of the Emergency was to remain in power by controlling the judiciary, executive, and legislative systems,” Yediyurappa added.
    Narrating the horrors of the Emergency, the former Chief Minister said democracy was strangled and chaos prevailed.
    “The Congress party, which led the freedom struggle, stooped to this level for power after independence,” the BJP veteran charged.
    Columnist and economic thinker S Gurumurthy, delivering the keynote address, referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent statements after his 2024 election victory, where he displayed the Constitution and vowed to protect it.
    Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Gurumurthy said, “Rahul Gandhi doesn’t seem to realise that his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, disregarded the same Constitution during the Emergency.”
    He questioned whether the Congress party, which imposed the Emergency, has the moral or legal right to talk about the Constitution, constitutional rights, or freedom.
    “June 25 is considered the day the Constitution was assassinated. It was not just an 18-month shock; the Constitution was amended to enable the dictatorship of a single family,” Gurumurthy alleged.
    He said that ordinary citizens like Jayaprakash Narayan had led the fight against the Emergency.
    Former President of the Central Lalit Kala Akademi and Karnataka Lalithakala Academy, artist Krishna Shetty, recounted the little-known atrocities committed against political prisoners during the Emergency.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)