On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said no Indian will ever forget how the Constitution was disrespected and Parliament was silenced during the Emergency.
In a series of posts on X, Modi said the Emergency was one of the darkest times in India’s democratic history.
“Today marks fifty years since one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history, the imposition of the Emergency. The people of India mark this day as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas. On this day, the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution were set aside, fundamental rights were suspended, press freedom was extinguished and several political leaders, social workers, students and ordinary citizens were jailed. It was as if the Congress Government in power at that time placed democracy under arrest!” Mr. Modi said.
He explained how the rights of citizens were taken away, press freedom was crushed, and many people — including students, activists, and opposition leaders — were jailed.
The 42nd Amendment, which made major changes to the Constitution and was later undone by the Janata Party government, was an example of how the Congress government misused power during the Emergency, he said.
He pointed out that poor and disadvantaged people suffered the most during this time. Their dignity was insulted and their voices silenced.
“We also reiterate our commitment to strengthening the principles in our Constitution and working together to realise our vision of a Viksit Bharat. May we scale new heights of progress and fulfil the dreams of the poor and downtrodden,” Mr. Modi said.
He also said that everyone should pay tribute to those who resisted the Emergency and fought for democracy.
“People from all walks of life and diverse ideologies worked to protect democracy,” he said.
Modi shared that during the Emergency, he was a young RSS Pracharak and that experience taught him a lot.
“When the Emergency was imposed, I was a young RSS Pracharak, and the anti-Emergency movement was a learning experience for me,” Mr. Modi said in a post on X.
“It reaffirmed the vitality of preserving our democratic framework. At the same time, I got to learn so much from people across the political spectrum. I am glad that BlueKraft Digital Foundation has compiled some of those experiences in the form of a book, whose foreword has been penned by Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji, himself a stalwart of the anti-Emergency movement,” Mr. Modi further said.
