Agartala, June 25: As part of a nationwide program, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Agartala a protest rally on Tuesday, condemning the proclamation of the Emergency in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, led by the Congress party.
Ashim Bhattacharjee, BJP Sadar district president, remarked that even today, the memory of the Emergency evokes deep-seated fear, describing it as a “black day” in the history of independent India.
June 25 marks the 50th anniversary of the Emergency’s proclamation, and the BJP has termed this period as the “Dark Days of Democracy.”
The nationwide campaign of BJP aims to expose the “Congress party’s authoritarianism” and “disregard for the Constitution.”
On June 25, 1975, the late Indira Gandhi announced the imposition of Emergency in a broadcast on All India Radio. This announcement came shortly after the Supreme Court granted a conditional stay on an Allahabad High Court verdict that declared her election to the Lok Sabha null and void.
The 21-month Emergency period was notorious for forced mass sterilizations, censorship of the press, suspension of constitutional rights, and centralization of power.
