New Delhi: The BJP on Monday said it will launch a national program on the 1975 Emergency to "expose" the Congress' "authoritarianism" and its disregard for the Constitution.
BJP president JP Nadda will address the main event, titled 'Dark Days of Democracy', at its headquarters on Tuesday, party chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said in a statement.
According to Article 352 of the Constitution, the president can proclaim an Emergency if there is a serious threat to the security of the country, whether due to war, external aggression or armed rebellion.
Baluni said: "The Emergency constitutes an unforgettable dark chapter in India's robust democracy. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency on the nation on June 25, 1975, marking a serious curtailment of democratic freedoms."
For the next 21 months, the then Congress government held the country's democracy and Constitution captive, unleashing innumerable atrocities on the people, media and opposition leaders, he claimed.
This period became synonymous with a unilateral "Congress-led tyranny" during which civil rights were abolished and dissenting voices were unjustly imprisoned, said Baluni, who is also a parliamentarian. "Even today, reading this cursed page added to Indian history on June 25, 1975 continues to evoke deep-rooted fear."
"To expose the authoritarianism of the Congress and its disregard for the nation's Constitution, the BJP has launched a nationwide programme," he said.
"BJP national president JP Nadda will speak tomorrow at 12:30 noon at the 'Dark Days of Democracy' keynote event at the party's headquarters in New Delhi," he added.
Late on June 25, 1975, Gandhi made the announcement of the imposition of a state of emergency in an All India Radio broadcast, shortly after the Supreme Court had granted a conditional stay to an Allahabad High Court verdict declaring his election to the Lok Sabha is null and void.
The 21-month period was known for forced mass sterilizations, press censorship, suspension of constitutional rights, and centralization of power.
Baluni said BJP leaders, functionaries and karyakartas will take part in programs across the country "to protest" against the imposition of Emergency in 1975.
"They will expose how Congress strangled the Constitution, deprived citizens of their rights, committed atrocities against opposition leaders for 21 months, suppressed the media, silenced those who spoke the truth, undermined India's democratic integrity and oppressed the people under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and the Defense of India Rules (DIR)," he added.
Ahead of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that his government would strive to take everyone along in its third term and build consensus, while attacking the Congress over the Emergency, calling it " "a black spot" in democracy when the Constitution was "discarded."
As Congress and the broader opposition attack his government over a range of issues, including the election of the caretaker president, Modi's usual pre-session comments drew criticism from his rivals by saying that people want debate and diligence and not drama and riots in Parliament.
Opposition leaders hit back at Modi for his comment and questioned his government's style of functioning, saying he needed to focus on current issues.
BJP president JP Nadda will address the main event, titled 'Dark Days of Democracy', at its headquarters on Tuesday, party chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said in a statement.
According to Article 352 of the Constitution, the president can proclaim an Emergency if there is a serious threat to the security of the country, whether due to war, external aggression or armed rebellion.
Baluni said: "The Emergency constitutes an unforgettable dark chapter in India's robust democracy. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency on the nation on June 25, 1975, marking a serious curtailment of democratic freedoms."
For the next 21 months, the then Congress government held the country's democracy and Constitution captive, unleashing innumerable atrocities on the people, media and opposition leaders, he claimed.
This period became synonymous with a unilateral "Congress-led tyranny" during which civil rights were abolished and dissenting voices were unjustly imprisoned, said Baluni, who is also a parliamentarian. "Even today, reading this cursed page added to Indian history on June 25, 1975 continues to evoke deep-rooted fear."
"To expose the authoritarianism of the Congress and its disregard for the nation's Constitution, the BJP has launched a nationwide programme," he said.
"BJP national president JP Nadda will speak tomorrow at 12:30 noon at the 'Dark Days of Democracy' keynote event at the party's headquarters in New Delhi," he added.
Late on June 25, 1975, Gandhi made the announcement of the imposition of a state of emergency in an All India Radio broadcast, shortly after the Supreme Court had granted a conditional stay to an Allahabad High Court verdict declaring his election to the Lok Sabha is null and void.
The 21-month period was known for forced mass sterilizations, press censorship, suspension of constitutional rights, and centralization of power.
Baluni said BJP leaders, functionaries and karyakartas will take part in programs across the country "to protest" against the imposition of Emergency in 1975.
"They will expose how Congress strangled the Constitution, deprived citizens of their rights, committed atrocities against opposition leaders for 21 months, suppressed the media, silenced those who spoke the truth, undermined India's democratic integrity and oppressed the people under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and the Defense of India Rules (DIR)," he added.
Ahead of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that his government would strive to take everyone along in its third term and build consensus, while attacking the Congress over the Emergency, calling it " "a black spot" in democracy when the Constitution was "discarded."
As Congress and the broader opposition attack his government over a range of issues, including the election of the caretaker president, Modi's usual pre-session comments drew criticism from his rivals by saying that people want debate and diligence and not drama and riots in Parliament.
Opposition leaders hit back at Modi for his comment and questioned his government's style of functioning, saying he needed to focus on current issues.
