Tribute to those who fought dictatorial order: BJP

NEW DELHI: Welcoming the govt decision to observe June 25 as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas', senior BJP functionaries on Friday said it was a pertinent move to awaken the current generation on how Congress had "trampled" with the Constitution and was now taking pledges to protect it.

"In the history of Indian democracy, the circumstances that arose due to Emergency and the kind of repressive cycle that was carried out are still fresh in the memory of countrymen," defence minister Rajnath Singh said in a post on X.

Singh, who was jailed for two years and recently claimed that he was not allowed to visit his ailing mother, further said, "To remind us of the attempt to strangle the Constitution by imposing Emergency in India and to pay tribute to the revolutionaries who protected democratic rights, the govt of India has declared June 25 as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas'."

"The contribution of those who spent time in jail and suffered torture during Emergency can never be forgotten," he added.

BJP president J P Nadda said that June 25, 1975, was a black day when the "dictatorial mindset of then PM Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency on the country by killing democracy enshrined in Constitution".

"The central govt decision to observe June 25 every year as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' will remind us of the sacrifices and martyrdom of all our great men who fought against this dictatorial mindset of Congress, endured torture and died for protection of the Constitution and restoration of democracy," he said.

"I express my gratitude to the Prime Minister for this decision which reminds us of the importance of democracy every year," Nadda added.

BJP's chief spokesperson and Lok Sabha MP Anil Baluni said Emergency was a "blot on India's great democracy".

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