To mark 1975 Emergency, Centre declares June 25 as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas'

Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the commemoration will serve as a reminder of "what happened when the Constitution was trampled over"

Union Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday that June 25 will be observed as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ (Murder of Constitution) to commemorate the struggles caused by the imposition of the Emergency in 1975 on that day.

Back then, Indira Gandhi-led Congress government had imposed 'Emergency', which lasted until March 21, 1977, under which the special provisions of the Constitution were used to suspend civil liberties, carry out mass arrests and curtail press freedom among other measures.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Shah called out the “dictatorial” mindset of the former Prime Minister, who, he said, had strangled the soul of India democracy by her actions on June 25, 1975.

He further pointed to the baseless mass arrests of the people and stifling of the press freedom at the time. Shah added that the Centre has decided to mark June 25 as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ to remind the public of the contributions of the people who suffered pain during the Emergency.

"....The government of India declares June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ to pay tribute to all those who suffered and fought against the gross abuse of power during the period of Emergency and to recommit the people of India to not support in any manner such gross abuse of power, in future," a gazette notification, shared by Shah, read.

PM Modi reacts to the announcement of 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas'

On the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the commemoration of June 25 will serve as a reminder of “what happened when the Constitution was trampled over."

He reiterated Shah’s statement that the day will be observed as a tribute to the victims of the Emergency, “a Congress unleashed dark phase of Indian history.”

Congress labels decision as a publicity stunt 

In response, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh labelled the development as a publicity stunt by the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

“Another headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-biological PM who had imposed an undeclared Emergency for ten long years,” Ramesh said in a post on X, adding that Modi’s “Emergency” ended on June 4 after the public handed him a “decisive personal, political, and moral defeat.”

“June 4, 2024 will go down in history as Modi Mukti Diwas…,” Ramesh said.

He also slammed PM Modi for his alleged attempt to subject the Constitution to a systemic assault and claimed that for him, democracy only means “demo-kursi” (power).