Twitter, on the 25th of June, was flooded with posts remembering the 44th anniversary of the National Emergency imposed by late Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister (PM) of India.
In 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a National Emergency for 2 years, from the 25th of June 1975 to the 21st of March 1977, suspending most of the constitutional rights of the citizens of India.
The 1975 Emergency was declared to stabilise the situation of India with the approval of the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the Assembly and the Parliament.
Why the 1975 Emergency was imposed
Indira Gandhi was the first woman Prime Minister of India and Moraji Desai, a contender for the post of the Prime Minister of India, created trouble due to it.
It all started after the demise of Jawaharlal Nehru, as there was no successor to hold the position of Prime Minister in 1964.
Later, Lal Bahadur Shastri was made the Prime Minister of India, leaving Moraji Desai with only hope he would become the next PM.
After the demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966, Moraji Desai thought he would be made the PM, but the INC members and Kamaraj, one of the trusted members of the INC, instead chose Indira Gandhi.
Moraji Desai lost once again, following which, he united with the opposition and created trouble for Indira Gandhi. It was then the Jana Sangh and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were formed.
During a period of 18 months, the opposition parties united and fought against the Indian National Congress (INC) and Indira Gandhi. They conducted rallies, strikes and protests. At that time, several movements, protests and union strikes took place.
In 1971, the opposition started the ‘Indira Hatao, India Bachao’ wave. Then, in 1973, there were food shortages in Gujarat, hikes in crude oil prices, protests and violence.
Due to the devastating situation of India at the time, Indira Gandhi conducted a meeting and declared an emergency at 11:45 P.M., on the 25th of June 1975 due to internal disturbances.
During the Emergency, many opposition party leaders were arrested, the media houses were restricted from publishing anything and the constitutional rights of the citizens were suspended.
The opposition parties claimed, Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency, which marked the beginning of the “black days of the Indian democracy,” to save her Government, the INC.
Today, on the 25th of June 2019, political leaders and ministers remembered the Emergency imposed in India and shared their opinion about the same.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and said, “India salutes all those greats who fiercely and fearlessly resisted the Emergency. India’s democratic ethos successfully prevailed over an authoritarian mindset.”
Thus on25 June, 1975 emergency was declared.#Emergency1975 pic.twitter.com/JIIyVqf4RZ
— Raj kumar Odisha (@RajkumarNath16) June 25, 2019
During emergency Rajendra Singh(Rajju Bhaiyya) went underground and toured whole India.He was also responsible for organizing human rights convention presided by Justice VM Tarkunde in Delhi in 1976.He was also responsible for setting up friends of India.#Emergency1975 pic.twitter.com/0xEueKG6rj
— souvik karmakar (@karmakar6) June 25, 2019
India salutes all those greats who fiercely and fearlessly resisted the Emergency.
India’s democratic ethos successfully prevailed over an authoritarian mindset.#Emergency1975 #Emergency pic.twitter.com/WWHgWST5Om
— dabhi anil (@dabhianil111) June 25, 2019
#Emergency1975 A dark spot on India’s Democracy pic.twitter.com/jlkWNNGQ18
— Somendra Dhaka (@somendradhaka) June 25, 2019