On the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the 1975 Emergency, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that the country went through a period of ‘Super Emergency’ in the last five years – Narendra Modi’s first tenure as Prime Minister.
Taking to Twitter, Banerjee wrote, “Today is the anniversary of the #Emergency declared in 1975. For the last five years, the country went through a ‘Super Emergency’. We must learn our lessons from history and fight to safeguard the democratic institutions in the country.”
Today is the anniversary of the #Emergency declared in 1975. For the last five years, the country went through a ‘Super Emergency’. We must learn our lessons from history and fight to safeguard the democratic institutions in the country
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 25, 2019
Banerjee, who has been at loggerheads with the BJP, did not participate in the recent all-party meetings convened by Prime Minister Modi. She also skipped the swearing-in ceremony of the new government last month and did not attend the June 15 NITI Aayog meeting.
On the other hand, PM Modi said that the country saluted those who ‘fiercely and fearlessly’ resisted the Emergency period.
PM Modi shared a video on the micro blogging site Twitter and captioned it as, “India salutes all those greats who fiercely and fearlessly resisted the Emergency. India’s democratic ethos successfully prevailed over an authoritarian mindset.”
India salutes all those greats who fiercely and fearlessly resisted the Emergency.
India’s democratic ethos successfully prevailed over an authoritarian mindset. pic.twitter.com/vUS6HYPbT5
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 25, 2019
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June 25 marks the day when then prime minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of Emergency in the country for a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977.
Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution due of the prevailing “internal disturbance”, the Emergency was in effect from June 25, 1975, until its withdrawal on March 21, 1977.
The order vested upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be suspended and civil liberties to be curbed.
The Emergency is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India’s history.