Terming the Emergency as the darkest period of Indian democracy, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said that it should be a part of the curriculum in the educational institutions of the country.
“Emergency, which is the darkest period of Indian democracy, should be a part of the curriculum so that present generations get to know what Emergency was. How it was imposed? Why it was imposed?” news agency ANI quoted him, as saying.
“We have to educate the people on it,” the vice-president said on Monday.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi also recalled the Emergency period and said that the country remembers it as a dark period during which every institution was subverted and an atmosphere of fear was created. Not only people but also ideas and artistic freedom were held hostage to power politics, he added.
“I salute the courage of all those great women and men who steadfastly resisted the Emergency, which was imposed 43 years ago. Their struggles ensured people power prevailed over authoritarianism and the stifling of civil liberties,” PM Modi tweeted.
“Let us always work to make our democratic ethos stronger. Writing, debating, deliberating, questioning are vital aspects of our democracy which we are proud of. No force can ever trample the basic tenets of our Constitution,” Modi said.
From 1975 to 1977 the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of emergency across the country. It bestowed upon the PM the authority to rule by decree. Elections were suspended and civil liberties were curbed.
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