‘Loktantra Senanis’ Honoured by Assam Govt for Fighting Emergency

chairman Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lamented that the president, who had signed the edict, and the then-Congress national chairman were from the state as the Assam government on Sunday recognised people who had opposed the Emergency imposed by the country’s then-prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Furthermore, he said that the opposition’s political leaders, the media, the legal profession, and other groups in society had “ensured that no regime can ever think of imposing such restrictions again.”

Sarma was speaking at a ceremony in this city honouring 300 “Loktantra senanis” and their family members.

“The order was signed by an Assamese president. The decree for Emergency was signed with his hand, but it was the first time that our state had given the country’s president a present, according to Sarma, who was referring to the nation’s then-President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

On this day in 1975, the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi-led Congress government proclaimed a state of emergency.

Debakanta Baruah, an Assamese who later served as the head of the All India Congress Committee, made the famous phrase “India is Indira and Indira is India,” according to the CM. Sarma referred to the Emergency as a “dark period in the history of the country,” but he said that the “warriors of democracy” battled it with such vigour and resolve that no government would ever consider putting such restrictions in place again.

The BJP official then took a shot at the Congress leadership, saying that the historic organisation that had spearheaded the independence fight under Mahatma Gandhi had “turned into a family-centric one since Indira Gandhi’s tenure.”

He said that “her decision to declare the Emergency was simply motivated by her need to hold onto power.”

Sarma praised the opposition leaders, journalists, activists, and other groups for their resistance to the Emergency and said that his administration had chosen to recognise those who gave their lives for the state during that time.

“Our government had decided to acknowledge the contributions made by “fighters for democracy.” For those ‘Loktantra senanis’ who are still living, or in the event of their passing, for their spouses or unmarried daughters, we would be providing a monthly annuity of Rs. Ninety-one people fit the bill for a pension, according to Sarma.

The 300 names on the list were chosen based on documents that indicated people had been imprisoned for more than 15 days in connection with incidents of defying the Emergency.

Sarma said that any meritorious individuals whose names were omitted off the government list will eventually be included.