Ministers condemn the “Black Day of Democracy,” and Adityanath pays tribute to the “Martyrs” of the emergency

Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, paid tribute to those who spoke out against the 1975 Emergency and fought for democracy despite restrictions placed on their civic rights on Sunday. Several members of his government also recalled the time as a stain on India’s history.

“Salute to all the martyrs who had fiercely fought against the cruel dictatorship without fear, without hesitating, or bowed down to preserve the great democracy of India!” Adityanath said in a Hindi tweet.

The Emergency, which suspended civil rights and censored the press, was declared on June 25th at midnight by the Indira Gandhi administration. The next morning, a crackdown on activists and opposition leaders started, resulting in their widespread imprisonment. On March 21, 1977, the Emergency was declared over.

Keshav Prasad Maurya, the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, attacked the Congress over it in a Hindi tweet, writing: “Congress means Emergency (‘Aapaatkaal’), BJP means ‘Amrit Kaal’!” BJP believes in democracy, whereas Congress favours autocracy.

“The Congress’ DNA is one of despotism, not democracy. India without the Congress is essential for the nation and for democracy, he said.

In a different tweet, Maurya also made fun of Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar and a prominent member of the JD(U), for his openness to the Congress.

Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav, two outspoken socialist politicians who were born during the Emergency, remain mute on this day. Then Nitish Babu was taken into custody while being threatened with a pistol. But now, Maurya remarked, he prefers the Congress pistol.

In a tweet written in Hindi, Brajesh Pathak, the second deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, stated, “Regards to every voice that was raised against the Emergency, the darkest chapter of Indian democracy and politics.”

Ramgovind Chaudhary, a leader of the Samajwadi Party and a former leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, took aim at the BJP at a programme held in the Ballia area and said that the situation in the nation has become worse since the 1975 Emergency.

Emergency is a stain on the country, Chaudhary remarked on Sunday during a symbolic dharna before the Mahatma Gandhi monument at Shaheed Park in Ballia. At that time, the fight to preserve democracy was in full swing. Comparatively speaking to then, the country’s situation is now worse. Prison is the penalty for stating the truth.

He said that the present administration’s democratic institutions are being “hijacked” and that citizens are at risk of having their democratic rights restricted.

The administration is attempting to stifle democratic voices. As ‘loktantra senani’ (democracy fighters), it is our obligation in this instance to band together and speak out against the unrecognised Emergency, he remarked.

Surya Pratap Shahi, the agriculture minister for the state of Uttar Pradesh, said the Gandhi family’s fear of losing control was the reason for the emergency.

“On this day in 1975, a family proclaimed Emergency on the nation out of concern that control would be lost, seizing citizens’ liberties and putting an end to democracy. Power and personal gain drove the imposition of the Emergency. It is a representation of the Congress’s autocratic mentality and a taint that will never go away, he said.

Dinesh Sharma, a former deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, urged Congress to examine itself before advising others on democracy in a statement.

“Leaders of Congress travel the globe criticising the nation and warning that democracy is in peril. When the emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, and the rights of the populace were infringed, where did their wisdom go? People were imprisoned for no fault of their own.

In reality, if democracy were in danger, those who claim it is now would not be able to make such a claim. In reality, by invoking Emergency, Indira Gandhi choked democracy. The Modi administration, on the other hand, has complete trust in democracy, according to Sharma.

Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, the minister for cane development and sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, expressed his gratitude in a Hindi tweet by saying, “Tributes to every voice raised against the Emergency — the darkest chapter of Indian democracy and politics.”