“Yet another headline-grabbing exercise”: Congress targets Centre for declaring June 25 as “Constitution Murder Day”

New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday targeted “non-biological” Prime Minister Narendra Modi hours after the Government of India announced that June 25 will be remembered annually as “Constitution Murder Day” in remembrance of the Emergency declared by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975.

In a series of tweets on X, Jairm Ramesh said, “Yet another headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-biological PM who had imposed an undeclared Emergency for ten long years before the people of India handed him a decisive personal, political, and moral defeat on June 4, 2024 – which will go down in history as ModiMukti Diwas”.

“This is a non-biological PM who has subjected the Constitution of India and its principles, values, and institutions to systematic assault,” His post added.

He added, “This is a non-biological PM whose ideological parivar had rejected the Constitution of India in Nov 1949 on the grounds that it did not derive inspiration from Manusmriti. This is a non-biological PM for whom democracy means only demo-kursi”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the day would serve as a reminder of the significant sacrifices endured by those who faced the severe hardships of the 1975 Emergency, highlighting their immense contributions.

“On 25 June 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, showing her dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of Indian democracy by imposing an emergency in the country. Lakhs of people were jailed without any reason and the voice of the media was suppressed. The Government of India has decided to celebrate 25 June every year as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’, Shah wrote in a post on X.

“The decision made by the government led by PM Shri @narendramodi Ji is intended to honour the spirit of millions who struggled to revive democracy despite facing inexplicable persecution at the hands of an oppressive government. The observance of ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ will help keep the eternal flame of individual freedom and the defence of our democracy alive in every Indian, thus preventing dictatorial forces like the Congress from repeating those horrors,” the Home Minister added.

Reacting to the Centre’s announcement, the ruling Trinamool Congress leader (TMC) Kunal Ghosh said at a press conference that the BJP is trying to divert attention from its anti-people policy.

“She has been criticized, Indira Gandhi lost once and Indira Gandhi came back to power as the Prime Minister. So that chapter was just one page of history and years later, the BJP is trying to divert attention from its anti-people policy, disasters and the bad condition of the country, they are trying to play this old card…”

Accusing the BJP of murdering the Constitution every day after coming to power at the Centre in 2014, Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader Priyanka Kakkar told ANI, “Since 2014, BJP has murdered the Constitution every day. Constitution was murdered when BJP brought electoral bonds…”

The Emergency of 1975 in India stands as a stark chapter in the nation’s history marked by widespread political turmoil and civil liberties suppression. Declared by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Emergency saw the suspension of fundamental rights and the imposition of strict censorship, aiming to quell political dissent and maintain order.