Terming Emergency as the biggest blow to democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said its memories should be kept alive to further fortify the democratic structure. Modi also said the struggle against it gave birth to a new generation of leaders and a new kind of politics in the country.
“Emergency was the biggest blow to democracy. The kind of crisis that hit the country during that period had tempered the Indian democracy which came out stronger. I am grateful to those who struggled and fought against it,” Modi said.
He was speaking at a programme ‘Loktantra Prahari Abhinandan’ to mark Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan’s 113th birth anniversary. Paying glowing tributes to Jayaprakash Narayan, he felicitated many of those who fought against the Emergency and went to jail in 1975-76, including BJP veteran LK Advani and Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal.
The biggest message that came out of the anti-Emergency struggle was the inspiration to fight repression. So many people in politics today owe their initial days to those days of Emergency, JP Movement, Navnirman Movement ... they gave birth to a new kind of politics in the nation.
– Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Modi said “we do not want to remember Emergency to criticise someone, but to constantly be reminded of commitment towards democracy and freedom of press.”
He also said that the leadership born during Emergency was not one for TV screens. “It was a leadership committed to live and die for the nation.”
Noting that the struggle by Jayaprakash Narayan for democracy should be treated as a benchmark, he said his speeches reflected the “deep anguish” of the people who had suffered during Emergency. “Even though he was a soft-spoken man, his speeches were like the boiling lava.”
Modi’s comments on Jayaprakash Narayan came a day ahead of the first phase of polling in the Bihar assembly elections.
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