NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said June 25, the day on which ex-PM Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency in 1975, will be observed as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas‘.
“On June 25, 1975, the then PM Indira Gandhi, in a brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing the Emergency on the nation. Lakhs of people were thrown behind bars for no fault of their own, and the voice of the media was silenced,” home minister Amit Shah announced on X sharing government notification.

“The Government of India has decided to observe the 25th of June every year as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’. This day will commemorate the massive contributions of all those who endured the inhuman pains of the 1975 Emergency,” he said.
“The decision made by the government led by PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji is intended to honor 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 defense of our democracy alive in every Indian, thus preventing dictatorial forces like the Congress from repeating those horrors,” the home minister said.
Reacting strongly to the announcement, Congress termed the move “another headline grabbing exercise”.
“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,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
“This is a non-biological PM who has subjected the Constitution of India and its principles, values, and institutions to systematic assault. 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,” he added.

PM Modi had marked the beginning of the maiden session of 16th Lok Sabha by lobbing the “Constitution” issue back at the INDIA bloc, asking everybody to ensure that there was no subversion of the Constitution as during the Emergency. PM had urged people to ensure such an attempt to “blacken” the Constitution is never repeated and pledged to safeguard it.
During the session, President Draupadi Murmu and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla had referred to the Emergency in their speeches, leading to full-blown protests by the opposition.