'Emergency Exemplified What Dictatorship Looks Like': PM Modi's Message In Shout-Out To Om Birla's Speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that events during the Emergency were an example of what dictatorship looked like, praising newly elected Speaker Om Birla’s first speech in the 18th Lok Sabha that condemned the “black chapter” in India’s history.

“I am glad that the Honourable Speaker strongly condemned the Emergency, highlighted the excesses committed during that time and also mentioned the manner in which democracy was strangled. It was also a wonderful gesture to stand in silence in honour of all those who suffered during those days,” PM Modi said in an X post, reacting to Birla’s speech that drew protests in the House and triggered a war of words between the government and the Opposition.

He added in the post that the Emergency was imposed 50 years ago, “but it is important for today’s youth to know about it because it remains a fitting example of what happens when the Constitution is trampled over, public opinion is stifled and institutions are destroyed”.

“The happenings during the Emergency exemplified what a dictatorship looks like,” Modi said of the 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when several Opposition politicians were jailed and basic freedoms curbed citing internal and external threats to the country.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Speaker Om Birla has honoured the struggle of those who raised their voices against the repression by moving a resolution in the Lok Sabha against the Emergency of 1975.

“The House today remembered the ‘era of injustice’ in the form of ‘Emergency’ and expressed its condolences to the poor, Dalits and backward people who had to suffer the exploitation and atrocities of the Indira Government, when the rights of the citizens of the country were destroyed and their freedom was snatched away. Also, the House expressed sorrow at how the entire country was turned into a prison during the Emergency and how the Indira Government worked to crush the spirit of our Constitution. #EmergencyHorrors,” he said in a post on X.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and health minister JP Nadda too supported Birla’s speech. He lashed out at the Congress for its protests and condemned the Emergency. “The then dictatorial government put restrictions on the media and curbed the independence of the judiciary,” he said on X.

A day ago, on June 25, when India marked the anniversary of the Emergency, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress, which accuses his government of “tanasahi” (dictatorship) and says it is up to the Opposition to save the Constitution. The PM, in his Tuesday post, said the Congress party had “subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution” just “to cling on to power”, and that those “who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution” now.

In the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Birla said that June 25, 1975 will always be known as a “black chapter in the history of India”. “On this day, then prime minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in the country and attacked the Constitution made by Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said, even as Opposition members, including those from the Congress, shouted and stood up on their feet against the reference to the Emergency.

”Democratic values ​​and debate have always been supported in India. Democratic values ​​have always been protected, they have always been encouraged. Indira Gandhi imposed dictatorship on such an India. The democratic values ​​of India were crushed and freedom of expression was strangled,” Birla said.

”Those were the times when opposition leaders were jailed, the entire nation was turned into a prison. The then dictatorial government had put several restrictions on the media and there was restraint on the autonomy of judiciary,” he added.

Protesting Birla’s speech, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said, “A lot of water has flown in the Ganga since 1975. Indira Gandhi had expressed regret over it [Emergency]. She was defeated in the 1977 election [in the aftermath of the Emergency]. The BJP must stop driving a car only by looking at the rearview mirror. It’s quite surprising why the treasury benches are protesting. If they want to protest, they can come to the Opposition and give us an opportunity. We will gladly take it. This is not the way to start a new term. The issue of the Emergency is done and dusted.”