Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday declared that the government has decided to observe June 25, the day the ‘Emergency’ was imposed in 1975, as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” in order to pay tribute to the “massive contributions” of those who suffered during the era of barbaric suffering.
Additionally, he stated that by celebrating “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas,” every Indian will be able to defend democracy and maintain their unwavering commitment to individual freedom, thus preventing “dictatorial forces” like the Congress from “repeating those horrors.”
The Union Home Ministry issued a gazette notice on Friday, June 25, 1975, stating that there was “gross abuse of power by the government of the day and the people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities” after the declaration of emergency. The people of India have abiding faith in the Constitution and the power of its strong democracy, it said.
“Therefore, Government of India declares 25th June as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ to pay tribute to all those who suffered and fought against the gross abuse of power during the period of Emergency and to recommit the people of India to not support in any manner such gross abuse of power, in future,” says the notification.
Shah stated that on June 25, 1975, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in a “brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of India’s democracy by imposing the Emergency on the nation”. He added that thousands of individuals were imprisoned without any fault of their own and that the media’s voice was muffled.
“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 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,” he further added.
