Zee Media Bureau/Manisha Singh
New Delhi: Bihar BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of the state, Sushil Kumar Modi said on Thursday that Emergency was still a nightmare for him.
Modi posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter: “Emergency is still a nightmare for me. I was in jail for 19 months. Not allowed to attend own sister`s marriage. Beaten mercilessly by DM.”
Emergency is still a nightmare for me.I was in jail for 19 months.Not allowed to attend own sister's marriage.Beaten mercilessly by DM .
— Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) June 26, 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too mentioned about Emergency in his blog which he wrote on the completion of a month in office today.
Among other things he wrote - “26th of June is an important date for me. It marks the completion of one month of our journey to fulfil the aspirations of the people. This day is also another landmark day, when in 1975 I witnessed an important phase that taught me the significance of a vibrant democracy. 26th June was the day when the Emergency started, having been imposed an evening earlier. As a youngster, I have several memories of those testing times.”
On the other hand, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also talked about Emergency today and described the rule of 1975-77, proclaimed on this day in 1975, as the "worst post-independence chapter" of Indian democracy, IANS reported.
"The Emergency displayed the weakness of the Indian constitutional order," Jaitley, who was president of the Delhi University Students Union then, wrote in his blog.
"The press could be silenced. The judiciary could be made pliable," he said, adding that the period was marked by the detention of political activists and anybody who defied the government.
It refers to a 21-month period in 1975–77 when the then PM Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency in the country. It was imposed under Article 352(1) of the Constitution for internal disturbance.
The order issued by the then President gave the PM the authority to rule by decree and allowed elections to be suspended among other things.
Civil liberties were also curtailed. It is said to be one of the most controversial periods in India after Independence.
