Hyderabad: Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday stressed the need to incorporate all details about the Emergency in the school curriculum so that the citizens of tomorrow could get to know how the power-hungry Congress had made a mockery of democracy and people’s rights and freedoms were trampled upon.
He asked his Cabinet colleague and HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar to take steps in this regard. Mr Naidu, Mr Javadekar and Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya took part in a programme — Emergency: Black Day — here on Sunday.
Addressing a huge gathering, Mr Venkaiah Naidu stated that there was not much literature that recounted the Emergency period and the fight put up by different sections of people and Opposition parties. He said the help of the Indian Council of Historic Research should be taken to do research and collect information regarding this period.
He said Mrs Indira Gandhi imposed Emer-gency on June 25, 1975, after nationwide pro-tests, led by Jayaprakash Narayan. “For her and the Congress, India was Indira and Indira was India. She suppressed all Opposition leaders and lodged them in jails. Crime and corruption ruled the roost during the Emergency and press freedom was lost. Mrs Gandhi had no option but to lift the Emergency in 1977 in view of the growing opposition within the country and after the international community shifted its focus here,” he said.
He said that he had been jailed for 17 months during that period, when he was a student leader with the ABVP. The period changed the course of his life, he said. His mother wanted him to be a lawyer, but due to his proactive participation in the protests, he was offered a ticket from the Ongole Lok Sabha constituency in the 1977 elections.
“Emergency changed my life. I should thank Indira Gandhi for that,” he said amidst cheers from the crowd.
He recalled how ABVP leaders led by him had disrupted Sanjay Gandhi’s meeting held in Visakhapatnam during the Emergency.
“ABVP leaders were in jail. They complained about a stomach upset after which we were taken to hospital. There we devised strategy and directions were given on how to go about our business. As soon as the meeting started, a few of them screamed ‘paam.. paam (snake)’. Everyone ran from the place and the meeting was never held,” he said.
He was critical of the role of intellectuals during the period. Instead of criticising Mrs Gandhi’s suppression, they sang her praises. They changed their stand and faulted Emergency after the Janata Party won the elections, he said.
Mr Javadekar stated that June 25 should be held as a black day since it was the day when people of the country lost freedom after getting independence in 1947. To stay in power, Mrs Gandhi violated the Constitution that was written by B.R. Ambedkar, he said.
