Ranchi, June 25: On the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, BJP State General Secretary (Organisation) Karmveer Singh paid tribute to Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, calling him the torchbearer of democracy. At the party’s state headquarters in Ranchi, Singh offered floral respects to a portrait of JP, marking what he referred to as “Constitution Killing Day.”
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that the imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975, was a result of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s fear of JP’s mass movement. “Following the Allahabad High Court verdict, Mrs Gandhi’s membership of Parliament had been disqualified. She should have resigned. Instead, she defied the court and trampled the Constitution itself,” he said.
Recalling the events of the night of June 25, Singh said, “At Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, lakhs of democracy warriors had gathered, and JP gave a historic call—‘Vacate the throne, the people are coming.’ But by midnight, a dark chapter in the nation’s history had begun.”
Singh strongly criticised the Congress, saying that the party which today claims to protect the Constitution was the one that had torn apart every democratic norm during the Emergency. He pointed out that for 21 months following June 25, 1975, political gatherings were banned and public expression was brutally suppressed.
“The voice of the nation was silenced for nearly two years. Not a single political rally was allowed during this period. But the people of India, lovers of democracy since ancient times, have always stood up to tyranny,” he added.
Calling India the “cradle of democracy,” Singh said no force can ever succeed in crushing its spirit. “The people of this country know how to teach a lesson to those who try to suppress their voice,” he concluded.
