'Must remember darkness of Emergency': Venkaiah Naidu on 17 months in jail
- In Reports
- 09:56 PM, Jun 25, 2024
- Myind Staff
Former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu emphasised the importance of educating today's youth about the "darkness" of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi's Congress government in June 1975, on the 50th anniversary of that event. Naidu stressed, "I am very particular that students today know what happened in the country in 1975 during the Emergency. They must understand why it was imposed, how it was enforced, and how it was eventually lifted. This knowledge is crucial for the youngsters as they are the future of the country."
Naidu, a senior BJP member who has also served as a Union Minister, a Rajya Sabha MP, and the National President of his party, spent 17-and-a-half months in jail during the Emergency. "I was attending a student meeting at the time when I suddenly received a message saying, 'Emergency is going to be imposed'. We were instructed to 'please go underground'. That was the message," recounted Mr. Naidu.
The message, he explained, came from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP's youth wing. "At that time, the term 'underground' was not familiar to us," he chuckled. "So, I left the meeting, moved to another town, and changed my attire. For two-and-a-half months, I evaded arrest and distributed pamphlets against the Emergency."
He continued, "One day, while I was returning to Vijayawada to return a scooter belonging to a friend, the manager of a theatre where I had distributed pamphlets—who was my friend—was telling the police, 'Are you searching for Venkaiah Naidu? That fellow is innocent. He doesn't know anything about all this.'"
Mr. Naidu explained that the police were waiting for him and he was swiftly arrested. "The reason for my arrest was that I had invited Jayaprakash Narayan, a prominent freedom fighter and political leader who opposed then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to the university. I was Chairman of the Students' Union at the time. He came, addressed the students, and was very impressed."
"I was not involved in politics then. I was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA)." MISA was a controversial law enacted by the then union government, granting Mrs. Gandhi and law enforcement agencies extensive powers to detain individuals indefinitely and without warrants." As a joke, we used to call it the 'Maintenance of Indira Security Act'," he smiled.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP's charge on the 25th anniversary of the Emergency declaration, posting on X and sharply criticising the Congress. "Just to cling to power, the then Congress government disregarded every democratic principle and turned the nation into a jail. Anyone who disagreed with Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections," he stated.
The Prime Minister has mentioned the Emergency multiple times this week, coinciding with the first session of the new Lok Sabha and as the BJP and Congress brace for intense debates on various issues, including leaked exam papers for the UGC-NET and NEET-UG competitive tests.
PM Modi also criticised the Congress on this subject, calling the Emergency a "black spot" in the history of India's democracy. The PM's remarks prompted a sharp response from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who accused Mr. Modi of focusing on a period from 50 years ago while ignoring what Kharge termed the "undeclared Emergency" of the last decade.
The BJP secured a third consecutive term following the general election held in April-May-June. Despite winning 240 seats, which was 32 seats short of a majority, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners, including 53 seats from allies such as Chandrababu Naidu's TDP and Nitish Kumar's JDU, ensured a decisive victory for Mr. Modi's party.
Image Source: The Hindu
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