External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday lashed out at the Gandhi family for the emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, saying it happened because 鈥渁 single family considered itself bigger than the nation.鈥
Speaking at the inaugural event of the Mock Parliament by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to mark 50 years of Emergency, Jaishankar said, 鈥淎ll this happened because of one family. There鈥檚 a movie titled 鈥楰issa Kursi Ka鈥, and these three words aptly tell the reason behind the imposition of the Emergency. When a family is considered above the nation, things like the Emergency take place.鈥
鈥淭he one lesson that Emergency taught us is 鈥 never take freedom for granted,鈥 he further said.
The minister said the entire exercise of imposing the Emergency was intended to break the morale of the country and society, impacting several people who were not even in politics. 鈥淭hose who were in politics were well aware that doing politics meant an inevitable arrest, and those who were arrested were unaware if and when they would be released.鈥
He also said the then-Congress government became rapidly unpopular after winning the 1971 elections, while corruption and inflation increased. 鈥淧eople were angry. Agitations were going on in Gujarat and Bihar鈥 People were raising questions on the business of the then 鈥榶uvraj鈥. Based on the verdict of the Allahabad High Court, the then Prime Minister was charged with two cases- corrupt practices and misuse of government machinery.鈥
After the court ruled against her, Indira Gandhi arbitrarily imposed the Emergency, passed by then-President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, where civil liberties were suspended, strict censorship was enforced and critics of the government were detained. The Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975, is known as the 鈥渄arkest day鈥 of Indian democracy.