Invoking the Emergency imposed in India in 1975, President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday called it “the biggest and darkest chapter” of a “direct attack” on the Constitution that left the entire country “outraged” and said the nation emerged victorious over such “unconstitutional forces”
Addressing a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, Murmu referred to the Emergency – imposed by the then Congress government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975 – while iterating that the Constitution of India “has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades”.
She said even when the Constitution was in the making, there were forces in the world who wished India to fail.
“Even after the Constitution came into force, it was attacked many times. Today is 27th June. The imposition of Emergency on 25th June 1975, was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country felt outraged.”
“But the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces as the traditions of the republic lie at the core of India,” said the President, amidst thumping of desks by the Treasury benches, and loud protests by the Congress MPs.
Turning to the present, she said the incumbent government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making efforts to ensure the Constitution becomes a part of public consciousness.
“With this very objective in mind, my Government has started celebrating 26th November as Constitution Day,” said Murmu.
The President said now the Constitution has also fully come into force “in that part of India, our Jammu and Kashmir, where the conditions were different due to Article 370”. UNI JA SSP
