Attempts were made to crush democracy in emergency: Modi

New Delhi, Dt

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a keynote address on Sunday that during the 19th Emergency imposed in India, there was an attempt to crush democracy and take away the rights of citizens.

Prime Minister Modi said it is difficult to find many other examples in the world where people have democratically defeated the 'dictatorial mindset'. The Prime Minister recalled the days of emergency imposed by the then Indira Gandhi-led government three years ago in the Mann Ki Baat program and said that all rights were taken away at that time.

Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister at the time when the state of emergency was declared on June 9-14. The emergency was finally lifted on March 31. Modi said that during the Emergency, the courts of the country, all the constitutional bodies, the press, were all under control. Censorship was so drastic that nothing could be published without permission. I remember the famous singer Kishore Kumarji was banned from appearing on the radio for refusing to praise the government.

Modi stressed that despite many efforts, thousands of arrests and atrocities on millions of people, the faith of Indians in democracy has not waned. The democratic values ​​that have been ingrained in us for centuries, our democratic sentiments have finally triumphed. It is difficult to find such an example in the world of defeating the dictatorial mindset in a democratic way.

Apart from this, in his keynote address, PM Modi mentioned javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and women's cricketer Mithali Raj and congratulated them on their achievements. The Prime Minister also mentioned the bicycle rally from Himachal Pradesh, the rathyatra of Lord Jagannath.