Mann ki Baat: Emergency was darkest time in history of India, says PM Narendra Modi

PM Modi on Sunday recalled the Emergency imposed on this day in 1975.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday recalled the Emergency imposed on this day in 1975 and said that it was the darkest time in the history of India.

In his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', PM Modi said it was essential to remember the incidents which have caused harm to democracy and move ahead towards the positives of democracy.

He remembered that democracy-lovers had fought a big battle against the Emergency imposed by then PM Indira Gandhi and said the pro-democracy 'heritage' needs to be strengthened.

"Democracy is not only a system. It is our culture... Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," he said, as per PTI.

Recalling imposition of the Emergency on June 25, 1975, the PM said it was "such a black night which cannot be forgotten by any lover of democracy. No Indian can forget that."

He said that in a way, the entire nation had been converted into a prison, with opposing voices being curbed.

"The judicial system too could not escape the sinister shadows of the Emergency. The present-day students of journalism and the champions of democracy have been endeavouring towards raising awareness about that dark period, by constant reminders, and should continue to do so," PM Modi said, as per IANS.

The Prime Minister also recited a poem written by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the completion of one year of Emergency wherein he longed for the end of restrictions and return to freedom. Vajpayee was in jail at that time. 

(With Agency inputs)