New Delhi:
Recalling the Emergency period in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the Congress government for jailing and banning the works of multiple individuals who protested against the ruling government at that time.
“The country has seen an emergency too. How the spirit of Constitution crushed, and just for maintaining power, the country knows. During the emergency, famous artist Dev Anand was asked to show that he supports the emergency, and he refused. He showed courage. For that all the films of Dev Anand were banned in Akashvani. The people who talk about the Constitution (Congress) have only kept the constitution in their pocket,” the PM said during his address in Rajya Sabha.
The Emergency was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, and lasted until March 21, 1977.
PM Modi also criticized former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who served as PM from August 15, 1947, to January 26, 1950, for jailing renowned poet and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri for singing a song in support of a protest in Mumbai.
“It was the first government (after Independence), Nehru was Prime Minister; then in Mumbai, then workers had a strike, a famous signer Majrooh Sultanpuri sang a song, ‘commonwealth ka daas hai,’ he sang this. For the crime of singing a song, But Nehru ji put the famous poet in jail,” PM Modi said.
Accusing the Congress party of “destroying the spirit of the Constitution makers,” he also pointed out how the press was targeted with taxes to suppress dissent.
“They (Congress) should have respected the Constitution makers, but instead, just after Independence, Congress destroyed their spirit. One can imagine that even when there was no elected government and only a stopgap arrangement, they still went ahead and amended the Constitution,” PM Modi added.
He compared the Congress era with the current NDA-led government, stating that the Centre is committed to respecting the vision of the Constituent Assembly.
“I can say with satisfaction that we are going forward by keeping in mind the aspirations and feelings of Constitution makers. Some people might think, what is this UCC, UCC they are bringing? But the ones who read the constituent assembly debates, one will know we just trying to bring the same feelings here,” he said.
Amid protests and interruptions from the Opposition benches, the Prime Minister continued, “They crushed freedom of speech. On newspapers, on press, they put taxes on them, and then went around by putting on a tag of ‘democrat’. One of the important pillars of democracy, they tried to crush that. This was a complete lack of respect for the Constitution.”
PM Modi also mentioned other prominent figures who were either banned from Akashvani or jailed, including actor Balraj Sahni and Hridaynath Mangeshkar, the brother of the late singer Lata Mangeshkar.
“Famous actor, Balraj Sahani had joined the people doing the andolan, and for that he was also put in jail. The brother of Lata Mangeshkar, Hridayanath Mangeshkar, had tried to get a poem on Veer savarkar on akashvani. Just for this, Hridayanath Mangeshkar was thrown out of akashvani forever,” he said.
Speaking about legendary singer Kishore Kumar, the Prime Minister stated that he was punished for refusing to sing songs in praise of Congress.
He added, “Similarly, with Kishor Kumar, he refused to sing songs praising Congress, for that his songs were also banned from Akashvani. Mr Speaker, I cannot forget the time of the Emergency…During the Emergency, great people like George Fernandes were jailed, kept in shackles.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
