NEW DELHI: Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that his ministry would work to include some more content on the Emergency, which is regarded as the darkest phase of the Indian democracy, in the textbooks to make the new generation aware about it.
"In our textbooks, there are some chapters and columns on the Emergency that will be reviewed and, this black chapter and assault on democracy of the country will figure some more in the books to aware the new generation. We will definitely work for this," the minister said in the function held at the BJP headquarters here.
Javadekar also later took to Twitter and retweeted some tweets by PM Narendra Modi on the Emergency, which ''India remembers as a dark period during which every institution was subverted and an atmosphere of fear was created. Not only people but also ideas and artistic freedom were held hostage to power politics.''
Let us always work to make our democratic ethos stronger. Writing, debating, deliberating, questioning are vital aspects of our democracy which we are proud of. No force can ever trample the basic tenets of our Constitution.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 26, 2018
Javadekar said this while addressing a function to felicitate BJP workers who were jailed during the Emergency imposed on June 25, 1975, by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress regime.
During his speech, the HRD minister dubbed the Emergency a "black period" and an assault on democracy of the country.
Javadekar said that the Emergency, which now appeared to be a mere term, was actually a "tale of bravery" and a "festival of struggle" that was fought for ending the era of restrictions and curtailment of rights.
Recounting the Emergency days, Javadekar praised the then Jan Sangh veterans for sacrificing their own interests to fight for the rights of the people.
He hit out at the Congress, saying while the BJP stood for country first, party next and self last, the grand old party's principle was "self first, party next and the country last".
The senior BJP leader also said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi should first seek an "apology" before talking about freedom of press and judiciary in the country.
"Rahul Gandhi speaks about freedom of judiciary and press these days. But he should first seek apology for the Emergency imposed in the country by Congress," he said.
He said that the slogan "Congress-Mukt Bharat" coined by the BJP was a value-based struggle against the party that focused on individual interests and kept it above the nation.
The function was attended by Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, senior BJP leaders including Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Shyam Jaju, Tarun Chugh and many others.