Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosbale demanded the Congress on Thursday that he apologized for the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government 50 years ago. Addressing a program in New Delhi, Hosbale strongly advocated the removal of two words ‘Samajwadi’ and ‘secular’ from the Preamble of the Constitution. These words were added by the then Congress government during the Emergency.
Recalling the Emergency in the year 1975, Hosbale said that thousands of people were imprisoned and tortured during that time. Freedom of the judiciary and media was also taken away. Hosbale said that during the emergency, there was a large -scale sterilization. He taunted and said that those who were doing all this at that time and today are roaming around with a copy of the Constitution. He has not yet apologized, now apologize. He further said that your ancestors did this, the country should apologize for this.
When and why emergency?
On 25 June 1975, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi implemented Emergency in the country. The reason was the decision of the Allahabad High Court in which his Lok Sabha seat was canceled. Citing ‘internal disturbance’, the government put the constitution on hold.
Thousands of people put in jail
Millions of people, including RSS, Jana Sangh, and opposition leaders, were stuck in jail without reason. From JP movement leader Jayaprakash Narayan to general worker, everyone was killed.
Forced sterilization terror
In the Emergency, millions of men were forcibly sterilized under the leadership of Sanjay Gandhi. Targets were given in every village which caused the most damage to the poor and marginalized people.
Media and court freedom
Censorship was installed on the press. The newspapers were forced to run at the behest of the government. The freedom of the court was also guarded.
Why add ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ to the Constitution?
Through the 42nd amendment in 1976, the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were added to the preamble of the Constitution during the Emergency. RSS claims that these words were forcibly imposed and now is the time to remove them.