NEW DELHI: National Conference MP Mian Altaf Ahmad on Saturday said that the Congress party has apologised for imposing the Emergency in 1975, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains silent about its own actions. He made this remark during a parliamentary debate commemorating 75 years of the Indian Constitution.
“Congress has apologised for the Emergency but you are silent on various things you have done… Congress toppled elected governments, but you divided our state into two Union Territories, which was unnecessary,” Ahmad said. He specifically referenced the division of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.
Mian Altaf Ahmad’s Remarks | Discussion on the Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India
During the debate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the Congress party “will never be able to wash away the stain of the Emergency.” Referring to the national Emergency imposed by PM Indira Gandhi in 1975, Modi said that the Constitution was undermined when it marked its 25th anniversary, as citizens’ rights were stripped away.
“The Constitution was torn apart when it was completing 25 years; the Emergency was imposed (in 1975), all constitutional rights were snatched and the country was turned into a jail. All the rights of the citizens were snatched and there was a clampdown on media. Congress will never be able to clear this stain,” PM Modi said.
“I expected a good debate on the Constitution, but some decided to grieve their losses, ” PM Modi said, attacking the Congress. “One family of Congress left no stone unturned in hurting the Constitution,” he added.
Apart from Ahmad, RSP MP N K Premchandran expressed concerns about economic disparity, accusing the BJP government of concentrating wealth. “The benefits of so-called economic development are not reaching the poor and marginalized,” he said, invoking BR Ambedkar’s warnings about the threat of inequality to democracy. Premchandran also voiced concerns about India’s secularism, arguing that the electorate’s decision not to grant the BJP an absolute majority reflected a desire to protect the nation’s secular character.
