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After being elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha for the second consecutive time, Om Birla in his first speech condemned the crisis of 1975 and called it a black spot. After his speech, the President also observed two minutes of silence in memory of those who lost their lives during the crisis.
The ruling party MPs remained silent while the opposition MPs created a ruckus saying that the speaker was pursuing the agenda of the BJP. Later, the speaker adjourned the House till the address of President Draupadi Murmu on Thursday. In her speech, she said that this House strongly condemns the decision to impose emergency in the country in 1975. 25 June 1975 was a black chapter.
On this day, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi attacked the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar by imposing emergency in the country. During this time, democratic values were crushed and freedom of expression was strangled. Many restrictions were imposed on the media. Many leaders were jailed under 'MISA'. The citizens of the country were deprived of their freedom and their rights were destroyed. We admire the determination of all those who strongly opposed the crisis, fought unprecedentedly and took the responsibility of protecting India's democracy. The Speaker continued his speech amidst the uproar of the opposition.
Could not provide justice to people imprisoned under MISA
Om Birla said that during the Emergency, the Congress made changes to the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) to ensure that our courts could not deliver justice to those arrested under MISA. The Parliamentary Proceedings (Protection of Publication) Repeal Act, the Press Council (Repeal) Act and the Prevention of Publication of Objectionable Material Act were introduced to prevent the media from writing the truth. It was during this dark period that the 38th to 42nd amendments were made to the Constitution. On this day, 26 June 1975, the then Cabinet had ex post facto confirmed the Emergency, thus sealing this autocratic and unconstitutional decision. Therefore, it is important that this resolution be passed today to reiterate our commitment to this second independence achieved after countless sacrifices.
The young generation must know about this dark chapter
The Lok Sabha Speaker said that we also believe that our young generation should know about this dark chapter of democracy. A large number of people were persecuted during the crisis and their families suffered immense hardships due to illegal arrests and government torture. This crisis ruined the lives of many citizens of the country.
