Never forget dark days of 1975 when all rights were taken away, says Modi

NEW DELHI: Stating that the “dark days of Emergency” had “shaken” the conscience of the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country should never forget the “dreadful period”. 
Delivering the 90th edition of his radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the PM recalled the Emergency imposed in the country in 1975 curtailing fundamental rights. 

“Today, when the country is celebrating 75 years of Independence as Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava, we should never forget that dreadful period of emergency. The generations to come should also not forget it,” the PM asserted, adding that it was in the month of June the Emergency was imposed.

“During that time, all the rights were taken away from the citizens. One amongst those rights was the ‘right to life and personal liberty’ provided to all Indians under Article 21 of the Constitution.  The country’s courts, every Constitutional institutions and the press were put under control,” the PM said, adding an instance as how famous singer Kishore Kumar‘s entry on the radio was banned when he refused to applaud the government. “But the people of India re-established democracy in a democratic way. It is difficult to find such an example of defeating a dictatorial mindset, a dictatorial tendency in a democratic way, in the whole world,” he claimed.

Dwelling upon other subjects, the PM lauded Tanvi Patel, a schoolgirl in Mehsana, who is working on a tiny satellite. He said that India is doing well in the space start ups with a huge influx of new talents flocking towards it.  He also spoke about Tanveer Ahamad who is trying to map waste in space and also lauded Neha, who is the founder of Astrome, a space start-up.