Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday, 25 June 2026 paid tribute to those who resisted the 1975 Emergency, calling the episode a 'dark chapter' in Indian democratic history and renewing a pledge to defend constitutional values against any future authoritarian turn.

Context

In his post, Khattar wrote in Hindi: '25 जून 1975 भारतीय लोकतंत्र के इतिहास का वो काला अध्याय है, जिसकी विभीषिका को राष्ट्र कभी भुला नहीं सकता' — 'June 25, 1975 is that dark chapter in the history of Indian democracy whose horrors the nation can never forget.' He squarely blamed the Indian National Congress, asserting that by imposing the Emergency overnight, the party proved that 'power is supreme for it, not democracy and the Constitution.'

Khattar reserved his salutations for what he termed 'loktantra senaniyon' — democracy fighters — who, despite 'the Congress government's dictatorship and cruel tortures,' devoted their lives to reviving democratic governance. He called their sacrifice 'an invaluable heritage of this nation.'

Policy Backdrop

On 25 June 1975, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi advised the President to proclaim a national emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution, citing internal disturbance. The Emergency lasted until March 1977, during which fundamental rights were suspended, press censorship was imposed, and thousands of political opponents were detained without trial.

The episode remains one of the most contested periods in post-Independence Indian politics. Civil liberties groups and constitutional scholars have long documented the suspension of habeas corpus, the muzzling of the press, and the use of state machinery to silence dissent during those 21 months.

Stakeholders and Impact

Senior BJP leaders, including Khattar, have consistently marked 25 June each year as a moment of democratic reckoning, using the anniversary to contrast the party's stated commitment to constitutionalism with what they characterise as Congress-era authoritarianism. The framing is directed at both political opposition and a broader civic audience invested in questions of institutional integrity.

For civil liberties groups and historians, the Emergency anniversary serves as a reference point for evaluating the health of democratic institutions — press freedom, judicial independence, and the right to dissent — in any era. Khattar's call for a 'firm resolve' to stand against dictatorship in 'every circumstance' echoes a recurring rhetorical posture among ruling-party leaders on this date.

What's Next

The 51st anniversary of the Emergency's imposition is likely to generate wider commemorative activity across the political spectrum. Formal events by central ministries, parliamentary references, and publications by cultural or historical bodies may follow in the coming days. The Congress party, for its part, has in recent years defended the Emergency as a response to specific political circumstances of that era — a counter-narrative that typically resurfaces around this date and sharpens the partisan divide over India's democratic memory.