India, June 27 -- Addressing a seminar on 'Black Emergency Day' on Friday here, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the day should be commemorated annually, much like Ravan Dahan during Dussehra. She made these remarks at a BJP-hosted seminar on Emergency to mark "Samvidhan Hatya Diwas" in the national Capital. "Like Ravan Dahan, Samvidhan Hatya Diwas should be remembered every year. It serves as a reminder that the people of this country will never allow any injustice like the Emergency to be repeated," Gupta said. The chief minister said burning the effigy of Ravana every year symbolises the victory of truth over falsehood and good over evil. "Similarly, Samvidhan Hatya Diwas (Constitution Murder Day) is remembered so that future generations remain aware of this chapter in history and no leader ever dares to repeat such an act," Gupta said. Also Read - Student innovators get Delhi govt boost In an apparent attack on the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, Gupta said, "Democracy is not a slave of those who carry a copy of the Constitution in their pocket and claim that 'Loktantra ki hatya ho rahi hai' (democracy is being murdered)." The chief minister said leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee never gave up their courage and kept the spirit of democracy alive, even in the most difficult times. At the event, the Delhi BJP felicitated 115 loktantra senanis (political activists arrested during the Emergency. Former Union minister Smriti Irani said the Youth must know what happened during the Emergency because the Congress leaders spread "misconceptions" from Parliament to the streets and claim they are the true protectors of the Constitution. Also Read - Think beyond business, L-G tells IIM students "There is no mention of what happened to women during the Emergency because the atrocities committed against them have been removed from the pages of Emergency history," she said. The Emergency was imposed by the then Indira Gandhi-led Congress government from June 25, 1975, to March 21, 1977. Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra said the younger generation, which did not witness that period, must understand the Congress party's mindset at that time and how those who today talk about the Constitution had once "strangled" it. India's Constitution, an independent judiciary, a free press, an active civil society and an aware citizenry are the strongest pillars of democracy, he said. They show that no matter how powerful a government may be, the final decision in a democracy rests with the people, he said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.