Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (June 25, 2025) said no Indian will ever forget the manner in which the spirit of the Constitution was violated and the Parliament was muzzled.

In a series of posts on X on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Mr. Modi said it was one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history.

“Today marks fifty years since one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history, the imposition of the Emergency. The people of India mark this day as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas. On this day, the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution were set aside, fundamental rights were suspended, press freedom was extinguished and several political leaders, social workers, students and ordinary citizens were jailed. It was as if the Congress Government in power at that time placed democracy under arrest!” Mr. Modi said.

The values enshrined in the Constitution were set aside, fundamental rights suspended, press freedom extinguished and a large number of political leaders, social workers, students and ordinary citizens jailed, he noted.

The 42nd Amendment, which made extensive changes to the Constitution and was reversed by the Janata Party government, is a prime example of the shenanigans of the Congress government that imposed Emergency, he said.

He added that the poor, marginalised and downtrodden were particularly targeted, including their dignity insulted.” “We also reiterate our commitment to strengthening the principles in our Constitution and working together to realise our vision of a Viksit Bharat. May we scale new heights of progress and fulfil the dreams of the poor and downtrodden,” Mr. Modi said.

He also called for everyone to salute every person who fought against Emergency. “People from all walks of life and diverse ideologies worked to protect democracy,” he said.

The Prime Minister also said when the Emergency was imposed, he was a young RSS pracharak and the anti-Emergency movement was a learning experience for him.

When the Emergency was imposed, I was a young RSS Pracharak. The anti-Emergency movement was a learning experience for me. It reaffirmed the vitality of preserving our democratic framework. At the same time, I got to learn so much from people across the political spectrum. I am… https://t.co/nLY4Vb30Pu — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 25, 2025

When the Emergency was imposed, I was a young RSS Pracharak, and the anti-Emergency movement was a learning experience for me, Mr. Modi said in a post on X.

“It reaffirmed the vitality of preserving our democratic framework. At the same time, I got to learn so much from people across the political spectrum. I am glad that BlueKraft Digital Foundation has compiled some of those experiences in the form of a book, whose foreword has been penned by Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji, himself a stalwart of the anti-Emergency movement,” Mr. Modi further said.

The Union government in 2024 decided to observe June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’.