Why has June 25 been declared as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’?

The Central government, on Friday, announced that June 25 will be observed as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ and issued a notification for the same. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah who made the announcement soon after the meeting.

The Union Home Minister posted on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote, “On June 25, 1975, the then PM Indira Gandhi, in a brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing the Emergency on the nation. Lakhs of people were thrown behind bars for no fault of their own, and the voice of the media was silenced.”

In the same post, Shah said that the Government of India has decided to observe June 25th every year as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas.’ This day will commemorate the significant contributions of all those who endured inhuman suffering during the 1975 Emergency.

A gazette notification issued on Friday by the Union Home Ministry stated that Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, leading to gross abuse of power by the government of the day, causing the people of India to suffer excesses and atrocities. 

The notification highlighted the Indian people’s enduring faith in the Constitution and the strength of its democracy. It declared June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ to honor those who suffered and fought against the abuse of power during the Emergency and to reaffirm India’s commitment to prevent such abuses in the future.

Congress’ reaction

The Congress reacted to the announcement on Friday by slamming the government’s decision to declare June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’. Congress called it another “headline-grabbing exercise in hypocrisy” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary (In-charge, Communications) said, “Yet another headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-biological PM who had imposed an undeclared Emergency for ten long years before the people of India handed him a decisive personal, political, and moral defeat on June 4, 2024 – which will go down in history as ModiMukti Diwas.” 

A Congress leader criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the ‘non-biological PM’ whose ideological group had rejected the Indian Constitution in November 1949, favoring Manusmriti instead. The leader also remarked that, for Modi, democracy means only retaining power.