New DelhiCommunist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for “murdering democracy with an undeclared emergency”.
“On the anniversary of the declaration of Emergency, all of us who fought emergency know the price we had to pay for restoring democracy. Democracy was murdered during emergency. Now, it is being murdered without a declaration of emergency,” Yechury said.
Questioning the Prime Minister’s silence on recent killings of Dalits and Muslims in the name of cow protection, Yechury said the people’s right to life and liberty is being openly violated by the Modi regime.
“If eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, like the Prime Minister said, why has he remained silent on what is happening with mobs killing Muslims and Dalits in our country in the name of cow protection. The right to life and liberty, a fundamental right of our Constitution, that is being openly violated by this government and BJP governments all over the country in various states.Under his patronage, the elementary fundamental rights which are the essence of democracy are being violated,” he said.
Yechury’s response came post Prime Minister Modi reminding people about the ‘horrors’ of the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi on June 1975, and asking people to rededicate themselves towards the goal of strengthening democracy.
While addressing the 33rd edition of his radio address ‘Mann ki Baat’, Prime Minister Modi said the former government took away people’s liberty and freedom, and did not spare any section of society, be it political, economic, media, students, communities, or even the judiciary.
“The Emergency will be remembered for the way in which people of India came together and safeguarded democratic values. Democracy is not only a system, but also our ethos as-‘Eternal vigilance is the life of liberty’. We need to remember the things which harm democracy and move forward in a positive direction,” he said.
“Those who love democracy can never forget the dark night of June 25, 1975, when the entire nation turned into a prison, all voices of dissent were muzzled, where senior leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan were imprisoned. Not even the judiciary was spared from the shadow of authoritarianism,” he added.
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