Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, in a searing address at a symposium held at Delhi Vidhan Sabha to mark 50 years of the imposition of Emergency, issued a clarion call to the nation “don’t whitewash the “Emergency” stigma, lest we forget it”.
The authoritarian mindset with scant regard for democratic values is still around, he said.
Dr. Jitendra Singh delivered a blistering critique of the Congress party, urging the people of India to “Never forget, never forgive.” He warned, “we must remember every stain – not to glorify it, but to remind future generations who betrayed democracy. If we erase Emergency’s memory, we risk reliving its horrors.”
The Minister exposed the hypocrisy of the Congress, accusing the party of condemning true revolutionaries like Madan Lal Dhingra as early as in 1901, even as Veer Savarkar stood by him during his final moments.
“Unfortunately, Gandhi had also condemned Dhingra. Congress disowned the martyrs, and history must never forget that betrayal,” he declared.
In a powerful takedown of the Congress’s post-1930s jail narratives, Dr. Jitendra Singh asked, “where were their sacrifices before 1930? Discovery of India was written in a jail library – not in the solitary cell of Kala Pani, that was reserved for hard core patriots like Savarkar.”
“Emergency was a cumulative outcome of the Congress’s dubious legacy, rooted in its DNA since its birth in 1885,” said Dr. Jitendra Singh as he rejected the notion that Emergency was a sudden deviation, instead pointing to the Congress’s undemocratic and authoritarian tendencies right from the very beginning.
“This dictatorial mindset was rooted in 1885. It became obvious in 1946, when 12 out of 15 Pradesh Congress Committees chose Sardar Patel to head the Party- but Nehru was imposed by Gandhi,” he stated.
The Minister invoked Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who had lamented “Gandhi has once again sacrificed his trusted lieutenant in favor of glamorous Nehru.”
Calling for an honest re-evaluation of history, Dr. Jitendra Singh said “It’s time we come out of the ‘Old Boys Club’ of Emergency victims and plan the road ahead.”
Recalling the 1974 student uprisings in Gujarat and Bihar, Dr. Jitendra Singh lauded the youth who ignited a democratic firestorm that led to the Allahabad High Court judgment convicting Indira Gandhi of electoral malpractice.
“Instead of resigning, she imposed Emergency, jailed opponents, silenced the press, and suspended the Constitution,” he thundered.
Dr. Jitendra Singh lambasted the 42nd Constitutional Amendment as the ultimate betrayal of India’s founding spirit: “They opportunistically extended Parliament and Legislative Assembly terms, and muffled dissent – all to cling to power.”
The also exposed how the Emergency was used to manipulate Jammu & Kashmir’s democracy, with the misuse of Article 370 to extend the J&K Assembly’s term to six years. That legacy, he noted, was corrected only in 2019 under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
During the event, Dr. Jitendra Singh released a special booklet and unveiled a new book titled “Emergency Diaries”, chronicling the voices silenced during those 21 months of constitutional breakdown.
Closing on a hopeful note, Dr. Jitendra Singh hailed the entry of Shubhanshu Shukla into space research, calling it a symbolic step toward India’s ascent to the Viksit Bharat of 2047.
Among the distinguished guests were Vijender Gupta, Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly; Satyanarayan Jatiya, Former Union Minister; Rajat Sharma, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of India TV; and Mohan Singh Bisht, Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly.
