“Emergency brought new leadership”
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the biggest message that came out of the anti-Emergency struggle was the inspiration to fight repression. “ So many people in politics today owe their initial days to those days of Emergency, JP Movement, Navnirman Movement … they gave birth to a new kind of politics in the nation,” he said at an event to mark the 113th birth anniversary Loknayak jayaprask Narayan.
Describing JP as “an institution, and a role model”. Modi said that “a new political generation was born during the Emergency that was fully dedicated to democratic values, inspired by JP.”
The prime minister said that JP”s speeches reflected the deep anguish of the people. “Even though he was a soft-spoken man, his speeches were like the boiling lava,” he added.
Speaking about the Emergency, he said that it was the biggest blow to democracy. “The kind of crisis that hit the country during that period had tempered the Indian democracy which came out stronger. I am grateful to those who struggled and fought against it.
Emergency should be remembered not to brood over what had happened then, but to strengthen our resolve to fortify and further strengthen the democratic values and framework in our country.”
Before addressing the event, Modi also visited the residences of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and former NDA convenor George Fernandes who had played a significant role in the fight for democracy in those days.
At the event ”Loktantra Ke Prahari” the prime minister felicitated veteran BJP leader L K Advani, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal , O P Kohli, Balram Dass Tandon and Vajubhai Vala, former deputy Speaker Kariya Munda, besides BJP leaders V K Malhotra, Jaywantiben Mehta and Subramanian Swamy. NCP leader D P Tripathi and journalist Virender Kapoor.
