‘Congress undermined democracy during Emergency’: J&K BJP Rajya Sabha MP Khatana

BJP’s Rajya Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Muhammad Khatana, on Wednesday strongly criticised the Congress party for “undermining democracy during India’s Emergency,” and urged the country never to forget that dark period.

 

Speaking at a press conference in Srinagar, alongside the party’s top state leaders, including chief spokesperson Altaf Thakur, Khatana said, “We must confront our past and learn from it.”

 

He said the Emergency imposed in 1975 was a direct attack on India’s Constitution, democracy, and civil liberties. “It is important for the people of India—especially the youth—to understand what happened during that time,” he added.

 

“In 1975, the Allahabad High Court found Prime Minister Indira Gandhi guilty of election-related wrongdoing and barred her from holding office for six years,” he said. “Instead of stepping down, she imposed a national Emergency. That one act turned the world’s largest democracy into a dictatorship overnight.”

 

Khatana said the Congress used the Emergency to silence the public, weaken democratic institutions, and rule with an iron hand. “Lakhs of people, including leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and L.K. Advani, were put in jail without trial. Public gatherings and protests were banned,” he said.

 

He further added that the courts were paralysed and even basic rights such as habeas corpus—which protects citizens from unlawful arrest—were suspended. “It was a complete collapse of democracy,” he said.

 

Khatana also accused the Congress government of targeting minorities and the poor in the name of reforms. “People from minority and poor communities were forced to undergo sterilisation. Entire slums in Delhi were demolished. It was a dangerous plan of social engineering, carried out without public consent,” he said.

 

He criticised the 42nd Amendment passed during the Emergency, calling it a serious attempt to change the Constitution and weaken its basic principles. “Even the Preamble was not spared. It showed how far Congress was willing to go just to stay in power.”

 

He said that even after nearly 50 years, the Congress party has not changed. “Congress still promotes family-first politics and an authoritarian mindset. They have never truly apologised for the damage done to the Constitution, the people, and the country’s democratic institutions.”

 

Khatana said the BJP remains fully committed to protecting the Constitution and making sure that no such attack on democracy ever happens again.

India