Sunday, Jun 26, 2005
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30 YEARS HENCE: BJP president L.K. Advani (right) and NDA convener George Fernandes at a rally in New Delhi on Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Emergency. Mr. Advani said the Congress was still caught in the "Emergency mindset." He said a positive offshoot of the Emergency was that it laid the foundation for coalition governance.
NEW DELHI: Accusing the Congress of promoting "dynasty rule" in the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party president, L.K. Advani, on Saturday said that even three decades after the Emergency, the Congress was still continuing with the "Emergency mindset" and was totally intolerant to any kind of opposition. "As in a monarchy where the ruling family thinks that apart from it nobody else can rule, the same feeling is very dominant in the Congress leadership. They are averse to any kind of opposition, which is very dangerous for democracy," Mr. Advani said, while addressing a function organised by the Delhi BJP to honour those who were jailed during the Emergency. Exhorting the people and his party workers to fight against such a mindset, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the recent "high-handed" approach of the ruling Congress-led Government at the Centre while dealing with political developments in Goa and Jharkhand had clear shades of the Emergency.
`Horrific days'
Recalling the "horrific" days of the Emergency, Mr. Advani said the atrocities committed by the then Congress Government were worse than what people suffered during the British rule. "Even people's right to life was suspended and all institutions including Parliament, media and Opposition parties were attacked. The excesses committed were unprecedented," he recalled. He lauded the role of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and the Jan Sangh during the "critical period." The then Prime Minister, late Indira Gandhi, not only gagged the press but she also tried to propagate her "undemocratic" ideas, the BJP chief said and recalled that in its editorials, the Congress "mouthpiece" — National Herald — had advocated one-party rule for India as practised in some other nations then. "They still want that their rule should continue unopposed," he alleged. Stating that even today society was dealing with the same fears and problems as faced during the Emergency, the Janata Dal (United) leader and the National Democratic Alliance convener, George Fernandes, said that the United Progressive Alliance Government was acting with retribution as was evident from its probe into the defence deals made during the Kargil war. "The Government has been saying that the CBI would investigate such deals and is targeting 30 senior defence officers. These officers are not culprits. During a war, forces need arms and ammunition and other items at very short notice and such defence purchase are made urgently. But now targeting the officers would affect the morale of our forces," he said.
Failure
Stating that the UPA Government had failed miserably to fulfil the promises made to the people even after one year of its rule, the NDA convener alleged that instead of ruling the nation and tackling problems such as unemployment and corruption, the Government was targeting individuals and institutions. Mr. Fernandes asserted that Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency not because she failed to provide jobs to the youths or root out corruption, but was afraid of senior leaders within her party who wanted to replace her.
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