Emergency biggest, darkest chapter of direct attack on Constitution, says President Murmu in her address to both Houses of Parliament

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon 

New Delhi, June 27

In her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament after the re-election of NDA 3.0, President Droupadi Murmu described the imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975 as the darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution even as she said efforts were now under way to make the Constitution a part of public consciousness.

"In a few months, India is going to complete 75 years as a Republic. The Constitution of India has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades.

“Even when the Constitution was in the making, there were forces in the world who wished India to fail. Even after the Constitution came into force, it was attacked many times.

“Today is 27th June. The imposition of Emergency on 25th June, 1975, was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country felt outraged.

“But the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces as the traditions of the republic lie at the core of India. My government also does not consider the Constitution of India as just a medium of governance; rather we are making efforts to ensure that our Constitution becomes a part of public consciousness," the President said, adding that the government was now celebrating 26th November as Constitution Day and the Constitution was fully enforced in Jammu and Kashmir, where conditions were different due to Article 370.”

The President also hailed the Election Commission for successful conduct of the largest election in the world and said the Kashmir Valley broke all records of voter turnout of many decades.

"In the last four decades, we had witnessed low voter turnout amidst shutdowns and strikes in Kashmir. Enemies of India continued to spread false propaganda at global fora, projecting it as an opinion of Jammu and Kashmir. But this time the Kashmir Valley has given a befitting reply to every such element within the country and outside," she said describing the 2024 poll results as a stamp on the NDA government's "sewa and susashan for 10 years”.

She said the whole world is talking about the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 and witnessing that the people of India have elected a stable government with clear majority, consecutively for the third term.

"This has happened after six decades. The people have full faith that only my government can fulfil their aspirations. Therefore, this election of 2024 has been an election of trust in policy, intention, dedication and decisions," Murmu said.

Hailing government policies in economic, agriculture, women, youth, farmers and other sectors, the President said the resolve to ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’ has made India the fastest growing economy in the world today."

"In 10 years, India has risen to become the fifth largest economy from being the 11th ranked," she said.

The President added that in 10 years, the government has placed great emphasis on every aspect of the rural economy.

"To enable farmers to meet their small expenses, more than Rs 3,20,000 crore has been disbursed to them under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi. In the initial days of its new term, my government has transferred an amount of more than Rs 20,000 crore to farmers. The Government has also effected a record increase in the MSP for kharif crops," the President said.

She said India today is known not for adding to the challenges the world is facing, but for providing solutions to the world and as Vishwa-Bandhu, India has taken initiatives in providing solutions to many global problems.  

"We are providing various solutions for issues ranging from climate change to food security and from nutrition to sustainable agriculture," she noted, stressing that topmost priority is being accorded to four pillars -- youth, women, farmers and poor.

The President also flagged "adversarial mindset and narrow selfishness" saying these tendencies had undermined the basic spirit of democracy.

"It affects the parliamentary system as well as the developmental journey of the nation. During the phase of unstable governments in the country that lasted several decades, many governments, even if willing, were neither able to bring reforms nor take critical decisions. The people of India have now changed this situation by their decisive mandate.

“Many such reforms have taken place in the last 10 years which are greatly benefiting the nation today. Even when these reforms were being taken up, they were opposed and attempts were made to spread negativity. But all these reforms have stood the test of time," she said.

The President also urged MPs to feel proud when India conducts the largest election exercise without any major violence and disorder. Amid apprehensions around EVMs she said EVMs had passed every test.

"Today, the whole world respects us as the Mother of Democracy. The people of India have always demonstrated complete trust in democracy and expressed full faith in the electoral institutions. We need to preserve and protect this trust to sustain our robust democracy. We must realise that hurting the faith of people in democratic institutions and the electoral process is like cutting the very branch on which we all are sitting. We should collectively denounce every attempt to undermine the credibility of our democracy," Murmu said.

The President also flagged that in the era of communication revolution, disruptive forces were conspiring to weaken democracy and creating fissures in society.

"These forces are present within the country and are also operating from outside the country. These forces resort to rumour-mongering, misleading the people and misinformation. This situation cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. Today, technology is advancing every day. In such a situation, its misuse against humanity can be extremely harmful. India has expressed these concerns at the international fora also and advocated for a global framework," she said, adding that this century is the century of India.

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