Monday Musing
[ Amar Sangno ]
Everything about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government seems to be about larger-than-life publicity and grandiloquent celebrations over their achievements, which often succeeds in drawing citizens’ attention to their campaigns and keeping them off the real issues in the state and the country.
Like over every triviality, the BJP drummed up its party workers across the country to observe Samvidhan Hatya Diwas (Constitutional Murder Day) on 25 June, 2025. It managed to pull off the celebration, smearing the darkest chapter in Indian democratic history during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule from 1975 to 1977.
It is reported that all BJP-ruled states, including Arunachal Pradesh, have been directed to observe the year-long Constitutional Murder Day in a grand manner by carrying out a flurry of activities, such as screenings of documentaries, talk shows, discussions, painting competitions, and essay competitions, so that every citizen is made aware of the constitutional blunder the grand old party committed during Indira Gandhi’s regime. Indira declared a national Emergency, invoking Article 352 of the Constitution, citing internal disturbances and threats to national security. The Emergency lasted 21 months, from 25 June, 1975 to 21 March, 1977.
The manner in which the BJP is observing the Constitutional Murder Day signifies that the saffron party claims to be a ‘defender of the Constitution’. The BJP and its ideological affiliates, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have even called for removal of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, which were inserted by the Indira Gandhi regime through the 42nd Amendment in 1976.
Indeed, Indira Gandhi’s Emergency was one of the darkest chapters in Indian democracy, leaving an indelible mark on Indian history and causing long-term damage to the credibility of democratic institutions.
Both Gandhi’s and Modi’s regimes have equally abused power by suppressing independent institutions. Unlike Gandhi, who formally declared a state of Emergency and suspended all independent institutions, including the press and judiciary, the Modi government has covertly weakened all democratic institutions.
During the Gandhi regime, over 200 journalists were incarcerated for refusing to toe the government’s line. These included Kuldip Nayar, editor of The Statesman; KR Malkani, editor of The Indian Express; Dr Rafiq Zakaria, an eminent scholar and journalist detained for his outspoken views against government policies; and LK Advani, then editor of the RSS mouthpiece Organiser, who was imprisoned for his opposition to the Emergency.
Similarly, under the Modi regime, press freedom has taken a nosedive. India is ranked 151 in the World Press Freedom Index prepared by Reporters without Borders, with even Islamic nations like Bangladesh being more press-friendly. Prior to the 2024 elections, when the BJP was the single majority party in Parliament, India slipped into the 159th rank in the World Press Freedom Index, even worse than Pakistan.
Name any independent institution currently in India which doesn’t face the Modi-Shah attrition. The rise of religious intolerance, jingoism, communal hatred, misuse of independent agencies like the Enforcement Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation against political rivals, and data manipulation are at their best in the Modi regime.
The ruling BJP’s claim of being the ‘defender of the Constitution’ doesn’t ring true; rather, I would say it’s hitting new heights of hypocrisy. Without acknowledging the striking similarities in governance between the Gandhi and the Modi regimes, the BJP’s observation of Constitutional Murder Day is another shameless attempt at playing to the gallery, trying to crack a joke at the expense of the innocent public.
As renowned historian Ramachandra Guha in his article comparing Gandhi and Modi aptly puts it, “Of all the prime ministers we have had since Independence, Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi have been the two instinctively authoritarian instincts.”
Like an obedient son, the BJP-led government in Arunachal joined the bandwagon by putting in the entire state machinery for the celebration. Isn’t it a waste of the state’s resources for smearing past history?
It is understandable that the BJP as a party has every right to do political stunt to deface its rival political party. However, the participation of the executive machinery in political smearing is sheer hypocrisy, because during Gandhi’s regime the Emergency was enforced by the executive machineries only and it does not send a good message.
The whole celebration is nothing but an art of distraction from the real issues that the whole nation is currently facing. So, the observation of Samvidhan Hatya Diwas is nothing but a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.