Jammu, June 25: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to democracy had healed the scars of emergency, which would always be a dark spot in India’s history after independence.
He was speaking at “Intellectual Sammelan” at the Jammu Club.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quoted by Dr. Jitendra as saying that the emergency that was declared in 1975 crushed and stifled democracy. However, Dr. Jitendra said that democracy was in India’s DNA, which is why the country was able to come out of that darkest period since independence without any damage. “India is, in fact, the mother of democracies. “It (democracy) is in the spirit and blood of every Indian,” he said.
Union Minister of State in PMO said, “It is important to evaluate the “Dark Period-The Period of Emergency” in India’s history so that the young generation can understand the meaning and significance of true democracy, its value, and the sacrifices our seniors made to save and keep it.”
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the leaders of Jan Sangh backed the pro-democracy movement led by Jai Prakash Narain and rose up against the harsh measures taken by the government at the time. “Jan Sangh followed the mantra ‘Nation first, self last’ to the letter, and as a party it broke up to join the JP movement,” he said.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would always be known for building a strong basis for India’s democracy, because it was only during his time that every benefit of democracy could reach the last person in the last queue without any bias.
Winston Churchill said that India wouldn’t last as a democracy for even 50 years after it got its independence. Dr. Jitendra said, “Had Churchill been alive today, he would have regretted his words, seeing India grow as a strong democracy under Narendra Modi and lead the world in every way. Today, India has even passed Churchill’s UK in many ways, including the economy.”
“The world today not only sees India as a safe democracy, but also as a force to be reckoned with. This was clear from PM Modi’s recent trip to the U.S., when even the U.S. clearly accepted India as an equal partner in all the bilateral meetings,” he said.
“Under PM Narendra Modi, India’s time has come. It’s India’s decade and India’s century,” he said.
