Congress hits back at PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat speech, says country witnessing undeclared emergency now

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark on the Emergency, the Congress today said he should remember the country is facing an "undeclared Emergency" under the BJP rule.

It, however, acknowledged that the Emergency, imposed on this day in 1975, "was a mistake" and said lessons have been learned. "The prime minister talks of remembering the Emergency. Yes, we remember the Emergency. But we also ask him to remember we are facing an undeclared Emergency," All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Tom Vadakkan alleged.

History may repeat itself if the prime minister failed to learn from the past, he warned. "We accept the Emergency was a mistake. We have learned from it. But while reminding us of those mistakes, please learn to correct yourself. If you do not learn from history, you are bound to repeat it. The country is witnessing just that," he said.

The Congress leader referred to the CBI raids at the residence of NDTV founder Prannoy Roy to drive his point home that there is an "undeclared Emergency" under the BJP rule, with the media being muzzled. "The Group of Ministers has been reduced to "just a name" under the Modi rule. It is not the Union Cabinet but the Prime Minister's Office which takes the decisions," Vadakkan claimed. "No meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security took place. No explanation has been given till date on the amount of money collected through demonetization," he said. The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity should issue a white paper on those receiving its advertisements and to what extent corporate houses are involved in the backroom management of the media.

The Congress leader also expressed concern "over a spurt in the number of lynching incidents and harassment by anti- Romeo squads (in Uttar Pradesh)". The situation at present is "no match to a declared Emergency", he said. In his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', Modi today remembered the Emergency, saying "such a black night" cannot be forgotten, and underlined the need for eternal vigilance to preserve democracy.

He recalled that democracy-lovers had fought a big battle against the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and said the pro-democracy "heritage" needs to be strengthened. Modi said it was essential to remember the incidents which have caused harm to democracy and move ahead towards the positives of democracy. 

No mention of internal security situation:

Claiming that the country's internal security is in jeopardy, the Congress criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not raising the issue during his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' today.

It said that in the last three years of the BJP's rule, internal and external security of the country have become inter-linked as the militants and separatists are "actively engaged" in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The so-called separatists have now become full-grown terrorists, thanks to the help of PDP and choreography of the BJP which speaks one language in the Kashmir Valley and talks about nationalism all over India," Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan told reporters here.

"We listened to his 'Mann ki Baat'. There were various issues raised by him, but I wish issues of internal security were also raised, a thought for those killed while defending this nation... not one word have we heard on the death of a DSP (in Srinagar)," he said.

On China's refusal to allow entry to the first batch of around 50 Indian pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim, Vadakkan said this reflects that India's ties with neighbouring countries are suffering.

He said the threat to the country's internal and external security "is running parallel" and reasoned that whenever there is firing and incursions from Pakistan, terrorists and separatists become actively engaged in Jammu and Kashmir.

Vadakkan also accused the government of decaying the country's democratic institutions.

Referring to Modi's remarks during the radio programme that the "more we promote sports, the more we see the spirit of sportsmanship", he sought to know what kind of "sportsman spirit" it was to charge those who praised Pakistan's performance in ICC Champions Trophy final held last week.

In sports, there is a winner and a loser. We must have the heart to accept the victory and defeat. But in this country, we find a situation that if somebody praises a stroke of a opponent team's batsman, he is immediately labelled as anti-national, he said.

Vadakkan also slammed National Commission for Minorities chairman Gairul Hasan Rizvi for saying that those who celebrated Pakistan's victory over India in the tournament should go and live in the neighbouring country.