Modi remembers Emergency on its anniversary, pitches for preserving democracy

New Delhi, June 25

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday remembered the Emergency imposed on this day in 1975, 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.

In his monthly radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’, Modi said it was essential to remember the incidents which have caused harm to democracy and move ahead towards the positives of democracy.

“Democracy is not only a system. It is our culture...

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” he said.

‘Diversity is strength’

Modi also greeted the nation on the occasion of Ramzan and Jagannath Yatra and said diversity was the country's uniqueness and its strength.

"Lord Jagannath is the lord of poor and I am happy that it is being celebrated with such happiness. Today in may parts of the world the festival is being celebrated in some way or the other. I wish my greetings to the people of the country on the occasion," said Modi.

Modi also said that the word Juggernaut in English is derived from Jagannath.

Greeting the people on the occasion of Ramzan, Modi said that Eid-ul-Fitr is the festival of happiness and more we share happiness on this occasion, the more it increases.

"Ramzan is a very auspicious occasion. The more we share happiness on this occasion the more it increases. My best wishes to the people on the occassion," he added.

The prime minister congratulated the people of Mubarakpur, a small village in Uttar Pradesh, for becoming free of open defecation and said it was the best example 'Swatchh Bharat' movement.

Appreciating the villagers for declining the government aid and constructing the toilets in the village on their own, Modi said that such cases were best examples of clean India (Swatchh Bharat).

"I am surprised and at the same time happy to see the way people of Mubarakpur, a small muslim village in Uttar Pradesh, have made their village ODF (Open Defecation Free). Though they got the government aid of Rs 17 lakh to construct toilets, they returned it," Modi said.

With the total number of states now totally devoid of the population defecating in the open rising to five, over two lakh villages and 147 districts have been declared ODF across the country.

‘Nurture the Olympic dream’

Parents and guardians should encourage children to take part in sports along with studies, the prime minister said.

"These days we see that our youth are getting increasingly inclined to the field of sports. It is becoming evident that along with studies, our new generations can see a future in sports as well. And our sportspersons, through their prowess, skills and accomplishments win laurels for the country as well," he said.

"The more we promote sports, the more we see the spirit of sportsmanship. Sports play an important role in personality development also. There is a great significance of sports in overall personality development." The Prime Minister said that if children are interested in sports, they should be given opportunities and should not be "forced off the playing fields" to be locked in rooms with books.

"They should study as well, if they can do well in studies, they should certainly do so, but if they have the potential and the inclination to do well in sports, that should be encouraged and supported by the school, college, family and all the people around them," Modi said.

He said that each one should nurture dreams for the next Olympics as there is no dearth of talent in India.  — Agencies