Five decades after Emergency: Detention orders for AB Vajpayee among unpublished documents at Delhi exhibition

Several previously unpublished documents, including detention orders for prominent political figures such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Jan Sangh president Balraj Madhok, were unveiled at an exhibition organised by the Delhi Government on Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency.

The exhibition, inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at Central Park in Connaught Place, features archival material related to the Emergency, imposed on June 25, 1975, by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The event is part of a series of programmes organised by the BJP to commemorate what it calls the “darkest chapter” in the history of India’s democracy. Taking a sharp jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the event, Gupta said, “There cannot be a darker day in the history of the country than when the Constitution was strangled. Now, those whose ancestors murdered democracy are claiming to be its saviours. You keep a copy of the Constitution in your pocket and give a call to save democracy, but the people of India know the truth.”

Gupta talked about the hardship faced by the thousands of political workers imprisoned during the

21-month Emergency period.

Delhi Art, Culture and Language Minister Kapil Mishra said the event aimed to ensure that the horrors of the Emergency were never forgotten.

“For the first time, official documents such as the detention orders for Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Balraj Madhok, Vijayaraje Scindia and others have been brought into public domain. This is a reminder of how democracy and the Constitution were brutally murdered,” he said.