Overview
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and central ministries observed June 25 as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas, with Modi calling the Emergency a ‘‘direct assault’’ on the Constitution and praising those who resisted that period.
- NCERT for the first time included a section on the 1975–77 Emergency in its new Class 9 social science book 'Understanding Society: India and Beyond', placing the episode in a chapter on challenges to Indian democracy.
- BJP leaders hailed the textbook change and the commemoration as necessary reminders of rights abuses during the Emergency, while state governments used the anniversary to honour prisoners from that era and announce higher pensions and benefits.
- Congress and allied opposition figures criticised the moves as politicising history and questioned selective presentations in school curricula, arguing that contemporary institutional pressures also deserve scrutiny.
- The Emergency suspended many fundamental rights, imposed press censorship and led to mass arrests and a forced sterilisation campaign; the current debate highlights how curriculum choices and state commemorations shape public memory and civic lessons for students.