Congress should apologise for imposing Emergency in 1975, says Venkaiah Naidu
HYDERABAD: Terming the imposition of Emergency by the Congress government in 1975 as a 'draconian measure', former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu opined that the grand old party should apologise to the people for curtailing civil liberties during that period.
In an exclusive interview to PTI, Venkaiah Naidu, who was a student union leader while pursuing law in Andhra University in Visakhapatnam during the emergency period, said he had to spend nearly one and a half years in prison for raising his voice against the government of the day.
"It was a draconian measure. They (Congress) should have apologised for it. They should have regretted it. But the Congress never repented or apologised to the people. But they should have regretted imposing the Emergency. Now, on the occasion of the 50th year of emergency, they should express regret publicly," Naidu said.
"I feel that they should really apologise to people for imposing emergency, for containing civil liberties, for imposing press censorship. And also, all civil liberties were taken away. The right to protest was taken away," Venkaiah Naidu added.
The state of Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, and it was lifted on March 21, 1977.
The former Vice President said during the Emergency, every newspaper was put under censorship, and Press Council Act was amended too.
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