Emergency: The betrayal that we must never forget, never repeat

It is tempting to believe that the national Emergency is history—done and dusted.

- GNS News Agency, July 5

Some like AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge even scoff, saying, “It's a forgotten issue, raked up only by the BJP to hide its failures.” But such indifference is dangerous. The very reason we must observe this black chapter is to remind those born after 1975 that India once witnessed its Constitution being subverted, its democracy throttled, federalism undermined, and its people robbed of liberty and dignity.The Emergency was not just a moment—it was a mindset. A mindset that still lurks in the corridors of power, waiting for complacency to return. It must not be remembered merely as a historical footnote but as a bloodstained warning. A reminder that when citizens sleep, tyranny wakes. When a nation forgets to question, it forfeits its right to be free.Andhra Pradesh recently witnessed how blind faith in a single leader without vision and vindictive political attitude can ruin a state. Between 2019 and 2024, under Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, governance turned autocratic. The man earned the moniker of a political “psycho,” and his party, the YSRCP, having been routed, still hasn't learned any lessons. Their brand of rule eerily echoed Emergency-era overreach—draconian laws, surveillance of dissent, and misuse of institutions. That is why we must understand: the tools of tyranny are always just a signature away from misuse. If we cannot guarantee that it won't happen again, we've learned nothing. And that would be the second betrayal.