NEW DELHI: India said on Friday it would hold an annual “Murder of the constitution day” from next year, commemorating a historical chapter tied to the Nehru-Gandhi family.

June 25, 2025, will mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, when then-premier Indira Gandhi suspended the constitution in 1975 in response to a court ruling that threatened her hold on power.

The following months saw thousands of activists jailed, press freedoms suspended and an abusive compulsory sterilisation campaign that forced millions of men to receive vasectomies in an abortive population control effort.

Modi said on social media platform X that the new day of remembrance would “serve as a reminder of what happens when the constitution of India was trampled over”.

“It is also a day to pay homage to each and every person who suffered due to the excesses of the emergency.”

A government notice announcing the new remembrance day said that June 25 would recommit Indians “to not support in any manner such gross abuse of power in future”.

Indira Gandhi was the daughter of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Her grandson Rahul Gandhi is the leader of India’s opposition in parliament and the de facto leader of Congress.

Rahul has routinely accused Modi of not respecting India’s constitution, echoing rights groups who say the Hindu-nationalist premier’s administration has targeted critics and restricted press freedoms.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2024