Those flaunting constitution actually its biggest violators: Dr Jitendra

Jammu, Jun 27: Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh Friday, in an oblique dig at Congress leadership, said that those flaunting the constitution were actually its (Constitution’s) biggest violators.

In the context of the emergency imposed by Congress in 1975, he warned that the same perverted mentality was still haunting the nation and it would find manifestation in remarks made by the party leaders in the contemporary milieu.

“It is the mentality that suppresses truth; flaunts the Constitution with hypocrisy; underplays inconvenient facts and exaggerates convenient half-truths to remain alive,” Dr Jitendra remarked.

He was addressing a press conference here. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, he said that Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah took this opportunity to extend the J&K Assembly’s term from five to six years in line with the central change. “However, even after three years, when the rest of the nation reverted to a five-year term, the change was never undone in Jammu and Kashmir. These were double grave constitutional violations and the lasting legacies of that period that remained until article 370 was abrogated,” the union Minister said.

Dr Jitendra Singh emphasised that although the emergency period is one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic journey, it is crucial to remember it repeatedly to ensure that the generations to come are aware of its consequences and remain vigilant against any such recurrence. He said that during those years, from 1975 to 1977, countless individuals experienced state-sponsored atrocities as many were jailed without trial, subjected to brutal lathi charges, placed under house arrest, or forced to go underground. “There were also large-scale forced sterilizations, which further intensified the public trauma. The Emergency was not merely a suspension of political rights but a wholesale assault on civil liberties and human dignity,” he said.