Dubbing the Emergency as a "black period" and an assault on democracy of the country, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said that his ministry would work to include some content on it in textbooks to make the new generation aware about it.
Speaking at a Delhi BJP function to felicitate partymen who were jailed during the Emergency announced on June 25, 1975 by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress regime , Javadekar said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi should seek "apology" before talking about freedom of press and judiciary in the country.
"In our textbooks there are some chapters and columns on the Emergency that will be reviewed and this black chapter and assault on democracy of the country will figure some more in the books to aware the new generation. We will definitely work for this," the minister said in the function held at the BJP headquarters here.
Javadekar said that Emergency now appeared to be a mere term but it was actually a "tale of bravery" and a "festival of struggle" that was fought for ending the era of restrictions and curtailment of rights.
Recounting the Emergency days, Javadekar praised the then Jan Sangh veterans for sacrificing their own interests to fight for the rights of the people.
He hit out at the Congress, saying while the BJP stood for country first, party next and self last, the grand old party's principle was "self first, next and last".
"Rahul Gandhi speaks about freedom of judiciary and press these days. But he should first seek apology for the Emergency imposed in the country by Congress," he said.
He said that the slogan of "Congress-mukt Bharat"given by the BJP was a value-based struggle against the party that focused on individual interests and kept it above the nation.
The function presided by Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari was attended by senior BJP leaders including Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Shyam Jaju, Tarun Chugh.