Democracy isn’t saved by remembering history alone, it’s saved by speaking truth to power today.
While PM Modi urges citizens to recall and publicise the dark days of the Emergency, it is equally important to question the selective remembrance of history. The Emergency, no doubt, was a grave mistake, but using it repeatedly for political mileage decades later, especially to target opposition, reflects a lack of focus on present-day issues.
If we are to create awareness about "dark periods", why not also encourage citizens to speak up about: The mass suffering during demonetisation (2016) where lives and livelihoods were lost overnight.
The migrant crisis during the Covid lockdown (2020), a humanitarian disaster resulting from poor planning; the misuse of Central agencies to silence dissent; censorship, surveillance, and arrests of activists and journalists today which eerily echo the very Emergency Modi condemns.
If the youth must learn from history, they must also be taught to question current erosion of institutions, suppression of voices, and concentrated power, regardless of which party is in power.
