Dubai: On Tuesday, India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used prime space in major newspapers around the nation to put out ads on – not relief packages for farmers, or to address a global report that stated India is the most unsafe country for women – but to steer attention to something that happened 43 years ago. The Emergency.
“The darkest period of Independent India,” the ad stated. “When Constitution was completely disregarded and Democracy was crushed.”
But tweeps were not impressed. Nor was the irony lost on them.
@dhruv_rathee tweeted: “Government of India, wasting your tax money on newspaper ads like these... Tomorrow, they will put out ads for telling us how Nehru failed, how Mughal period was darkest period of Indian history, what Khilji did, etc. etc.”
June 25, 1975, refers to the start of a 21-month period, when Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency across the nation. The two years saw several human rights violations, including a forced mass-sterilisation campaign.
While it is one of the most controversial periods in Indian history, many tweeps thought the BJP could do better than use it as anti-Congress propaganda ahead of the 2019 elections.
Congress slammed the ruling party, saying that the BJP was using taxpayers’ money for political ads.
They turned the tables around and began tweeting with the hashtag #ModiEmergency.
On the same day as BJP’s ads went up, @INCIndia tweeted: “For the first time in Indian history, four Supreme Court judges held a press conference addressing the crisis in the judiciary under the BJP Govt. #ModiEmergency.”
The official BJP twitter account @BJP4India also tweeted a video of the Emergency yesterday, with the words: “Emergency: Congress unleashed a dark chapter in India’s history.”
Emergency: Congress unleashed a dark chapter in India's history. #CongressKilledDemocracy pic.twitter.com/wK1h7pJMbu
— BJP (@BJP4India) June 26, 2018
Several tweeps asked why BJP was stuck in the past?
Mannick Shah @Aapka_Shah wrote: “They failed to deliver in the last four years. So [they are] getting the public’s mood in their favour by showing Congress’ days.”
Dinesh Pal @paldinesh wrote: “Sad, but it shows how they want people to forget today’s issues and talk about issues prevailing 40-50 years back.”
Several burning issues are currently plaguing the Narendra Modi-led government. By 2020, 21 Indian cities are expected to run out of groundwater, with no solution in sight. The Indian government has also been criticised for the rise in petroleum prices, farmer suicides, communal polarisation and assaults on Muslims and Dalits, and “the severe undermining of institutions of parliamentary democracy and independent constitutional authorities”, as mentioned in a statement released by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday.
Tweeps wondered whether he would ever get around to dealing with these vital, relevant issues.
@sengupta_riddhi wrote: “No ads these days of new government-funded schools, hospitals, colleges and industries getting opened... because that’s not a priority anymore!”
No ads these days of new Govt. funded schools, hospitals, colleges and industries getting opened....because that’s not a priority anymore!!
— Riddhi Sengupta (@sengupta_riddhi) June 27, 2018
One tweep tried to crack the code – why was BJP focusing so much on this moment in history?
@tanoydas17 wrote: “When you don’t have your achievements to show, you start counting others’ mistakes... by highlighting issues like Emergency, @BJP4India is doing just that.”
