Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday slammed the congress party saying the entire history of the Congress party is replete with incidents of violation of all kinds of freedoms.
He said this while addressing the event of the completion of 75 years of 'Panchjanya' magazine.
"Today again a debate has started in the country regarding the freedom of expression. The interesting thing is that those who allege the violation of media freedom today forget that whether it is Atalji's government or Modiji's government, they have never imposed any ban on any media house, nor had curtailed in any manner anyone's right to free speech and express," the defence minister claimed.
"While the Congress government even amended the constitution to curb free speech. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others. The entire history of the Congress Party is replete with incidents of violation of all kinds of freedoms. ," said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
While stating that Congress had no right to get into the freedom debate, the defence minister said," The entire history of the Congress party is replete with incidents of violation of all kinds of freedoms."
Further, the defence minister stated that everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. But the Congress was so eager to stifle any kind of criticism that it changed the constitution itself.
"I would like to name two magazines here. One was 'Crossroads' which was inspired by leftist ideology and was published from Madras. The second was the magazine 'Organiser. Congress was so upset by these magazines that it banned both. But when the court overturned the government decision, the Congress government made up its mind to amend the constitution," stated the Defence Minister.
further hitting out at the Congress over the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression, the Union Minister said, "Our constitution makers ensured this through Article 19. Then what happened that in 1951 i.e. only after one year, need to amend our constitution arose which was considered as the 'best constitution in the world'".
"The reason was very clear. The Congress party, which was ruling the entire country at that time, was averse to any kind of opposition. Everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. But the Congress was so eager to stifle any kind of criticism that it changed the constitution itself," he added.
Recalling the freedom struggle and the emergency, Rajnath said, "Journalism is the most objective force of intelligent society in its eternal values. Sometimes it is used to fight against the oppressive power of the British. Sometimes he fought against the autocracy and dictatorship of the Emergency. So sometimes it echoes the voice of stopping the misuse of the power of power."
"I believe that the manner in which our inspiration and guide Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee defended freedom of speech and expression in is unique in itself in independent India. Every Indian should know this. In my view, the biggest advocate of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression in independent India was our leader and inspiration Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee," he added.
While addressing the event of the completion of 75 years of the national weekly, Panchjanya, Rajnath Singh also said that the culmination of 75 years of 'Panchjanya' is a significant event in the Indian journalism world.
( With inputs from ANI )
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