Screenshot from a video by BJP comparing Indira Gandhi to Adolf Hitler.
- A Karnataka Congress leader filed a police case against the BJP for a social media post about Indira Gandhi
- The BJP shared an AI video depicting Indira Gandhi with a Hitler-style moustache
- The video equated Indira Gandhi's Emergency rule with dictatorship and loss of democracy
Karnataka Congress leader S Manohar, the General Secretary of the party's state unit, has filed a police case against the Bharatiya Janata Party after an outrageous social media post about former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Emergency imposed by her government from 1975 to 1977.
The BJP's post, shared on X, featured an AI-generated video of Indira Gandhi but with a toothbrush moustache, a style now indelibly associated with Adolf Hitler. The 37-second video begins with the AI-Indira Gandhi stating 'I declare Emergency and take the country under my control'.
The AI narrator then proclaims June 25, the day the Emergency notification was issued, as 'the night India lost its voice (and) democracy (was) buried'. "... fear ruled the streets, the press was silenced and leaders were jailed... freedom was stolen and curfews were forced... a nation watched helpless'.
'For 21 months, darkness reigned. This was our warning. Never forget, never again.'
The video was posted with the note: "INDIRA DOES NOT EQUAL INDIA, INDIRA EQUALS HITLER".
The Congress leader's FIR has condemned the BJP's post as disrespectful not only towards Indira Gandhi but also meant to provoke hatred between different religious gourps and communities.
Mr Manohar has demanded legal action against the BJP's social media handle.
'Suspended Democracy'
The BJP's main X handle posted a similar video, calling the Emergency a "Hitlerian vestige... in a saree." Another AI-generated effort, the 12-second clip showed Mrs Gandhi in a saree at a podium.
As the clip plays Mrs Gandhi shadow morphs into that of Hitler and the background turns dark red.
Every year since the BJP came to power at the centre - riding on the back of a 'Congress-mukt Bharat' plan - the Emergency has been a flashpoint between it and the opposition party, with the BJP maximising its attacks to counter the Congress' criticism about subversion of the Constitution.
That the BJP plans on changing the Constitution to remove, among other things, India's secular nature, was a key issue raised by the opposition while campainging for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Last year Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP's charge.
"Dark days of the Emergency remind us of how the Congress subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India, which every Indian respects greatly," the Prime Minister had said on X.
"To cling on to power, the Congress disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation a jail... those who imposed Emergency have no right to profess love for the Constitution."
READ | "Emergency Reflection Of Congress' Anti-Democratic Mentality": Shah
This year too Mr Modi and senior BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, launched fierce attacks on the Congress. The Emergency that enforced by a "despotic ruler" was one of the darkest chapters in India's history, Mr Shah said, while BJP chief JP Nadda hailed the PM's contributions.
READ | "Those Who Did Not Contribute...": Congress Vs BJP On Emergency@50
The Congress, meanwhile, as it does every year, has pointed out that while the Emergency was a distressing period, the country has moved on and there are issues to be addressed today.
"The PM's sudden interest in the Constitution is only to counter our campaign to protect it. Those who never contributed to the freedom struggle or making of the Constitution are now claiming to defend it," party boss Mallikarjun Kharge said.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
