NEW DELHI: “The one lesson that Emergency taught us is to never take freedom for granted,” external affairs minister S Jaishankar declared on Friday while criticising the Congress party for its imposition in 1975.Addressing a Mock Parliament event organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to commemorate its 50th anniversary, Jaishankar referenced the movie “Kissa Kursi Ka” highlighting how one family’s interests were placed above the nation’s. “When a family is considered above the nation, things like Emergency take place,” he said, adding that the move was essentially aimed at breaking the country’s morale.“This entire exercise, in a way, was to break the morale of the country and the society… Many people, who were not even in politics, were impacted. Those who were in politics were well aware that doing politics meant an inevitable arrest, and those who were arrested were unaware if and when they would be released,” he added.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also condemned the Congress party’s actions, describing the Emergency as the “darkest chapter” in India’s democratic history. He highlighted how the Constitution was violated, Parliament’s voice was suppressed, and attempts were made to control the courts. “The poor, marginalized and downtrodden were particularly targeted, including their dignity insulted,” PM Modi stated.The Emergency, imposed between June 25, 1975, and March 21, 1977, was India’s first peacetime Emergency declaration under Article 352 of the Constitution. President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed issued the proclamation citing threats from internal disturbance, marking the third Emergency in India’s history after the ones during wars with China (1962) and Pakistan (1971).