The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Congress government banned a book, Nehru: A Political Biography, by Michael Edwardes and a film, Kissa Kursi Ka, in 1975 “because it questioned Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, her son and also the Information and Broadcasting Minister then”.
In 1988, she said, Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses was banned. “So, this spree of curtailing the freedom of expression, containing freedom of press happened before 1949 and continues after 1951,” she said.
The amendments brought by Congress governments, Ms Sitharaman said,were not aimed at strengthening democracy but to shield those in power.
The Finance Minister said that in the aftermath of the Second World War, over 50 countries became independent and framed their constitution. But while many of them have changed it completely, India’s Constitution has stood the test of time.
“Today we are extremely proud of the way India’s democracy is growing. It is time to reaffirm our commitment to build India, that is Bharat, that shall uphold the spirit enshrined in this sacred document,” she said.
