Patna, 21 June (H.S.):

History bears witness to the fact that India's democratic spirit has always emerged stronger than every crisis it has faced. The nation that broke free from British colonial rule also overcame the dark chapter of the Emergency, when democratic freedoms came under severe strain. To commemorate that struggle, democratic consciousness and constitutional legacy, Patna is once again set to become the centre of a national discourse.

Hindusthan Samachar, the country's first multilingual news agency, will organise a national seminar titled 50 Years of the Emergency: Bihar Movement and the Emergency on June 24 at 1:30 p.m. at Chandragupt Institute of Management, Mithapur Institutional Area, Patna.

The seminar's Convenor and Chief Coordinator of Hindusthan Samachar, Dr. Rajesh Tiwari, said the keynote address will be delivered by Ram Bahadur Rai, Chairman of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and Group Editor of Hindusthan Samachar. The chief guest will be Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The programme will be chaired by Arvind Bhalchandra Mardikar, Chairman of Hindusthan Samachar Group. Bihar's Minister for Art, Culture, Mines and Geology, Dr. Pramod Kumar, will attend as the guest of honour. Dr. Kumud Kumar, Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Chandragupt Institute of Management, Patna, will deliver the welcome address. Former Union Minister Ashwini Choubey and senior columnist and former Member of the Bihar Legislative Council Dr. Harendra Pratap will also address the gathering, sharing their perspectives on the Emergency, press freedom and various dimensions of the Bihar Movement.

Dr. Rajesh Tiwari said the seminar aims not only to revisit the dark chapter of the Emergency but also to reinforce the spirit of freedom and acquaint younger generations with the importance of safeguarding democracy. He noted that the night of June 25, 1975, remains permanently etched in the history of Indian democracy, when a nationwide Emergency was declared. The period is widely regarded as one of the most challenging phases for India's democratic system, marked by press censorship, the arrest of opposition leaders and restrictions on civil liberties that challenged the very foundations of democratic governance.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. The seminar at Chandragupt Institute of Management will feature discussions on democracy, the Bihar Movement, the Emergency and various aspects of nation-building. Eminent personalities associated with journalism and social movements will participate and share their views on these important themes.

Dr. Tiwari further said that ancient Pataliputra has long been a centre of India's political, cultural and intellectual consciousness. It witnessed Chandragupta Maurya's nation-building efforts, Emperor Ashoka's welfare-oriented governance and the evolution of principles of good governance that inspired the world. The city later became a significant centre during India's freedom struggle and subsequently emerged as the epicentre of the people's movement to defend democracy.

He observed that the movement launched from Bihar in 1974 under the leadership of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan was not merely a campaign for political change but a manifestation of the nation's awakened self-awareness. The declaration of the Emergency on the night of June 25, 1975, a year later, reminded the country that freedom extends beyond liberation from colonial rule and includes the protection of freedom of thought, expression and dissent. Since today's younger generation has neither experienced British rule nor witnessed the Emergency, he said, introducing them to these defining chapters of Indian history has become an essential responsibility.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar