Recalling Emergency on Mann Ki Baat, Modi says, 'democracy is our strength'

Recalling the Emergency in 1975 as a black period for the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the people in India have always given priority to democracy.

“I am happy that people in my country have always given importance to democracy. There was a day when voice of people was trampled over but now, the people of India express their views on how the government is doing,” said Modi as he addressed the nation on monthly radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’.

“Democracy has given us strength, but the night of June 25-26, 1975, was the darkest night for democracy. I always request people to have full faith in democracy,” he added.

Modi also congratulated and lauded the efforts of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for launching as many as 20 satellites and said this signified the skills and aspirations of the youth. He stated that the academic satellite is a classic example of high ambitions of the Indian youth.

"Yesterday I was in Pune where I met the college students, who made one of the satellites that was launched along with others a few days ago. This satellite signifies the skills and aspirations of the youth of India. Academic satellite is a classic example of high ambitions of the Indian youth. Similar work was done by the students from Chennai. The two satellites built by the students and launched by ISRO are very important and special for me," he added.

Prime Minister Modi also compared the efforts of the scientists with that of the farmers.

"For the last few weeks, we have got positive news about rainfall in various parts of the nation. Like our farmers, our scientists are working very hard and making our nation very proud," he added.

Prime Minister Modi yesterday met the students of College of Engineering in Pune. The youngsters had created a satellite that was among the recently launched 20 satellites by ISRO.