Democracy not for granted: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reminded people of the Emergency and urged them not to take democracy “for granted”, saying in day-to-day life, it is difficult to savour the joy of democratic rights, unless they are snatched away.

In his first address in the second edition of the broadcast after returning to power, Mr Modi said every day when one gets to eat food on time, one doesn’t realise what hunger pangs are.

“Similarly, in day-to-day life, it is difficult to savour the joy of democratic rights, unless they are snatched away. During Emergency, every citizen of the country had started getting the feeling that something that belonged to him had been snatched away. If what was snatched had never been enjoyed by that person, ever, it had to eventually precipitate into a painful inner agony,” he said.

Mr Modi reminded people that in order to ensure smooth conduct of the social order, a constitution is required. “Laws and rules are necessary, rights and duties should be part of due discourse,” he said.

On June 25, India marked the 44th anniversary of Emergency.

In 1977 Lok Sabha elections, the PM said, people voted without bothering about other rights and requirements.

They voted, he said, “just for the sake of saving democracy. And the country had witnessed one such Election in 1977.”

“When something is in close proximity of us, we tend to underestimate its importance. We ignore even amazing facts about it. We have been blessed with a democracy so invaluable, yet we take it for granted so easily,” he said.

Mr Modi was of the view that people must keep reminding themselves that democracy is “gloriously great, it flows in our veins, through centuries of dedicated practice.”

Referring to the recently-concluded Lok Sabha election, he said a record 61 crore out of nearly 91 crore voters exercised their franchise. “If you exclude China, the number of people who voted in India exceeds the population of any other country in the world,” he said.