It’s delightful to see prime minister Narendra Modi’s encouragement for those who fight for protecting democracy and constitutional principles. Modi hasn’t thrown his weight behind sycophants and collaborators who are complicit in the sinister project of trampling constitutional democracy. “Aapatkal ka virodh karne wali sabhi vibhutiyon ko sadar naman,” Modi said in his message on June 25, the anniversary of the Emergency, unambiguously instigating citizens to oppose each and every curbs imposed by the government on democratic freedoms.Modi insisted that the disturbing memory of Emergency “motivates us to remain committed for protection of democracy, Constitution and civic rights.” If any section of bureaucrats, judges or journalists nurtured doubts about the prime minister’s intent, they need to rethink. It is yet again absolutely clear that the politicians, activists and journalists fearlessly working to protect constitutional values of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity are precious and true patriots. Those who seek to crush these values, and the sycophants who rejoice subversion of the constitutional scheme, are the real traitors.Ironically, the prime minister’s lofty rhetoric has come at a time when the world is worrying about diminishing democracy in India and the leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi is talking about ‘Resistance Movement” to save the Constitution from the threats posed by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and its progeny, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Addressing opposition leaders a few days ago, Gandhi said, “The BJP controls the institutions of the state. The BJP controls the legal system. The BJP controls the bureaucracy. The BJP controls the intelligence agencies. The BJP even controls the Election Commission. I have many friends in the TMC (Trinamool Congress). They were convinced that they were sweeping the election. I kept telling them: you are in dream land. I have seen what happens – I have seen it in Gujarat, I have seen it in Madhya Pradesh, I have seen it in Chhattisgarh, I have seen it in Haryana and Maharashtra.”The leader of opposition argued that a few instruments of the state that still worked would stop working soon because the BJP and RSS were tightening their grip.“If political parties can’t function, what functions? Resistance functions. Resistance works. Wherever we resist, it works.”This is not an isolated view. Dominant sections of intelligentsia and civil society endorse this assessment and believe that reclaiming democracy through elections was impossible under the prevailing circumstances. Except the BJP and its allies, all political parties believe the integrity of electoral processes has been thoroughly destroyed. Justice and civil liberties the prime minister talked about in his Emergency message, are largely seen to be in jeopardy.It’s no more about power and government-formation. The political battle is about salvaging democracy. Those who lament the attack that happened 51 years ago need a mirror, not a debate, on the plight of democracy in today’s India. Mirror, that’s what is needed. Krishna Bihari Noor gave an advance warning: “Chahe sone ke frame mein jad do/ aaina jhooth bolta hi nahin (Even if you frame it in gold, a mirror never lies).” The ugly face that the mirror will show will frighten the rulers.Not a secretA murder executed in the dark corners of a gangster’s den may remain a secret. But democracy, even if stabbed and smothered with tact and care, becomes a public spectacle. Wounds scream and advertise themselves. The BJP has often blamed Rahul Gandhi for speaking about the threats to democracy in India on foreign soil. That’s a juvenile grudge. Everybody knows what’s happening in the world. The fact that the Bengal election was mired in unseemly controversies is not hidden from anybody. The world doesn’t wait for an opposition leader to spill the beans.If 20 MPs deserted the TMC and instantly extended support to the Modi government, the world has the sagacity to decode the phenomenon. Nobody will accept this vulgar decimation of an opposition party soon after the election as a natural corollary of defeat. The shop hoarding “chori ka maal (stolen goods)” can’t escape notoriety. And Bengal was not an isolated incident, compelling political observers to avoid seeing a BJP hand in the split of a party. Defectors from Punjab, seven Rajya Sabha MPs, swiftly joined the BJP.In Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray’s party suffered the second split, with six MPs falling in BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA’s) lap. In Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress candidate’s nomination is rejected on false grounds in Madhya Pradesh and another candidate loses the contest to a moneybag despite having numerical edge. If the BJP doesn’t want all these vulgar incidents to be seen as an attack on constitutional morality, it will have to manufacture a dumber world. The cloak-&-dagger strategy now has an identifiable trademark.The saner world can see through the veneer of hypocrisy as the fetters around India’s democracy grow bigger and stronger. Political parties, students’ organisations and apolitical youths have launched a sustained protest demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan because of paper-leaks. The prime minister keeps aloof for days and then writes on X: “Birthday wishes to Dharmendra Pradhan Ji. He is making commendable efforts towards the implementation of the National Education Policy, which seeks to make India a hub for knowledge, learning and innovation. Praying for his long and healthy life.”Is this the way to respond to public pressure in a democracy? Modi did the same thing in the case of Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri when demands for his resignation surged in the wake of his name appearing in the shady Epstein files.Is the prime-ministerial communication reserved for propaganda, partisan political consolidation and maligning critical voices? Will the power of expression and state machinery be used only for vested interests and suppressing opponents? If yes, Modi and his supporters should not cry when the world points to diminishing democracy in India.Emergency & CongressHistory cannot be invented, or erased, for political convenience. What has happened will remain in the collective national memory whether it is allowed to be recorded honestly or not. Distortion of history is a pathetic misadventure, often inviting ridicule and contempt – an indisputable fact the Sangh Parivar cannot digest. If the RSS did not participate in the freedom struggle and the Hindutva icon V.D. Savarkar tendered multiple mercy petitions to the British, no amount of distortion can ever wipe this truth out.A controversy erupted about inclusion of a chapter on Emergency in the school textbook and the education minister Pradhan defended the decision, asserting that the younger generation must know about the darkest episode of post-Independent India. The truth is that the chapter on Emergency was included in the NCERT textbook way back in 2007 when Manmohan Singh was the prime minister. Believe it or not, the Congress government demonstrated commendable courage and intellectual honesty by allowing the students of political science to study India’s true history.Political activist and academic Yogendra Yadav, who was one of the authors of the chapter, recalled how the then human resource development minister Arjun Singh did not change a word. Yadav has written that the decision was taken independently by the expert committee that comprised top intellectuals and domain experts. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government didn’t intervene. The Congress has dealt with Emergency, perhaps its greatest mistake, with political maturity and openness.While top leaders like Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi have publicly apologised for Emergency, the party didn’t omit the subject in its official history either. In the fifth volume of the book – A Centenary History of Indian National Congress – Emergency has been discussed in great detail. The project, carrying analysis by renowned historians and political scientists, was completed under the guidance of Pranab Mukherjee and Anand Sharma.Independent and reputed historian Bipan Chandra wrote in that chapter, “Emergency centralised and concentrated unlimited state and party power in the hands of the prime minister, Indira Gandhi, to be exercised in an authoritarian manner through a small coterie of the politicians and bureaucrats around her.” The essay also gives exhaustive details about suspension of civil liberties, suppression of media, excesses on people and weakening of institutions.Can this honesty be expected from the RSS or the BJP? Will the RSS allow independent writers to dwell on the subject of Gandhi assassination, explaining how the hate ideology produced somebody like Nathuram Godse, in any project sponsored by it? Has it expressed regret for supporting Nazi rule, including racial discrimination, under Adolf Hitler? Will Modi tender an apology for Gujarat riots or allow a chapter on the communal mayhem written by a impartial author? Remember this unalterable rule – Lies and false propaganda can fetch power, not legitimacy.Sanjay K. Jha is a political commentator.