Union Minister of Tourism & Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the recent advisory by the U.S. Government to its citizens in India to be increasingly cautious due to crime and rape was prompted by geopolitical developments, and it had nothing to do with the law and order situation.

Addressing the media after watching photographs related to 50 years of imposition of Emergency, organised by the BJP here on Thursday, Mr. Shekhawat said, before issuing the advisory, the U.S. Government should have gone for introspection as to what was happening in Los Angeles and other cities.

Replying to a question on the status of tourism in Jammu & Kashmir, he said the tourist activity there had significantly picked up, but it was still short of the pre-Pahalgam situation.

On the declaration of Emergency on June 25, 1975, Mr. Shekhawat said it was a dark chapter in Indian democracy, which would have worsened had people not fought against the authoritarian drift in centralisation, executive overreach and media suppression.

Freedom was not gifted by somebody, it was the sacrifices of people and the rising of leaders from Bhagat Singh to Mahatma Gandhi to claim sovereignty that resulted in the upholding of democracy and the people’s will, he said.

The Judiciary, Parliament and the media were silenced, or co-opted, and civil liberties were suspended by the then Prime Minister, he said.

Barring a single judge, the Supreme Court had upheld the suspension of rights and Article 359 was used to deny legal remedies to fundamental rights.

The NDA Government observed ‘Samvidhan Hatya Divas’ to educate the people about what happened in those turbulent years, Mr. Shekhawat stated.

The Union Minister said proposals worth ₹450 crore were cleared by the Ministry of Tourism under various schemes in the last one year to A.P., and asserted that the State was going to be a major contributor to the boost being given to tourism in the country.