To this day, the 1975 National Emergency, which Indira Gandhi announced on the night of 25 June 1975, is considered a blot on Indian democracy. The state of emergency back then was officially declared by the erstwhile President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on orders of then PM Indira Gandhi, which led to the suspension of civil rights across India.
In days that followed, opposition leaders, including the likes of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Ashoka Mehta and many others were put in jail, freedom from the press was snatched and even the elections were suspended.
It was on 26th June 1975 when a law was passed to prevent “scurrilous” and “malicious” articles in the newspapers and journals of the time. It was then when the fourth pillar of the democracy crumbled to pieces as its tongue was slit until 21 March 1977 when the emergency finally ended.
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The Indira Gandhi government had used the “security of the state” and “promotion of disaffection” specified in Article 19 (2) as its defense for imposing strict control on the Press.
But despite stringent laws, raiding and power cuts at newspaper presses, the newspaper industry found thought-provoking ways to attack the blot after the print resumed on June 28. Have a look:
1. The Times Of India
2. The Indian Express
3. The Hindu
4. Indian Herald
5. The Hindustan Times
6. Deccan Herald
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