In the early hours of June 26, 1975, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state of Emergency in India citing threat to the national security by "internal disturbances". The then prime minister Indira Gandhi suspended the civil liberties - free press among other things - and the Constitution was amended and altered. During the emergency, journalists, Opposition leaders, and activists were thrown in jail under the Draconian rule of Indira Gandhi government. 

“The President has proclaimed Emergency. There is nothing to panic about,” declared Indira Gandhi on All India Radio. While things changed overnight and India was in the face of a Constitutional crisis during the Emergency, the Press freedom was one that took a dark turn.

With freedom of speech being suspended as a fundamental right, the printing presses were raided and for the next two days, the newspapers went out of circulation. 

What the Press was told

The Indira Gandhi Government laid out some ground rules for the journalists across the country and they were told about certain “guidelines” to follow. Three years ago, Kalpana Sharma, former Editor of Himmat said by the time they came to know what exactly was happening in the nation, many leaders and activists were in jail.

Sharma said among many rules, one was - “Where news is plainly dangerous, newspapers will assist the Chief Press Adviser by suppressing it themselves. Where doubts exist, reference may and should be made to the nearest press adviser.” As the media was under an attack in the country during the 21-month emergency period, the foreign media was on its heels to get the stories out about the situation in the country where Constitutional rights were suspended.

The Indian media was informed not to pay heed to the rumours. All the newspapers in the country were asked to take permission before publishing any piece by the Chief Press Advisor, a position that was created to censor the news. 

Arrests, threats 

Most of the mainstream media newspapers and magazines were under the wrath of Emergency. The scissors of censors cut through big publishers like Himmat, Janata, Frontier, Sadhana, Swarajya among many others. Some were threatened to be thrown out of publications and others were put in jail. The Indian Express and the Stateman were first ones to protest through their editions. 

As a revolt, The Indian Express and the Statesman left their editorial pages empty. This move was soon followed by other publications too. According to IE, journalists from The Times of London, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times were expelled. The Guardian and The Economists correspondents flew back to the United Kingdom after receiving threats. 

Mark Tully, the voice of BBC, was also withdrawn by the channel. According to the Home Ministry, in May of 1976, almost 7,000 journalists and media personnel were arrested.

Revolt and Freedom

Journalist Kuldip Nayar was arrested by the police for protesting against the emergency with other scribes in Delhi. The Opposition leaders were also fighting the same cause across the country. One of them was a veteran Bharatiya Janata Party, the then Janata Party leader LK Advani, who spent months in jail during the Emergency. 

Advani’s words ring in the ears of every Indian after the Emergency was lifted. He addressed the media and said: “You were asked only to bend, but you crawled.”