50 Years of Emergency: NDTV Rewinds-When Democracy Was Suspended
Fifteen minutes before midnight on June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed the proclamation. The Emergency was now in effect-no press release, no cabinet discussion, no warning. Radio stations played patriotic music as the country woke up to find democracy interrupted. Over 100,000 opposition leaders, activists, journalists, and students were arrested overnight. Printing presses were raided, and newspapers went blank. Fundamental rights were suspended by decree.
