(This is the first in a series of posts on 40 years of Emergency)

40 years ago on June 25, 1975 that the President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed toed the line drawn by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to sign the proclamation of Emergency and heap upon the democracy its darkest 21 months. This one-sentence proclamation signed on June 25, 1975 and published in The Gazette of India on June 26, 1975 (in English and Hindi. Reproduced below) initiated an unprecedented period of suppression of civil liberties in the country.

The one sentence that gave the Indian democracy a 21-month sentence.

PROCLAMATION OF EMERGENCY

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause 1 of Article 352 od the Constitution, I, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, President of India, by this Proclamation declare that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India is threatened by internal disturbance.

FA Ahmed
President

New Delhi
The 25th June 1975

Notification in The Gazette of India: Proclamation of Emergency by the President of India (English)

Notification in The Gazette of India: Proclamation of Emergency by the President of India (Hindi)

Categories: History India Politics