Daily Briefing: This day, 1975

Indian Express

5 hours ago

Good morning,
The game wasn't decided until the last session on Day 5. It started with great possibilities. England needed 350 to win, a daunting but not impossible target. But first, they had to reckon with Jasprit Bumrah, the world's premier fast bowler. Neither Bumrah nor his all-rounder teammate Ravindra Jadeja managed to shake the English batsmen. And soon, the suspense was over. England recorded a five-wicket win, leading the series 1-0 against India. National sports editor Sandeep Dwivedi brings alive the drama of the day, the home team's steep chase and India's missed chances, in his brilliant report from Leeds.
We have more on the Test series, but first, let's turn to the rest of the day's headlines.
The Emergency was imposed exactly 50 years ago on June 25, 1975. The 21-month period that followed was marked by the suspension of civil liberties, curtailment of press freedom, mass arrests, cancellation of elections, and rule by decree. In today's edition, veterans and reporters recall the darkest chapter of Indian history.
🔴 When Coomi Kapoor recollects the Emergency, it begins with a 4 am phone call informing her of the arrest of Opposition leaders. In the following months, The Indian Express became a battleground of truth, defiance, and sheer grit. Power cuts silenced the presses, censorship muzzled the newsroom, and reporters were jailed and threatened. The paper ran a blank editorial in protest, and Ramnath Goenka, the paper's fiery owner, refused to bow, fighting back with lawsuits, court orders, and iron resolve. Read Kapoor's gripping first-hand account about a newspaper that fought back.
🔴 Contributing editor Neerja Chowdhury offers a sharp and compelling portrait of Indira Gandhi, how she went from Durga, dictator to democrat, all within 5-6 years. She was once hailed by the Opposition after she helped liberate Bangladesh. That changed when she imposed the Emergency to protect her kursi. Ultimately, in a show of the tiny streak of democracy still alive in her, she puzzled her critics, calling for elections, which led to her stunning defeat.
🔴 Faced with an oppressive regime, some revolutionaries stood tall. Vikas Pathak profiles Justice H R Khanna, the sole dissenter in a Supreme Court order that upheld the suspension of rights under the Emergency.
🔴 Santosh Singh recalls the Jayaprakash Narayan movement, which shook the Indira Gandhi government, birthed an alternative to Congress and created a star line-up of future leaders like Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar.
🔴 And finally, we have Raj Narain, the unlikely hero who brought down Indira Gandhi with a petition in the Allahabad High Court. It was this ruling that led to her declaring the Emergency. But Narain's machinations in the Janata government would eventually bring her back to power.
Also read: Commemorating the dark period should go beyond criticism of past to introspection about present, writes Suhas Palshikar
Truce: A fragile ceasefire appeared to hold between Iran and Israel, days after the US attacked the former's nuclear sites. The truce is crucial in stabilising the volatile region, which puts crucial trade and flight routes at risk for the rest of the world.
Roll call: Starting from Bihar, which goes to the polls later this year, the Election Commission has directed a special intensive revision of electoral rolls, preparing them afresh. This would require voters who were not on the rolls in 2003 to provide documentation proving their eligibility.
Launch ready: After considerable delay, the Axiom-4 mission is slated for launch today. The spacecraft, which would carry India's Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station, in a historic step, is expected to take off around noon IST. It will dock at the ISS at around 4.30 pm on Thursday.
Many wrong turns: Rs 18 crore, two years and several memes later, the newly constructed rail overbridge in Bhopal has come under fresh scrutiny. The bridge became a subject of jokes, and then a serious investigation, after images appeared of its peculiar construction. The bridge appears to have an almost 90-degree turn. Whose fault is it? Officials from the Madhya Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) and the Indian Railways appear to be shifting blame.
On the docket: Much of the credit for England's win on Tuesday goes to opener Ben Duckett. It was Duckett's three reverse-sweep boundaries off Jadeja that helped him jump from 86 to 102. Duckett's 149, only the second ton on the English side in the opening game, sealed the deal for the home team. Read Dwivedi's meticulous analysis of England's Bazball hero.
Everything we see in the universe, from the stars and planets to the dust, makes up just about 5 per cent of it. Another 27 per cent is made up of dark matter, which neither emits nor absorbs light, but exerts gravity. Without it, galaxies would not hold together. What is the dark matter made of? The answer has long eluded the best of our scientists. Could it be that we have failed to understand gravity altogether? Read Shravan Hanasoge's column on this cosmic mystery.
That's all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta
Sonal Gupta is a senior sub-editor on the news desk. She writes feature stories and explainers on a wide range of topics from art and culture to international affairs. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the 'best newsletter' category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023. She also edits our newly-launched pop culture section, Fresh Take.
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