India Expels Western Reporters: Press Freedom Crushed
The government form required just one signature. Three foreign correspondents—Peter Hazelhurst of *The Times*, Peter Gill of *The Daily Telegraph*, and Lewis Simons of *Newsweek*—stared at India's new censorship pledge in June 1975. Sign it, stay. Refuse, leave within 24 hours. They refused. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared Emergency rule two weeks earlier, jailing 676 political opponents overnight and muzzling the press. The expulsions backfired: international coverage of India's crackdown intensified immediately. Sometimes the story you can't report becomes the bigger story.
July 20, 1975
51 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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