Opinion October 30, Forty Years Ago: President On Press

The Front Page of Indian Express 40 years ago on September 30.

emergency, indira gandhi, indian express, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, beirut wars, Egyptian President at UN, india emergency

By: Express News Service

December 25, 2015 10:52 PM IST First published on: Oct 30, 2015 at 12:50 AM IST

The Front Page of Indian Express 40 years ago on September 30.

President On Press

President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed asked the press to help create a peaceful atmosph-ere and mould public opinion in favour of helping the government to establish a true socialistic and democratic society. Speaking at a conference in Guwahati, the president said the country suffered a great setback for some time prior to the Emergency as reactionary forces created indiscipline and disorder, and the pace of development was considerably slowed down. He said the press has the moral obligation to expose the activities of the reactionary forces bent on creating disorder and chaos in society for the fulfilment of their selfish ends.

Sadat At UN

Egypt President Anwar Sadat told the UN that unless the West Asia crisis was resolved peacefully, Egypt would have no alternative but to liberate its occupied territory by force. In his first address to the world body, Sadat also called for immediate consultations to reconvene the Geneva peace conference in the near future. His speech was seen by observers as a strong reply to criticism that he had sold out the Arab cause in the recent Sinai disengagement agreement.

Raids On Jewellers

Raids on the premises of big jewellers with operations in Delhi, Bombay, Agra, Jaipur, Calcutta and Hyderabad, to unearth hidden wealth, yielded about Rs 1 crore worth of loose diamonds of foreign origin and jewellery. The raids were expected to go on for another week or 10 days.

War In Beirut

Rocket, machine-gun and mortar fire engulfed Beirut. The Lebanese capital and its suburbs were cut off from the rest of the country and the city was severed by a clear demarcation line, from the seafront eastwards to the foothills of the mountains. On one side were the rightwing Christian Phalangist militia and, on the other, the leftwing Muslim alliance supported by the Palestinians.