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The Rise of the Nationalist Press

The Rise of the Nationalist Press. From its very beginnings , the Indian press had been the vicious target of the British rulers who employed every means to crush it

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The Rise of the Nationalist Press

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  1. The Rise of the Nationalist Press

  2. From its very beginnings , the Indian press had been the vicious target of the British rulers who employed every means to crush it • The British were willing to tolerate the Indian owned and edited English press up to a point, but they believed the language press to be dangerous for the perpetuation of their rule Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 2

  3. Their argument was that the educated Indians who read the English newspapers were less likely to be misled • And would better appreciate the benefits of the British rule than the masses who read and were influenced by the language press • Their repressive legislation was directed more towards the language press and the most famous example is the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 3

  4. VERNACULAR PRESS ACT, 1878 • Most controversial law against the Press • Lord Lytton- provoked by the writings of the Bengali Press • Assumed office when a serious discussion was going on about the need for action against the native Press Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 4

  5. Law initially called “An Act for better control of publication in oriental languages- 1878” • The Act empowered any magistrate or a commissioner of police to call upon a printer of a newspaper to furnish a bond / undertaking not to publish certain kind of material, to demand security and to forfeit it if it was thought fit, and to confiscate any printed matter deemed objectionable. Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 5

  6. The Act provided for submitting to police all the proof sheets of contents of papers before publication. • What was seditious news, was to be determined by the police, and not by the judiciary. • Under this Act many of the papers were fined, their editors jailed. Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College

  7. Governent could issue search warrants & enter premises of any Press & take action without going to court • The law required all native proprietors to furnish a bond of Rs 10,000 while registering newspapers, which was subject to forfeiture if an offence was committed • The law was repealed in 1881 by Lord Ripon Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 7

  8. No printer or publisher against whom such an action had been taken could resort to a court of law Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 8

  9. Native Press accused of: • publishing false stories, seditious literature • Attacking government on various issues • Writing about alleged racial discrimination • Criticizing government regarding the issue of trials, punishments & crime • Questioning administration about job opportunities for Indians • Writing about the ‘haughtiness’ & ‘over bearing’ conduct of the Europeans Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College

  10. The Initial Phases of… • Hindi Journalism • Concerned solely with social & religious matters • Not much involvement in political affairs • Singular attention to ridding society of social evils like untouchability, lack of education especially girl education, sati, dowry, child marriage, widow remarriage etc Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 10

  11. Hindi press transformed to political and nationalistic Press with a demand for self governance when • Racial discrimination became rampant • Grievances of people against the rulers multiplied Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 11

  12. The beginnings • 1826, 1st Hindi NP- weekly started in Calcutta, Oodunt Martand • Editor- Jooghul Kishore (Jugal Kishor) • Pioneer of Hindi journalism in India • Faced many difficulties in running it • Needed postal facilities to dispatch it outside Bengal, but denied by the Government • Also refused postal concessions Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 12

  13. Unable to face high postal rates • Closed down the paper within an year after 79 issues Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 13

  14. Urdu journalism • Urdu, listed among the 15 national languages in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution • Spoken by six per cent of the population • It is the official language in Jammu and Kashmir and the second official language in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 14

  15. The first Urdu newspaper was Jam -i – Jahan – Numa, published from Calcutta in April 1822 • Editor was Sadasukh Lal • The Urdu press by and large gave a picture of the issues that were “warmly contested in Hindu society, of the grievances of the people, of the disadvantage of having a foreign language as the language of the courts of the atrocities of the indigo planters and the blunders of young magistrates” Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 15

  16. The government was very harsh on Urdu newspapers, since many of them had supported the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 • The severity of the repression in the wake of the Mutiny was such that the Urdu press had virtually disappeared in the process • Soon after the Mutiny was crushed, 12 journals came out, and all of them were run by non – Muslims, particularly Hindus Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 16

  17. Marathi Journalism • Marathi journalism grew out of a tradition of writing with great literary flourish, commonly practiced by educated gentry in the eighteenth century • Commonplace events like births and weddings lent itself to such treatment • Illustrative of this trend is an exhaustive account of the Battle of Panipat (1761) where the Maratha forces faced a great debacle Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 17

  18. The murder of Narayanrao Peshwa in 1773 formed the subject of a ‘Bakhar’ sent to the Patwardhans of Miraj by their representative in Pune • They resemble in an amazing manner the special reports sent by special correspondents to modern – day newspapers Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 18

  19. Bal Shastri Jambhekar (1812 – 1846) founded the Darpan in 1832 • Pioneer of Marathi journalism • He holds the distinction of being the first Indian professor at the Elphistone College in Bombay Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 19

  20. Darpan was a fortnightly, a Marathi – English bilingual, started on January 6 • By May it had become a weekly with eight pages per issue • The first issue outlined the objective of the paper: to inspire more Indians to take to western education and to provide a forum to people to express their views on projects for the well – being of the people and the prosperity of the nation Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 20

  21. The paper discussed several issues of public concern, including religious controversies • The Darpan ceased publication in 1840 • During its short tenure, it maintained very high standards of journalism in every sense Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 21

  22. The Bengali press • Since the headquarters of the East India Company was in Kolkatta and all the big commercial houses were in that city, it was but natural that Kolkatta should have more newspapers than any other city Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 22

  23. Christian missionary activities and particularly the launch of their publications in Bengali prompted the publication of a number of Bengali papers to defend the Hindu religion and customs • The social reform movements of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra VidyaSagar deemed it necessary to have their own journals to propagate their cause Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 23

  24. The Governor General, Lord Bentinck’s abolition of Sati stirred the conservative and orthodox elements in Hindu society, who launched publications to espouse their cause • The first two Bengali newspapers were launched in 1818 – Dig Darshan and Samachar Darpan • Both were missionary journals, but they made readers aware of the possibilities of running newspapers in Bengali Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 24

  25. The Press was still in its crudest form • Shoddy printing and poor layout • Samachar Darpan was started by missionaries (Carey and Marshman) at Serampore • Began as a monthly, but owing to popularity, became a weekly Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 25

  26. It carried both Indian as well as foreign news and district news, apart from missionary matter, • Became a bilingual in 1829- Bengali and English • Ran both in parallel columns • Survived a few crises, but finally closed down in 1852 Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 26

  27. The Samachar Darpan proved to be the forerunner of the modern – day Bengali newspaper, when to cover social and non- political news it appointed 60 correspondents in all major towns of Bengal • The Governor General Hastings gave the Samachar Darpan postal concessions, which was a fourth of the normal charges Seema Narendran, Ramanrain Ruia College 27

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