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Saga of Indian press and its role in freedom struggle of India.
From ancient times in our motherland India, communication has been a topic of importance and this is evident from the existence of manuscripts but the proliferation in this field came after the invention of printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 15th century. It played a major role in the renaissance of Europe and it’s spark came into India with the Portuguese in 16th century as they publishing a book in 1557. Later on East India Company established a printing press in 1684.
The main purpose of these establishments was to promote their propaganda, recreation and setup of their religion in our country. On a rough scale , the press movements and their narratives can be divided into 2 parts, firstly from 1750’s to 1850’s where the medium of press was mainly English and oriented towards government relatable to Darbari (biased) media and secondly from 1850’s to 1950’s where vernacular mediums dominated and local languages played a important empowering press to function as watchdog aligned with the slow and smooth blend with nationalism that grew in the given time scale.
William Bolt was the person who tried to empower media in 1776 but his plans went in vain and was deported. Later in 1780’s James Augustus Hicky published the first newspaper The Bengal Gazette but the clashes with the government landed him into jail. In 1799 the censorship of press act was formulated by Lord Wellesley that was replaced by Licensing Regulation of 1823 formulated by John Adams.
Missionary activities and social welfare were on rise but press was state owned but soon these shackles were broken due to Press Act of 1835 in which William Bentinck and Charles Metcalfe played a important role. The timespan of 1835 to 1857 is called the period of liberty in which local publishers flourished, whether it was Raja Ram Mohan Roy (Samvad Kaumudi ) , Balshastri (Darpan) , Dadabhai Naoroji (Rast Goftar), GC Ghosh (The Hindu Patriot ) etc. Then came the revolt of 1857 in which the flame of freedom came into the blood of Indians causing end of company rule and transfer of power to the crown.
Licensing Act of 1857 was introduced and further restrictions were imposed due to the fear of mass mobilization by press. Distinctions and cracks were seen in the state owned press as some of them backed revolutionaries. Establishment of Indian mirror in (1862) ,Amrita Bazar Patrika (1868) took place. Development of vernacular newspapers was on rise in this period by creating a narrative against the British Government in surrogate form where the publishers indirectly targeted the Britishers.
It was acting as a binding force that connected all the nation as coverage increased to cities, towns and villages and there were local level discussions on the policies and nature of government. The government reacted to this by implementing Vernacular Press Act (1878). Amrita Bazar Patrika found a loophole in this act as it only targeted contents of local language so they started publishing in English and criticized the government. In 1882 the act was dismissed and a new act was formulated by Britishers.
The Hindu by G Iyer , Indian Mirror by NN Sen , Keshari and Maharatta by BG Tilak were the main newspapers to be published in this timeframe. SN Banerjee became the the first journalist to be jailed in 1882 . Anti imperialist feelings started to emerge as the common people were starving and dying but the government was celebrating coronation of Queen which was prime target of press. BG Tilak writings led to the murder of WC Rand in 1897. He promoted Indian nationalism and culture focusing on Swaraj.
In 1905 and 1908 new acts were introduced in context of Swadeshi movement. Fines were imposed on press that promoted nationalism. By 1920’s nationalist press emerged that vehemently supported Non Cooperation Movement , Kheda and Bardoli Satyagraha, Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India movement. The radio talks of Subhash Chandra Bose and his writings created a sense of unity among Indians. Mahatama Gandhi with Harijan, Navjivan and Young India, Swami Vivekanand with Prabudh Bharat, BR Ambedkar with Mooknayak ,Abul Kalam with Alhilal, Pt Madan Mohan Malviya with Hindustan Annie Besant with The Birth of New India played an important role in driving the nationalist movement.
Overall press played a binding pulse that was well aware of the fabrics of the independence that came up after the oppressions caused by the Britishers showcasing theirs faults and creating a feeling of integration among Indians.
