Contribution of M Gandhi,RajaRam Mohan and BG Tilak to Indian Press

 

India is known to be one of the largest democracies in the world and it takes almost 190 years for India to get freedom from British rule. During the British era one of the biggest problems that freedom fighters, revolutionaries faced was an appropriate channel for the proper dissemination of information among the public. To meet this purpose, press played a crucial role .It helps to arouse the feeling of Nationalism and unity among the people and also motivate them to participate in Indian freedom movement. 

During freedom movement press mainly newspaper were used by various leaders for propagating their ideas among the masses. In pre independence era press also face lots of restriction and draconian policies of British government like censorship of press under which acts like Vernacular Press Act or Gagging Act were imposed but they always take a firm stand against all these odds. 

Press was used as a weapon by reformers, freedom fighters or journalist against the draconian policies of government and also to educate people. Through this research article we try to keep focus about the growth of Journalism in India and to also mark the contribution of fearless journalist of pre independence era who fought against the British government and struggled for Indian freedom.

Rajaram Ram Mohan Roy

Rajaram Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) was born in an orthodox Brahmin family in the village Radhanagar, West Bengal. During his early days he had acquired remarkable command and proficiency in various languages like Hindi, Sanskrit, Persian Arabic and his mother tongue that was Bengali. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was described by Jawaharlal Nehru as a founder of the Indian press. Roy’s contribution to Indian language journalism is unparalleled. Ram Mohan Roy stood for a free press. He published and edited various journals, fought against social odds and defended attacks against Vedanta philosophy by the Christian missionaries. 

He founded the Sambad Kaumudi (moon of intelligence) in 1821 in Calcutta. Calcutta Journal which was edited by James Silk Buckingham gave him enough popularity through his columns .Raj Ram Mohan Roy also started a newspaper in Persian language ‘Mirat ul Akhbar’(mirror of news)in 1822, but close down it in 1823 due to his protests against the Press Regulations Act 1823. This weekly newspaper was in Persian language, which was the official language of the Mughal Empire, published on every Friday. This weekly gave proper space to coverage of different events including national international events. Press regulations of 1823 had more strong laws and impact than any other that had been in force earlier. 

He also brought out a religious periodical, the Brahminical Magazine, to counteract the missionaries’ propaganda. Journal like The Reformer, The Inquirer and The Gyan Auneshun , all connected with Ram Mohan Roy, represented the school of progressive Hindu journalism held the field in Bengal till as late as 1891. He founded Brahmo Samaj in culcutta in 1828 .He also lead various campaigns to battle against the social evils like sati pratha, polygamy and child marriage etc. He raised his voice regarding property inheritance rights for women. 

Through his writing Raja Ram Mohan Roy wanted to make people aware about political and social status of India. Raja ram Mohan Roy always stood for a freedom of press and believe free press can act as a bridge between the government and the society. These publications gave birth to Indian journalism as these newspapers were dedicated for the public and in their own languages.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal

Gangadhar Tilak or Lokmaya Tilak also known as the father of Indian unrest. His purpose of bringing awareness within the people and took them into a new era, creating hopes between them and their implantation started taking root in his mind. Tilak a social reformer and freedom fighter was first to advocate SwarajComplete Independence. His famous declaration “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it” served as fuel to revolutionaries who are struggling for the freedom. To spread nationalism among the people, Tilak decided to publish two newspapers “Kesari” in Marathi and “Maratha” in English language. Tilak always wanted to be fearless and had explained about the nature of ‘Kesari’ as – ‘Kesari will fearlessly and impartially discuss the issues within society. 

He strongly condemns the increasing nature of people to satisfy the British government in the country. He also emphasized that the articles published in ‘Kesari’ will be synonym for its name ‘Kesari (lion)’.He propagated anti British content using simple but direct language. In the year 1893 he started Ganesh festivals and in the year 1896. Shivaji festival to stimulate nationalism amongst young Maharashtrians. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly support the Chapekar brothers in their killing of Rand the official in charge of plague operations in pune. During the famine and plague epidemic in India, Tilak fearlessly reported the irresponsible and indifferent attitude of the government towards the sufferings of the people. 

Tilak became an all India hero after this episode and the title of Lokmanya was given to him. In 1908 when bomb attacks became common on the government. It again resorted to harsh measures against the press. At this time though tilak condemned the attacks against individuals and the use of violence. But he held the government’s attitude responsible for it. For this article again Tilak was sentenced to 6 yrs in prison in Mandalay, Burma. Tilak always believed that journalism can be used as a tool for creating public opinion. 

When charges of treason leveled against him he argued for almost 21 hours and 10minutes inside the court. He made clear that the newspapers have all the right to create public opinions. He also emphasized that it was not only a duty of a newspaper to bring out to the notice of the government about the nature of powers in the political life of a country but also alarm them against such powers. He stood firm that he had not committed treason. As a social reformer, he was a true supporter of education for women and women empowerment

Mahatma Gandhi

Apart from being a national leader and social reformer, Gandhi was a great communicator. More than anyone else, he recognised that communication is the most effective tool to shape opinion and mobilise popular support. He was successful because he had a latent skill in communication that surfaced in South Africa, where he had gone initially to set up practice as a lawyer. The practice of communication started by him in South Africa gave him the clue to rally millions of his countrymen when he returned to India.

Gandhi was associated with six journals, for two of which he was the editor. His first paper, Indian Opinion, was started in South Africa. In order to ventilate the grievances of Indians and mobilise public opinion in their favour, Gandhi started writing and giving interviews to newspapers. He focused on open letters and letters to editor, but soon realised that occasional writings and the hospitality of newspapers were inadequate for the political campaign he had launched. 

He needed a mouthpiece to reach out to the people, so in June 1903 he launched Indian Opinion. It served the purpose of a weekly newsletter which disseminated the news of the week among the Indian community. It became an important instrument of education. Through the columns of the newspaper, Gandhi tried to educate the readers about sanitation, self-discipline and good citizenship. How important the journal was to Gandhi is seen from his own statement in his biography, The two journals Young India and Navjivan were used by him to ventilate his views and to educate the public about Satyagraha . In 1933, Gandhi started Harijan, Harijanbandhu, Harijansevak in English, Gujarati and Hindi, respectively.