Development of the Indian Language Press

Since independence we have seen an enormous growth of the press in India. There has been an enormous increase in the number of publications of all periodicals- dailies, weeklies, monthlies. The press is no longer a metropolitan or a big city phenomenon. It has spread to the districts and even to sub-districts and villages. Predominance of the so-called national press is facing a massive and crucial challenge from the regional language press which has acquired an unmatched reach and clout in its respective areas of operation. The English press may still claim to influence the policy makers, but the power to mould public opinion has been wrested by the Indian language press. The mass media, particularly print media were the first to be affected by the language wave. Though the English newspapers and periodicals held their ground initially, the regional language press soon overtook them, both in the number of publications and in circulation. Today the English press constitute only 15% of the total number of publication. Growth of press in the Indian Languages The first language newspaper of India was Dig Darshan, in Bengali language. It was started by Dr. Carey from Calcutta in 1818. Later it was named as Samachar Darpan. With the intention of answering the criticism made in Samachar Darpan, Raja Ram Mohun Roy started a magazine called Brahmanical magazine in 1821. Later he started Brahmin Sevandi, a bilingual magazine, Sambad Kaumudi, a Bengali newspaper and Mirut-ul-Akbar (mirror of news) in Persian, and contributed much to Indian language journalism. Raja Ram Mohun Roy is rightly called the father of Indian language journalism. Let us discuss about the growth of newspapers in the major regional languages in India. 1. Hindi Among language newspapers Hindi gets first place in number of publications. In 1998 it had 17863 publications. Among them 2202 dailies. The earliest Hindi newspaper was started in Calcutta in 1826. It was Oodunt Martand a weekly edited by Jooghul Kishore Sookool. The first Hindi daily, Samachar Subha Varshan came out in 1854 with Shyam Sundar Sen as its editor. A literary magazine which set the standard for Hindi journals in the early years of the century was Saraswathi, a monthly edited by Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi. In 1920, Aaj was started and it played a very notable part in the freedom struggle. In Patna, Desh a weekly founded by Babu Rajendra Prasad and his friends in 1920 was an influential journal and mouth piece of Congress. When freedom came to India one of the important Hindi dailies to greet it from the capital was Hindustan, a sister newspaper of the Hindustan Times, started in 1936. The Nav Bharath Times of the Times of India group started in 1950. Hindi newspapers played an important role in freedom struggle and in creating awareness on political, social and religious issues.

2. Urdu Today Urdu Journalism has assumed an All India character, coming next to English and Hindi in a number of states and Union territories. Delhis earliest Urdu newspapers, Fawaid-ul-Nazarin and Kiram-lis-Sadai (1852) were edited by a Christian convert Ram Chandra. In the 1860s there were six Urdu newspapers in Delhi. The most enduring of these was Akmal-ul-Akbar published by Hakim Abdul Majid Khan. In 1877, Maulvi Nasir Ah, one of the founders of the Anjuman Islamia, edited three newspapers namely Nusrat-Ul-Islam, Nusrat-ul-Akbar and Mihir-e-Darakshan. A notable Urdu journal of the first decade of this century was Maulana Abdul Kalam Azads Al-Hilal which came out from Calcutta in 1912 and marked a turning point in Urdu journalism by creating a revolutionary stir among the masses. Urdu national papers had their share of persecutions at the hands of the alien rulers during the freedom struggle. One of them was Milap of Lahore started in 1923 and another Pratapstarted by Mahesha Krishnan in 1919.A prominent daily in Delhi in 1923 was Tej. The most important Urdu daily to make it to the top was Hindi Samachar launched by Lala Jagat Marain in 1948. The veteran journalist was assassinated along with his son by extremists in the wake of the Punjab crisis. Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh is one of the strongholds of Urdu newspapers. 3. Bengali The credit for pioneering Indian journalism goes to Bengal. Besides Bengali and English, the first Persian newspaper, the first Urdu newspaper and the first Hindi newspaper were all published in Bengal. The Basumati, a well known Bengali daily was started in 1914 under the editorship of Sri Hamendra Prasad Ghosh. In 1937, when the Anand Bazar Patrika started the English Hindustan Standard, the Amrita Bazar Patrika retaliated with the Bengali Jugantar. In 1941, A.K Fazlul Huq started publication of the daily Navajug. In 1946 Swadhinata, the official organ of the Communist Party of India started its publication. The Times of India started the Satyayug in 1949, but it ceased publication in 1953. 4. Gujarati Gujarati journalism owes its origin to the enterprise of the leaders of the Parsi community. The first Gujarati newspaper, Bombay Samachar began its long career in 1822. It is the oldest existing newspaper of India. Another paper which made an illustrious beginning was Jam-e-jamshed, a weekly started by Pestonji Motiwala in 1831. After 1850, the development of Gujarati journalism was marked by the starting of a number of papers, many of which had a short life. Some of the important newspapers of the time are Kheda Vartman (1861) from Kaira, Surat Mitra (1880) from Bombay, Desh Mitra (1873) from Surat and Kathiawar Times from Rajkot. 5. Marathi Bal Gangadhar Shastri Jambhekar (1812-1846) has the distinction of pioneering Marathi journalism. Jambhekar launched the Darpan a bilingual fortnightly (English and Marathi) in 1832. The first all Marathi journal was Mumbai Akhbar started in 1840. It carried news from all corners of the Marathi region. Jnanodaya started in 1842 was a paper vocal in speaking out strongly against social evils like child marriage. The back issues of this paper, according to media historians, are a source of the social history of Maharastra. Today there are 603 dailies in Maharastra, but the principal ones are:

Loksatta, Maharastra Times, Times of India, and Navabharat Times (Hindi), Navakaal, Janmabhumi (Gujarathi), and Sakaal (Marathi). 6. Oriya Journalistic activities in Oriya began rather late because printing came late to Orissa. The first monthly periodical in Oriya, Jnanaruna, came out in 1849 from the Orissa Mission Press. It was edited by Charles Lacey. It could not continue for long because of financial difficulties. Another paper, Prabhat Chandrika, launched by the same Mission served the news and information needs of the literate people of the region. But journalism of a more secular nature started with Utkal Deepika started in 1865. This paper played a major role in the formation of a separate Orissa Province. Another newspaper that made much impact on Oriya journalism was Asha founded by Sashi Bhusan Rath in 1913. The paper tried to make the British government aware of the peoples grievances. The most prominent dailies of Orissa now are the Samaj and the Prajatantra published from Cuttack, the journalism capital of Orissa. 7. Punjabi The first printing press in Punjab was established at Ludhiana in 1809 by English missionaries. The earliest Punjabi newspaper was a missionary newspaper. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the great patriot and nationalist leader encouraged the development of Punjabi journalism. Today the prominent Punjabi newspapers are: Ajit (Jalandhar), Jag Bani (Jalandhar). There is also a prominent Hindi paper, Punjab Kesari, besides an Urdu one, Hind Samachar (Jalandhar). 8. Tamil The first periodical in Tamil, Tamil Patrika was brought out in 1831 by the Religious Tract Society in Madras. The next Tamil Publication, another weekly named, Dina Vartamaani was brought out in Madras from 1856 onwards by the Dravidian Press. It had a circulation of 1000 copies! The first secular Tamil press, in fact the only Tamil press till 1917, was Swadeshamitram started by G. Subramania Aiyar in 1882. Aiyar was also one of the founders of The Hindu. A great poet and patriot of Tamil Nadu, Subramania Bharati was a sub-editor with Swadeshamitram. Later he started two publications; India in English and Balabharati in Tamil. The British government annoyed with the writings of Subramania Bharati, deported him to Pondicherry. The early Tamil newspapers fought against superstitions and outmoded customs as much as they fought for freedom from the British. Today there are 276 dailies in Tamil Nadu. The major dailies are The Hindu, New Indian Express, Dinamani, Dina Thanti, Malai Murasu, Malai Malar and Dina Malar. 9. Telugu The earliest Telugu newspaper was Satyodaya, a missionary journal started from Madras by the Christian Association of Bellary in the 1830s. Vrittantini (1840), Sujana Ranjini (1845), Dina Vartamani (1860) are all early newspapers in Telugu. Today the principal Telugu dailies are Eenadu (six editions), Andhra Prabha, Andhra Jyoti, Andhra Bhoomi, Visaalaandhra, New Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle and The Hindu. The principal publishing cities are Hydrabad, Vijayawada and Vizag.

10. Kannada The first venture in Kannada journalism was Magalooru Samachara, published from Mangalore in 1843. A publication of the Basel Missions, this paper was edited by Herman Moegling. Lack of subscription compelled the Basel Mission to shift the newspaper to Bellary where printing facilities were available. The name of the paper was changed now into Kannada Samachara. The first native attempt at Kannada journalism was from Khiru Seshu who edited Subudhi Prakasha, a weekly in 1854-55. Jnana Prakasha, another Kannada newspaper was in circulation during 1855. D.V Gundappa, T.T Sharma, P.R Ramaiah, M. Venkata Krishnaiah, R.R Diwakar, H.R Mohary were outstanding journalists of Karnataka. Navayug and Rastramatha were leading Kannada dailies which played an important role in freedom struggle. Today the principal dailies circulating in Karnataka are Prajaavani, Udayavaani, Samyukta Karnataka and Kannada Prabha. Weeklies like Sudha, Taranga, Karmaveera, Mangala and monthlies like Tushara, Kasturi, Mayura are popular. The English dailies with significant circulation in Karnataka are The Hindu, Deccan Herald, The Times of India and The New Indian Express. 11. Assamese Arunodaya, a distinguished journal in the Assamese language began publication in 1846 under the editorship of Oliver T. Cutter. The prominent dailies in Assamese language today are, Assomiya Pratidin, Dainik, Agradoot, Natun Dainik, Ajir Asom (all from Guwahati) and Dainik Janmabhumi (Jorhat). The leading English dailies are The Assam Tribune, The Sentinel, The Telegraph and The North East Times. 12. Malayalam NB. Refer Class notes on Malayalam journalism Conclusion The growth of language press in India over the last sixty one years has been breathtaking. Today the regional newspapers together have a much higher readership than that of English newspapers put together. In fact the circulation of the latter is still restricted to cities and towns while the former has made inroads into villages as well. The spread of literacy and growth in education has helped the regional press to improve their circulation. However, since the 90s the language press, just like the English press have been forced into a war for audience with the visual media. The following are the notable features of language press in India today. More local coverage Multi-editions Greater quality in terms of lay-out and printing. Many of them run English daily/ies side-by-side Running other publications/ channels. Initiatives by the press towards development of the language Presentation of the local angles of national and international issues. Supplements featuring articles of local relevance. An effort to be champions of local/ regional causes especially in inter-state disputes.

With the literacy rate of the nation still only at around 66 per cent, the newspapers especially the language press still has a huge market to tap.