• BANGLADESH 1971: THROUGH THE LENSES

Course ID: BDS-109 (Summer-2019)

Department of media and Communication
Independent University Bangladesh (IUB)

• Topic: History of Media in Bangladesh

• Course Teacher/ Instructor: Soroj Mehedi

• Contact: saroujmahady@gmail.com
• The media of Bangladesh refers to the print, broadcast and online mass media available in
Bangladesh. Here media is a mix of government-owned and private media. The Constitution
guarantees press freedom and freedom of expression within "reasonable restriction", though
some media outlets have been harassed. However, to look at the history of mass media in
Bangladesh, this PPT considers three phases of historical development,
• The British phase (1757-1947),
• The Pakistani phase (1947-1971),
• And the Bangladeshi phase (1971-onwards).
• The early history of the press in Bangladesh is inextricably linked to the media history of India
and Pakistan as the trio were a united country till 1947 when this land was under British
colonial rule. That time Bangladesh was a part of “Bengal Presidency,” which covered the
present Bangladesh (East Bengal) and the Indian states of West Bengal and parts of Orissa and
Assam under the East India Company (until 1858) and thereafter under the direct British rule.

• In 1947, when British colonial rule ended, a downsized province of Bengal was partitioned into
East Bengal and West Bengal. East Bengal became a part of Pakistan as it has Muslim majority
as India was divided on basis of two religion Hindu and Islam.
 The British phase (1757-1947)
• For about 600 years printing has been the basic tool of mass communication, storing and
dissemination of information and knowledge. From about the second half of the last century
electronic media has somewhat taken over the mass media world by a storm but the print
media has not lost its sheen and its social relevance. However, The press, having more than 300
years of history, is the oldest mass medium in the Indian subcontinent. James Augustus Hicky,
an Englishman and a former employee of the British East India Company, published the first
newspaper from Calcutta (West Bengal) in 1780.
• So, the journey of press in India was started from the Bengal presidency,
which was mainly consisted with running Bangladesh and West Bengal.
• The newspaper was known as Hicky's Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertiser and
was a two-sheet English-language-weekly. It was known also as Hicky's Gazette.
PURPOSES OF THE PAPER:
• There was three main purposes behind the opening of newspaper.
• 11-He wanted to take revenge from East India Company.
• 2-To aware the people about their basic rules and their own rights and the exploitation of east
India company.
• 3-To show them the real faces of East India Company.
• However, Hicky's main interest behind publishing a newspaper was to make profit.
 HICKY

Warren Hastings
 Hicky's Bengal gazette was shut down 1n 1782
• On March 23, 1782, Bengal Gazette was shut down and its owner arrested, after he called the
then-Governor General of India, Warren Hastings, “the miserable successor of Lord
Clive”.
• He published malicious scandals of the East India Company and about the governor-general, his
wife, and his retinue in his newspaper.
• Its printing presses were dismantled and taken away, while its founder and editor, James
Augustus Hicky, languished in jail (he was soon released, however). And was forcibly sent to
homeland.
• It was the end of India’s first newspaper – Hicky’s Bengal Gazette.
 The first attempt to Publish a Newspaper

• William Bolts, an ex-employee of the British

East India Company attempted to start the
first newspaper in India in 1776. Bolts had to
beat a retreat under the disapproving gaze of
the Court of Directors of the Company. He
was forcibly sent out from India.
• After Hicky's newspaper, other English-language weeklies were published from different parts
of the subcontinent. Some newspapers were published with the patronage of British rulers while
some came to oppose the establishment .The newspapers that supported the activities of the
government received undue favor such as free printing as well as postal facilities and
government advertising; the anti-government newspapers, however, faced repression.
• But the government was not ready to tolerate any criticism. Hicky's press was closed and sold
out in 1782. The editor of Bengal Journal was put behind the bars. William Duane, a New
Englander and the editor of Indian World was arrested in 1794 and forcibly sent back to
England by ship. The proprietor of Bengal Harkara Charles Maclean (1798), the editor of
Calcutta Journal James Silk Buckingham (1823), his successor Arnott (1823) and many others
also met the same fate due to their strong anti-government attitude. The contents of the
newspapers of the time were influenced by Hicky.
 First Bengali newspaper
• Newspapers published from Calcutta up to 1818 were in English and edited and managed by the
Europeans. Samachar Darpan as the first newspaper in Bengali language was published by
Serampore Mission Press in West Bengal on May 23, 1818. Hence, Bengali people remember
the year 1818 as the beginning of Bengali journalism and it has an importance to them.

• There is a controversy whether Samachar Darpan or digdarshan is the first Bengali newspaper.
The Digdarshan was also brought out by the missionaries of Serampore in May 1818.
First Indian-produced newspaper

• Bengal gazette, the first newspaper

under Bengali ownership, was brought
out in 1818. Its publisher was Ganga
kishore Bhattacharya or, according to
some, Gangadhar Bhattacharya.
Although occasionally, it contained
items in English and Hindi, its language
was generally Bengali. Meanwhile,
another remarkable Bengali journal
Sambad Kaumadi was published under
the patronage of Social reformist
Rammohan Roy in 1821, however, it
did not survive for long.
 First newspaper from Bangladesh
• The first published newspaper from what is now called Bangladesh was the Rangpur Barta, a
Bengali weekly. It was published in 1847 from Rangpur, now a northern district of the country.
Ram observes that the period from 1818 through 1867 in the history of the press in the
subcontinent is marked by the struggle against censorship, harassment, deportation, and
persecution. At the time, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a social reformer and an educational as well as
religious leader, was the most notable figure among Indians in the newspaper arena. He
published a number of newspapers and magazines in the Persian language. Besides Roy's
ventures, many newspapers were published in different parts of the subcontinent in various
languages including English, Bengali, Urdu, and Hindi.
 The reason of rise
• The Indian uprising against colonial rule led to the birth of many newspapers. However, the first weekly from
Dhaka, Dacca News, was published in 1856.
 Sepoy mutiny and newspaper
• The revolt of Indian soldiers in the British Army in 1857, which is also identified as the first
war of Indian independence from colonial rule, took the anti-British movement to a new height.
• However, In most cases, the Indian-owned newspapers highlighted the progress of the anti-
British movements with lead of Bengali newspaper. Nevertheless, most newspapers owned by
the British in India were in favor of the government. Calcutta, Mumbai, Lahore, Sialkot, and
Karachi were the main newspaper centers (Viswanath and Karan, 2000, p. 87; Khurshid,
1971). As a consequence, The Bengali press started to consider as terror to the British
administration and all the drastic press laws were particularly aimed against them. It had
powerful editors and writers who reached out to the masses in the distant villages with their
clarion call to fight against injustice, racial prejudice and maladministration.
• The Bengali Press suffered the most in the reprisals launched by the Government after the
mutiny in 1857.
 Bengal was the hub
• Till the 80s of the nineteenth century Bengal was the hub of newspaper publication. A survey of
the Indian Language Press by Sir George Campbell in 1876 showed that half of the total number
of 38 newspapers was published from Kolkata. However, by end 19th century newspapers have
started publishing from all across the Undivided India.

• Mir Mosharraf Hossain, the first novelist to emerge from the Muslim society of Bengal, who
penned the famous novel ‘Bishad Sindhu,’ began his literary career at Gram Barta Prokashika
as a correspondent.
Kangal Harinath, was the editor of
Gram Barta Prokashika.
 Kazi Nazrul as a Journalist
• National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam (May 25, 1899-August 29, 1976) was not only a gifted writer-musician but also
an accomplished journalist, who edited the bi-weekly Dhumketu magazine known for its revolutionary content as
well as served in various other capacities in print media.
• After serving in the British Indian Army during World War I, he established himself as a journalist and preached
revolution through his columns and poetic works published in the now-defunct Dhumketu.
• He also worked as a columnist and copy editor in a newspaper, Nava Jug, of which Comrade Muzaffar Ahmad was
the editor. Nazrul used his journalistic skills to fight the injustice of the British rulers, the speakers said.   
• n his whole life Nazrul was vocal against all sorts of discrimination to establish the rights of the oppressed people.
Among all his professions journalism was the one that helped him most to stand beside the mass people and guide
them towards the right direction. Thus his short career as a journo is truly crucial to understand his social thoughts
and political ideology. 
 Censorship and oppressive laws
• During this time, newspapers that were critical of British rule faced censorship, and some editors suffered
imprisonment. British citizens who supported Indians and demanded press freedom were deported from India.
Being afraid of the role of the press in the anti-British movement, the colonial government enacted many laws and
regulations to suppress the press.
• The laws include the Regulation of the Press Ordinance, 1823; the Regulation of Printing Establishments, 1823;
the Registration of the Press Act, 1835; the Press Act, 1857; the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867; An Act
for the Better Control of Publications in Oriental Languages, 1878; and the Official Secrets Act, 1889. The first
two of these laws initiated the licensing of printing presses as well as printed materials in the subcontinent.

• The next act—An Act for the Better Control of Publications in Oriental Languages, 1878—was enacted to control
publications in different Indian languages.
• This law restricted the publication of anything that excites disaffection towards the government or antipathy
between persons of different races, castes, religions, or sects.
• These laws required that anyone wanting to keep a printing press and print books or
newspapers in British India would need to obtain a license from the government.
• These laws were enacted to check the unauthorized publication of any newspapers,
books, newssheets, pamphlets, etc., since these materials were being used to spread anti-
British sentiments.
• These laws came into being against the backdrop of the British government's observation
that newspapers in India were spreading hatred against the government and disturbing
peace and harmony.
 Independence movement and newspaper
• By the end of the 19th century, Indians had become restless under British rule and the nationalist movement
began to spread throughout the subcontinent. Nationalist political leaders, some of whom were active in
journalism, formed the Indian National Congress in 1885 to spearhead the independence struggle.
• Anglo-Indian press played an important role in raising hatred between Hindus and Muslims in India who had lived
together for centuries through mutual cooperation.
• Hindu-Muslim clashes in Hindu-majority India led to the birth of the Muslim League in 1905 to safeguard the
interests of Muslims. Al-Mujahid (1982) claims that the growth and development of the press in undivided India
have always been inextricably linked to the crystallization of political parties and demands. He goes on to say that
Muslim oriented newspapers, mostly in Urdu language, while they had existed since the 1830s, only developed
their own tradition after 1910 when Muslims increasingly engaged in political agitation. Muslim leaders as well as
Muslim-supported newspapers came out with a two-pronged demand for the end of colonial rule and for a separate
homeland for Indian Muslims.
• Press involvement in the anti-colonial movement also increased significantly from the
1920s through the 1940s since political leaders started to publish newspapers and use
them to make people conscious about their struggle. Prominent leaders of India at that
time—including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawharlal Nehru, Mohhammad Ali Zinnah—owned,
or edited newspapers, or patronized newspaper publications.
 The Pakistani phase (1947-1971)
• Calcutta (running Kolkata), being the capital of all the British Indian possessions, became a major center for
newspapers and magazines during British colonial rule. Calcutta was the birth place of four vital non-English
newspapers- in Bengali, Urdu, Hindi and Persian. Several language newspapers owe their birth to Calcutta in some
form or the other; for example the Oriya types were manufactured in Serampore, a suburb of Kolkata. Looking
narrowly at the history of the press in the area covered by the present Bangladesh, one readily sees the importance
of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka (formerly Dacca) as the second major center (after Calcutta) for the concentration
of newspapers and magazines in British period. But there were a few publications from Dhaka for that time,
though there was a large number of reader in this region.
• At the time of independence, East Pakistan had no daily newspaper and most of the newspapers were
Bengali language weeklies.
• Although the first newspaper were published from East Bengal more than hundred years ago in 18 th
century but could not survive. Some of were shut down by British government and some other for
financial reason. Immediately after the independence of Pakistan, however, two dailies—the Daily
Purbo Pakistan and the Paigam—started publication in East Pakistan. In 1948, two more dailies—the
Bengali language Dainik Azad and the English language Morning News—moved from Calcutta to
Dhaka, the capital of East Pakistan.
• During the Pakistani period, 10 more dailies were published in East Pakistan. Among the dailies, the
Dainik Ittefaq and the Sangbad were prominent and are still in circulation. Dhaka and Chittagong
became the two important cities in terms of newspaper publications during this time. Due to post-
partition emigration of a large number of Hindus to India, a serious vacuum arose in the newspaper
industry in Dhaka.
 Language movement and newspaper
• In the next day of 21st February 1952 most of the Bangla (In English Bengali) language newspapers
such as The Azad and The Dainik Sangbad marked the killings with evocative articles, ignoring the
threats and risks posed by the Pakistani occupation forces. Every newspaper of the then East Pakistan
carried the same editorial, condemning the killings and criticizing the Pakistani government for its
brutal murder of innocents. On the very night of February 21, 1952, the Mahbubul Alam, a Bengali poet
wrote his legendary poem Kandte ashini–phanshir dabi niye eshechhi (I have not come to weep, but to
demand they be hanged.), which was published by Engineer Mohammad Abdul Khalique from
Kohinoor Electric Press the very next day. The Azad published week-long investigative reports on the
incident.
 Suppression on press in pakistan era
• During the Pakistani regime, there was constant surveillance and censorship of the press and all publications in
general. After the language movement of 1952, the Pakistani occupation force began publishing newspapers with
the express aim of spreading its own agenda and start to suppress opposite media more.

• However, following the pro-autonomy movement in East Pakistan, military leader Ayub Khan seized power in
Pakistan in 1958 and declared martial law. During the martial law, press freedoms were restrained.
• The military dictator Ayuub Khan enacted the Defense of Pakistan Ordinance, 1965 and the Defense of Pakistan
Rules after the Indo-Pakistan war in 1965 mainly to suppress newspapers in East Pakistan. During Ayub's rule,
government took control of 11 leading dailies in East and West Pakistan and formed a national press trust. The
national news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan, was also taken over by the government and was placed
under direct control of the Press Information Ministry. During the 10-year (1958-69) rule of Ayub, 21 dailies faced
closure and the total number of weeklies and bi-weeklies showed a sharp decline. The number of weeklies and bi-
weeklies dropped from 379 in 1958 to 260 in March 1969
 Independence war and media
• While the Freedom Fighters fought the enemy, the print media tried its best to protest against the atrocities, defying
the risk of arrests, bans or worse. At the time journalists and the common people took the responsibility of bringing
out these newspapers. Their words became the voice for emancipation, the voice of the people.
• The newspaper industry had to receive a heavy jolt during the war of liberation in 1971.
During 25-31 March, offices and presses of three daily newspapers - The People, Dainik
Ittefaq and Sangbad - were burnt down by the Pakistani army in course of their operation.
The resumption of their publication took some time even after the War of Liberation was
over. Many newspapers were under constant surveillance of the Pakistani occupation
forces during the war, which was not destroyed. In the early sixties, the military
government of Ayub Khan enforced a law called the “Press and Publications Ordinance”
to keep the newspapers under government's control. The black law became the biggest
weapon for the occupiers during the liberation war.

• a military press advice authorized in July reads that the newspapers could not use words
like-- Bangladesh, ganabahini, muktijoddha/muktifouz and joy Bangla. Instead of
muktijoddha/muktifouz the dictator advised to use the word 'rebel' or 'Indian agents'.
• At the time almost 65 newspapers were published - Most of them were weeklies and a few of them
were dailies. Some were publishing from hidden place of Bangladesh and some other from India.
Three newspapers had English editions also. Notable were Shasswata Bangla, Swadhin Bangla, Joy
Bangla, Sonar Bangla, Banglar Bani, Biplobi Bangla, The Nation, Mukta Bangla, The People, Durjay
Bangla, Mukti and Ekota.

• These newspapers and periodicals played a significant role in raising the morale of the people and the
freedom fighters in their struggle for independence.
 Role of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra

• Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra was a radio station set up by Bangladesh's Provisional
government that, by broadcasting the Declaration of Independence, patriotic wartime
songs and propaganda campaigns, raised the morale of the population, thus serving as a
crucial role in Bangladesh's struggle for independence.
 International media
• The international mass media played a vital role in Bangladesh’s War of Independence. The
London Times, the Sunday Times, the Guardian, the Sunday Observer, the Daily Mirror and the
Daily Telegraph were helping in spreading the news of genocide and expedite cooperation
among the international community to support Bangladesh. The concert for Bangladesh which
had raised much international awareness was organized by Pandit Ravi Shankar and George
Harrison in New York in August 1971. The event was the first-ever benefit concert of such a
magnitude and featured a super-group of performers that included Harrison, fellow ex-Beatle
Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russel and the band Bad finger. In
addition, Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, both of whom had ancestral roots in Bangladesh,
performed an opening set of Indian classical music.
JOURNALIST KILLED IN 1971
Bangladesh war: the article that changed history
On 13 June 1971, an article in the UK's Sunday
Times exposed the brutality of Pakistan's
suppression of the Bangladeshi uprising. It forced
the reporter's family into hiding and changed
history.

Anthony Mascarenhas
 The Bangladeshi phase (1971-onwards)
• Before 16 December 1971, there were ten newspapers in Bangladesh. After liberation, the owners of Dainik
Pakistan and Morning News of the Pakistan Press Trust and The Pakistan Observer, Purbodesh, and Chitrali were
absentees and the new government took over their management. Bangladesh Ministry of Information ran these
newspapers through a management board. In 1972, the news-based weekly magazine Bichitra was launched as a
Dainik Bangla publication. A number of new newspapers also published from Dhaka, Chittagong, and Bogra in the
newly emergent Bangladesh and political party affiliation was characteristic of many of the newspapers
• Within two years of independence, anti-government sentiments and press criticism again
began to rise against the new government. The government responded to the criticism in
the press by enacting the Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and
Registration) Act, 1973, which replaced the press ordinance created during the Pakistani
governance. According to this act, everyone has to make a declaration before a
Magistrate in order to print and publish a newspaper and submit free copies of every
publication to the government. The government also enacted the Special Powers Act,
1974 to provide for special measures for the prevention of certain “prejudicial” activities
. Sections 16, 17, and 18 of the act enabled government to harass journalists and close
down newspapers. By the early 1974, 31 dailies, 135 weeklies, 13 fortnightlies, and 76
magazines were published in Bangladesh (Lent, 1982b, p. 429-430). In February 1974,
the Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Services) Act was introduced also.
• The Bangladeshi press faced a severe blow to its growth in 1975, when the democratic
government with an absolute majority in the Jaitya Sangsad (National Parliament)
banned the publication of all newspapers except the four which were taken over by
government. The four newspapers were the already government-owned the Observer
and the Dainik Bangla and the previously private owned the Bangladesh Times and the
Dainik Ittefaq (Lent, 1982b, p. 435). The activities of all political parties excluding the
ruling one were also declared illegal and some journalists, along with many political
activists, were jailed.

• Since the end of 1975 and throughout the 1980s, Bangladesh was directly or indirectly
under military ruler or dictatorship.
 AFTER 1990

• Democracy was re-established in the country in 1990 with the fall of the
military dictator through mass uprisings. With the advent of democracy,
Bangladesh saw a mushroom growth of newspapers.
• Media houses are mostly controlled by business groups.
 • Evaluation of media’s professionalism

• 1st time published, Mostly for business purpose (1780)

• Then ideological (British and Pakistan Era )
• Again as business purpose with political slavery (after 1990 in
Bangladesh Era)
 Links

• Politics and the press during 1971/USA/RRUSSIA

• https://www.dhakatribune.com/tribune-supplements/world-
tribune/2017/03/26/politics-press-1971
• Bangladesh war: The article that changed history
• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201