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Newspapers during the freedom struggle | History Notes

 Newspapers during the freedom struggle

Newspapers during the freedom struggle in India were an important source of mass communication throughout the country. Leaders like Devendra Nath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, etc., used the newspaper to spread awareness among the masses. The impact of these journals and newspapers was limited to towns and cities and reached remote villages.

Newspapers during British Rule in India propagated the idea of patriotism, equality, the modern idea of democracy, and most importantly, ideas of freedom. Below you will learn about the important newspapers during the freedom struggle in India, important freedom fighters and their newspapers, and early regulations on the press in India.

List of Important Newspapers during Indian Freedom Struggle

Journals and Newspapers were the critical tools that united the compatriots and served the political education and participation pre-independence.


Britishers published the first English newspaper in India, but Indian freedom fighters used it against British rule. The list of the important journals and newspapers during British government in India, along with their year of publication and founders, is as under:

Name

Founder

Year

Newspaper/ Journal

Hindustan Dainik

M.M. Malviya

1936

Hindi newspaper

Free Hindustan

Tarak Nath Das

1936

Journal

Harijan

M. K Gandhi

1932

Weekly Journal

Nav Jeevan

M. K Gandhi

1929

Weekly Newspaper

Hindustan Times

Sunder Singh Lyallpuri

1924

English daily newspaper

Mook Nayak

B.R. Ambedkar

1920

Marathi Weekly

Young India

M. K Gandhi

1919

Weekly Journal

Independent

Motilal Nehru

1919

Newspaper

New India

Annie Besant

1914

English-language daily newspaper

Pratap

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi

1913

Hindi language newspaper

Al-Hilal

Abul Kalam Azad

1912

Urdu weekly newspaper

Al-Balagh

Abul Kalam Azad

1912

Urdu weekly newspaper

Comrade

Maulana Mohammad Ali

1911

Weekly English newspaper

Bombay Chronicle

Firoze Shah Mehta

1910

English-language newspaper

Bande Mataram

Aurobindo Ghosh

1905

English-language newspaper

Indian Opinion

M. K Gandhi

1903

Newspaper

Udbodhana

Swami Vivekananda

1899

Magazine

Prabuddha Bharata

P. Aiyasami

1896

English monthly Journal

Sudharak

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar

1888

Newspaper

Kesari Newspaper

B.G. Tilak

1881

Marathi Newspaper

Hindu

Vir Raghavacharya and G.S. Aiyar

1878

Newspaper

Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

1871

Journal

Amrita Bazar Patrika

Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh

1868

Newspaper

Indian Mirror Newspaper

Devendra Nath Tagore

1862

Newspaper

Som Prakesh

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

1858

Weekly Newspaper

Rast Goftar

Dadabhai Naoroji

1854

Gujarati Newspaper

Hindoo Patriot

Madhusudan Ray

1853

English weekly

Mirat-ul-Akbar

Raja Ram Mohan Roy

1822

Persian language journal

Samvad Kaumudi

Raja Ram Mohan Roy

1819

Bengali weekly newspaper

Bengal Gazette

James Augustus Hicky

1780

English newspaper

Freedom Fighters and their Newspapers

Indian Freedom Fighters had a significant role in awakening the masses to raise their voice against British rule in India. In this struggle, one of the easiest ways to share their ideas with the groups was through newspapers and journals. They started newspapers to support the Indian freedom Struggle for independence. The important newspapers during the freedom struggle published by freedom fighters were as follows-

New India Newspaper

New India Newspaper had two publications. The Weekly was started by Bipin Chandra Pal, while Annie Basant started New India (Daily). The newspaper spread patriotic feelings among Indians. It was similar to Kesari and Harijan, started by Tilak and Gandhi.

Indian Opinion Newspaper

Mahatma Gandhi established the Indian Opinion Newspaper as an essential tool for Gandhi’s political movement. The Newspaper existed from 1904 till 1915. The principal aim of publishing the Newspaper was to fight the racial discrimination the Britishers faced from the Indian living in South Africa.

Hindustan Times

Hindustan Times was launched by Madan Mohan Malaviya in 1936 and was published by Hindustan Media Ventures Limited. This Newspaper was based in Delhi and is still published in India under the entity control of the KK Birla family.

Indian Mirror Newspaper

After the revolt of 1857, people started to look for freedom with a patriotic approach throughout the country. They became rebellious and were ready to sacrifice their life for freedom. Seeing the enthusiasm among people (particularly in Bengal), Devendra Nath Tagore started the Indian Mirror newspaper in the English language in Calcutta, West Bengal, in 1862. Manmohan Ghosh was one of the critical editors of the Newspaper in the beginning. Later, he was joined by Pratap Mazumdar. Along with other leaders, Narendra Nath Sen contributed significantly to the Indian Mirror newspaper.

Mahatma Gandhi Newspaper List

Soon after Gandhi returned to India, he was involved in a peaceful and non-violent protest against the British Government. His ideas influenced several freedom fighters, and they joined his journey towards freedom of the country. However, to reach out to the masses, he started four newspapers. Here is the list of newspapers started by Mahatma Gandhi:

  • Indian Opinion
  • Young India
  • Nav Jeevan
  • Harijan

Early Regulations on Press in India

The acts for the freedom of the press in India before independence include the following:

  • Censorship of Press Act, 1799 – This act was enacted by Lord Wellesley and anticipated France’s invasion of India. This act imposed restrictions on the wartime press.
  • Licensing Regulations, 1823 – These regulations were passed by John Adams. After these regulations, Mirat-ul-Akbar, the publication of Rammohan Roy, had to stop.
  • Metcalfe or Press Act of 1835 – This act repealed the obnoxious 1823 ordinance.
  • Licensing Act, 1857 – The licensing act imposed licensing restrictions.
  • Registration Act, 1867 – This act was the regulatory and non-restrictive act that replaced Metcalfe’s Act of 1835. According to this act, every Newspaper needs to print the publisher’s and printer’s name along with the place of publication.
  • The Vernacular Press Act – The Vernacular Press Act was designed to control the vernacular press and its repressive writings.
  • Newspaper (Incitement to Offences) Act, 1908 – This act was introduced against Extremist Nationalist activity.
  • Indian Press Act, 1910 – The act brought back the worst features of the Vernacular Press Act.

Role of Newspapers in Freedom Struggle

Many philosophers have defined the role of newspapers in the freedom struggle, including Mahatama Gandhi. Newspapers played an important role for the following reasons:

  • They helped in spreading awareness about British cruelties to the masses.
  • The ideas of patriotism, nationalism, need and demand for independent India were communicated to the Indian people through these newspapers.
  • The inspiring stories about many freedom fighters were shared through the newspapers during freedom struggle.
  • In British India, the voices of the Indian masses were unheard and ignored, but through newspapers, people tended to spread nationalist messages to their community freely.
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