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 | ||
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 |
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 |
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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