"The first Indian to talk about the freedom of the press was Rammohan Roy in 1824. In 1885, when the Indian National Congress was founded, a large proportion of the men who attended the first session in Bombay were journalists. Indian political leaders had learnt early that the press could be used not just to criticize the government but also to educate people about their rights and keep them informed about the political events in the country.
Newspapers and journals played an important role in keeping the people informed about the freedom movement. They also broke the news that the government was trying to suppress. For example, after the massacre at Jallianwalla Bagh in 1919 there was a news clampdown in Punjab, but the press reported on the event leading to a flood of protests across the country.
Of course the newspapers owned and edited by the British like the Englishman, Statesman, Times of India, Madras Mail, Pioneer and Civil & Military Gazette were staunchly loyal to the government, Many even praised General Dyer for the killings in Jallianwalla Bagh. Others, often coming out in regional languages, like Bande Mataram founded by Bipin Chandra Pal and edited by Aurobindo Ghose, Kesari and Mahratta of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Amrita Bazaar Patrika, The Hindu, Tribune and Subramania Bharati's Weekly India were passionately on the side of the freedom movement.
Newspapers came out in all the major regional languages and were not only limited to cities but were also carried to villages, where an impromptu 'open-air library' would be created under a tree with a charpay and a bench or two. One of the men who could read would then read out the newspaper from cover to cover and it would be followed by hot discussions and debates. At a time without radios or television the Congress Party used the press to keep Indians informed about its activities. Later this led to both villagers and city people spontaneously joining all its hartals and Satyagrahas.
It wasn't easy publishing a newspaper that was critical of the government as the government had the power to imprison journalists. Surendranath Banerjee was the first journalist to be sent to jail for his writings. The magistrates had the power to confiscate printing presses and impose big fines on them. Post offices could detail packets suspected of containing 'seditious or objectionable material', which really meant anything critical of the government. Police threatened editors, journalists were harassed, and may like Tilak and Aurobindo were arrested and tried for sedition.
Journalists found clever ways to get around the laws. Some would start their reports with profuse declarations of loyalty to Queen Victoria! Others reprinted articles critical of the Indian government that had come out in the British press. Smaller newspapers, unable to bear the heavy fines, often stopped appearing but some of them showed amazing tenacity and continued to come out in new names. The Marathi journal Sandesh, reporting on the activities of Tilak, would often vanish and then reappear with a new name. And once to avoid being fined under the Vernacular Press Act that was aimed at newspapers published in Indian languages, the Bengali daily Amrita Bazaar Patrika turned into an English newspaper overnight!"
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Going back to 1850
From: Saffron, White and Green. The amazing story of India's Independence
"One hundred and fifty years ago India was a very different land and a very different society. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries the Mughal Empire had united most of the Indian subcontinent under great rulers like Akbar and Shahjahan, but for over a century the Mughal kings had been incompetent and weak men. Their empire had shrunk to just the area aroung the city of Delhi. As they said sadly on the streets of Chandni Chowk, 'The kingdom of Shah Alam is from Dilli to Palam'. In 1850 the Mughal king living in the Red Fort was Bahadur Shah II. He was still politely referred to as the Shahenshah, but he was just a powerless old man, doddering about the palaces, moodily composing Urdu poetry and living off a pension from the East India Company.
As the Mughal Empire disintegrated, new powers rose in different regions to take its place. Some, like the Marathas and Sikhs, had been at war with Delhi for centuries. Others like the Nawabs of Bengal, Hyderabad and Awadh, who had earlier been serving the Mughal emperors as governors, broke free and became independent rulers. The country became fragmented into many kingdoms that were constantly at war with each other. There was no peace, no rule of law, no economic prosperity, and all that the people could do was suffer in silence.
In the eighteenth century a new group of players joined the messy game of power-grabbing and they came from faraway Europe. In medieval times most of the sea trade from India used to be in the hands of the Arabs. Then in 1498 the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India from Europe, and the highly profitable trade in spices and textiles brought the Portuguese to Indian shores. The other European nations - the English, French and Dutch followed soon after. They came begging to the court of the Great Mughal and were magnanimously allowed to trade within the Empire. The European companies began by setting up trading posts near the ports, but by the eighteenth century they had armies of their own and began taking sides in the battles between Indian kingdoms.
The East India Company was formed in England in the sixteenth century during the reign og Queen Elizabeth I, and the Company was given permission to trade in India by Emperor Jahangir. By the eighteenth century it was being led by shrewd, ambitious men like Robert Clive and the Marquis of Wellesley, who were less interested in trade and more in building an English Colony. After all, a colony would be much more profitable than just trade, and they played the imperial game with maximum ruthlessness. By the early years of the nineteenth century, the English had conquered a large part of India and built the biggest colony of the British Empire.
These European trading companies flourished because of a lack of enterprise among Indians. By the eighteenth century India had isolated itself completely from the world and was unaware of all developments in science and technology taking place in Europe. The main reason was a superstitious belief that grew among Hindus in medieval times that if you travelled across the seas you would lose your caste. So they stopped all sea trade with other countries. In acncient times the Chola ships had voyaged as fas as Java and Sumatra, making the Cholas rich and powerful rulers, but now the trade was left to the Arabs. Then this highly lucrative trade was grabbed by the European countries with their faster, well-armed ships. So the Indian kingdoms now became dependent on European companies for trade, and on their armies for their defence, and thus began our slide into becoming a colonized country."
"One hundred and fifty years ago India was a very different land and a very different society. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries the Mughal Empire had united most of the Indian subcontinent under great rulers like Akbar and Shahjahan, but for over a century the Mughal kings had been incompetent and weak men. Their empire had shrunk to just the area aroung the city of Delhi. As they said sadly on the streets of Chandni Chowk, 'The kingdom of Shah Alam is from Dilli to Palam'. In 1850 the Mughal king living in the Red Fort was Bahadur Shah II. He was still politely referred to as the Shahenshah, but he was just a powerless old man, doddering about the palaces, moodily composing Urdu poetry and living off a pension from the East India Company.
As the Mughal Empire disintegrated, new powers rose in different regions to take its place. Some, like the Marathas and Sikhs, had been at war with Delhi for centuries. Others like the Nawabs of Bengal, Hyderabad and Awadh, who had earlier been serving the Mughal emperors as governors, broke free and became independent rulers. The country became fragmented into many kingdoms that were constantly at war with each other. There was no peace, no rule of law, no economic prosperity, and all that the people could do was suffer in silence.
In the eighteenth century a new group of players joined the messy game of power-grabbing and they came from faraway Europe. In medieval times most of the sea trade from India used to be in the hands of the Arabs. Then in 1498 the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India from Europe, and the highly profitable trade in spices and textiles brought the Portuguese to Indian shores. The other European nations - the English, French and Dutch followed soon after. They came begging to the court of the Great Mughal and were magnanimously allowed to trade within the Empire. The European companies began by setting up trading posts near the ports, but by the eighteenth century they had armies of their own and began taking sides in the battles between Indian kingdoms.
The East India Company was formed in England in the sixteenth century during the reign og Queen Elizabeth I, and the Company was given permission to trade in India by Emperor Jahangir. By the eighteenth century it was being led by shrewd, ambitious men like Robert Clive and the Marquis of Wellesley, who were less interested in trade and more in building an English Colony. After all, a colony would be much more profitable than just trade, and they played the imperial game with maximum ruthlessness. By the early years of the nineteenth century, the English had conquered a large part of India and built the biggest colony of the British Empire.
These European trading companies flourished because of a lack of enterprise among Indians. By the eighteenth century India had isolated itself completely from the world and was unaware of all developments in science and technology taking place in Europe. The main reason was a superstitious belief that grew among Hindus in medieval times that if you travelled across the seas you would lose your caste. So they stopped all sea trade with other countries. In acncient times the Chola ships had voyaged as fas as Java and Sumatra, making the Cholas rich and powerful rulers, but now the trade was left to the Arabs. Then this highly lucrative trade was grabbed by the European countries with their faster, well-armed ships. So the Indian kingdoms now became dependent on European companies for trade, and on their armies for their defence, and thus began our slide into becoming a colonized country."
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Saffron, White And Green. The Amazing story of India's Independence
Last year I heard about Flipkart & first thing I wanted to do returning to India was to try their service. I didn't have any particular buy in mind, just browsing through the latest books I happened to see this one & decided to buy it. I am glad I did.
The first impression reading off from the Acknowledgments
"This book was planned because Indian children only learn about out freedom movement through the matter-of-fact pages of school textbooks. Somehow all the excitement and drama of the events is lost among the baldly stated facts and boring clauses of acts of parliament. Children just read about the freedom movement to give exams; the significance of events are lost to them.
So this book tries to tell it like a story of one of the most unusual freedom movements in the world, one that chose the path of non-violence instead of an armed struggle. And it tries to capture the drama and sweep of those extraordinary years and its cast of charismatic characters. "
The first impression reading off from the Acknowledgments
"This book was planned because Indian children only learn about out freedom movement through the matter-of-fact pages of school textbooks. Somehow all the excitement and drama of the events is lost among the baldly stated facts and boring clauses of acts of parliament. Children just read about the freedom movement to give exams; the significance of events are lost to them.
So this book tries to tell it like a story of one of the most unusual freedom movements in the world, one that chose the path of non-violence instead of an armed struggle. And it tries to capture the drama and sweep of those extraordinary years and its cast of charismatic characters. "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)