Bengali Journalism

Why Calcutta? Calcutta was the headquarter of the East India

Company as well as the capital of British India.

Distinct identity for Bengali journalism - birthplace of

journalism in India.

Activities of Christian missionaries prompted many

people to launch papers to defend Hindu religion and

customs.

Also, reformers like Raja Rammohun Roy started newspapers to propagate their causes.

Introduction Record of facing the worst repression and

persecution at the hands of the rulers.

Bengali newspapers - sentinels of Indian

nationalism.

Fought hard against racial discrimination, injustice

and maladministration.

Terror to the British administration.

Most drastic press laws particularly aimed at them.

Early times

Between 1818-1855, many Bengali newspapers

introduced but most were short lived.

Early newspapers include Shome Prakash, Grambartha

Prakashika

Reported on the exploitation of labour in plantations

fields.

Held massive campaigns to expose the Govt.’s abuse,

mistreatment.

Technology The Press was still in its crudest form.

Shoddy printing + poor layout.

1818, first Bengali newspapers came up - Dig Darshan

and Samachar Darpan.

Both were missionary journals.

Samachar Darpan - Started by missionaries (Carey

and Marshman) at Srerampore.

The beginnings

Began as a monthly, but owing to its popularity, soon

became a weekly.

It carried both national as well as international news.

District news, apart from missionary messages.

Had official support.

Became a bilingual paper in 1829 - Bengali + English.

Survived a few crises, but finally closed down in 1852.

Forerunner of Bengali Journalism - appointed 60

correspondents in all major towns of Bengal to cover all

social and non-political news.

Governor Warren Hastings gave postal concessions - one

fourth of normal charges.

His successor, Lord Amherst subscribed to 100 copies

which he distributed among officials. Made Indians aware

of the possibility of running a newspaper in Bengali.

Led to reformers starting newspapers to counter the

missionary propaganda and to defend their faith.

1st Bengali newspaper which counteracted the

missionary run newspapers - Bengal Gazette.

Started by teacher-reformist Ganga Kishore

Bhattacharya.

Associated with Raja Rammohun Roy.

Campaigned intensively for social reforms.

This paper was the first to publish Roy’s views on the

necessity of abolishing Sati.

The paper, however, could not sustain long.

Roy campaigned against child marriage, sati, idol

worship.

Roy’s Sambad Kaumudi started in 1821, did not last long.

1831 - Ishwar Chandra Gupta started the Bengali daily-

Sambad Prabhakar. Found it to be a daunting task.

Followed by Tathwa Bodhini – Akshay Kumar Dutta, 1843.

Others - Masik Patra, Som Prakash, Vividharta Sangrah.

Between 1853-54, 19 regular newspapers in Bengali.

Had a circulation of roughly 8,100 copies.

The Bengali press actively lobbied for a bill (got

introduced later) - Widow Remarriage Bill, 1856.

Bengali Press suffered most after the 1857 Mutiny.

Action was taken under the new Press Act against

Bengali weekly Durbeen.

In 1876, half the no. of total language newspapers

in India were published from Calcutta.

Total no. was - 38, 19 were from published from

Calcutta.

The torchbearers Dwarkanath Tagore

Started Bengal Herald, English weekly and Bangadoot –

Bengali

Also gave financial assistance to a number of newspapers .

1853, Girish Chandra Ghosh started Hindu Patriot.

Harishchandra Mukherjee took over after 2 years.

After his death, it was run by social reformer Iswar

Chandra Vidyasagar

Edited by - Krsitodas Pal, well known entity.

1861, Manmohan Ghosh started Indian Mirror.

Keshub Chandra Sen converted it into a daily in 1871.

1870, Keshub Chandra Sen (of the Indian Reform

Association) started Sulava Samachar.

It was a weekly, sold at one paisa per copy.

Successful Bengali Newspapers

Most popular weekly of that period.

Had a circulation of 4000 copies, considered phenomenal

for those times.

Another popular newspaper - Haishakar Patrika

(Halishahar Patrika)

Edited by - Babu Mohan Ganguli.

Bengal Hurkaru – championed the cause of of abolition

of capital punishment, had its license revoked later.

The first newspaper to espouse the cause of the

working class - Bharat Shramajili, a weekly.

Literary newspaper – Bangadarshan.

Very popular, specially with the educated Bengali class.

1880 - First Bengali daily to adopt modern methods of

production – Basumati.

Editor - Krishna Kamal Bhattacharya

Bengalee

Surendarnath Bannerjee’s – Bengalee

Became a daily in 1900.

First language newspaper to subscribe to Reuter’s

foreign news service.

When the Vernacular Press Act was in place,

Amrita Bazaar Patrika converted itself from a

Bengali weekly to an English weekly to escape

the draconian provisions of the Act.

B.C Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh started Bande

Mataram.

Partition of Bengal

• 1905, Lord Curzon, Viceroy, announced partition of Bengal.

• Country wide agitation, Press opposed the move strongly.

Many newspapers came up.

Papers reported that hundreds of meetings were held to

protest the Partition, pledges were taken to boycott British

goods.

The press criticized the “extreme measures” adopted by the

Govt.

Yuganter Four papers during this period known for their

revolutionary fervour - Sandhya, Nagshakti, Bande

Mataram and Yugantar

Sandhya – Edited by Brahma Upadhyaya.

Bande Mataram - Aurobindo Ghosh.

Many Editors were persecuted for their editorials.

Aurobindo Ghosh - subjected to solitary confinement.

Bande Mataram - closed down during his absence.

Yuganter - founded in 1906 - achieved great

popularity.

Editor - Aurobindo Ghosh’s brother .

Its mission - to preach revolution as a religion,

not just a political movement.

Main principles - righteousness and knowledge.

Yuganter Provided impetus to the freedom movement.

Editor - imprisoned, during trial exhibited what the judge

remarked as, “a burning hatred for the British race”.

Provided an agenda for getting independence:

First, the educated classes must learn to hate slavery.

Aspiration for freedom must be converted into a firm

resolve.

Sacrifice for the cause of freedom must be accepted.

Public Opinion must be built by newspapers which must be

filled with discussion of the necessity of independence and

revolution.

Secretly and silently, bands of young men must be organized.

Bombs should be manufactured in secret places.

Guns imported from foreign countries.

The law of English is established through brute force and to

liberate ourselves, we too must use brute force.

The newspaper had unprecedented sale.

The spirit it sought to arouse in people – succeeded.

Most well known Editor - Vivekananda Mukherjee.

Indian Newspapers Bill in 1908 suppressed

Yuganter which left an indelible mark in Indian

Press history.

Bengali Press at that time - agitating for Lord

Curzon’s recall.

Questioned credibility of Bengali press and stated

that only a small minority are educated to read.

Another pioneering paper - 1914, Basumati.

Owned by Hemendra Prasad Ghosh.

Ananda Bazar Patrika 1922 - Ananda Bazar Patrika

Sponsored by Mrinal Kanti Ghosh, Prafulla Kumar

Sarkar and Suresh Chandra Majumdar.

Played a glorious part in freedom struggle.

Largest circulating Bengali daily in the country.

Most well known Edior - Chapala Kanta

Bhattacharya.

After Gandhi’s arrival, the Bengalee and Nayak, both

newspapers from the Moderate camp lost ground rapidly.

Often attacked the Moderates for lack of courage and

timidity in demanding what was the ‘birthright of Indians’

The Bengali Press suffered after partition in 1947 - lost a

good number of readers in East Pakistan.