THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY March 12, 1955

A B O U T this t i m e t w o d o m i ­n a t i n g personali t ies appeared

o n the scene—James S i lk B u c k i n g ­h a m a n d R a j a R a m M o h a n R o y , — w h o were dest ined to p l ay a sig­n i f i can t p a r t i n t he f igh t f o r the free­d o m of the Press. B o t h a t t rac ted the staunchest supporters f r o m a m o n g the i r c o u n t r y m e n a n d a t the same t i m e p rovoked the bit terest an ta ­gonisms. B u c k i n g h a m ed i t ed his paper, Calcutta Journal, fearlessly t i l l 1823 w h e n he was depor ted . Ra j a R a m M o h a n ' s i ncu r s ion i n t o j o u r n a l i s m was on ly to propagate the t r u t h a n d have i t tested in the l i gh t of discussion. H i s concept ion of f reedom of the Press was f reedom to pursue the t r u t h a n d to evolve a way of l i fe p r o v e d by the test of reason.

VIEWED WITH FEAR

Raja R a m M o h a n ' s paper and the progressive I n d i a n Press were v i e w ­e d w i t h apprehension i n off ic ia l c i r ­cles, w h i l e newspapers w h i c h favour ­ed the o r t h o d o x p o i n t o f v i ew d i d not a t t rac t the same measure of hos­t i le a t t en t i on . A l m o s t s imultaneous­l y w i t h Ra ja R a m M o h a n ' s news­paper, a p o w e r f u l o r t h o d o x H i n d u Press came i n t o be ing w h i c h oppos­ed social a n d rel igious reforms at every stage t h r o u g h o u t the n ine­teen th century . James Si lk B u c k i n g ­h a m , more t h a n any other single per­son, by a tireless c a m p a i g n against the restrict ions a n d censorship i m ­posed on the Press, conv inced m a n y eminen t minds i n E n g l a n d a n d i n I n d i a o f the useful f u n c t i o n w h i c h a free press c o u l d p e r f o r m by an exposure of the lapses of the ad ­m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d by c r i t i c i s ing its policies. G o v e r n o r - G e n e r a l J o h n A d a m passed an ord inance i n D e ­cember 1823 w h i c h r e q u i r e d tha t a l l mat te rs to be p r i n t e d in a press or to be pub l i shed thereafter, except s h i p p i n g in te l l igence , etc, shou ld be p r i n t e d a n d pub l i shed u n d e r a licence f r o m the Governor -Gene ra l in C o u n c i l . T h e a p p l i c a t i o n fo r a a license shou ld give a l l the details r ega rd ing p r i n t e r , publ isher , p r o ­pr ie tor , etc. A m o n g the newspapers whose w r i t i n g s were c i t ed i n jus t i ­f i ca t ion o f these regulat ions was R a m M o h a n ' s Mirat-ll-Akbar. T h e paper was restrained in i t s language and const ruct ive i n c r i t i c i s m , b u t dea l t

social a n d admin i s t r a t ive evils a n d c r i t i ca l ly examined the Br i t i sh po l i cy b o t h i n I n d i a a n d I r e l a n d . W i t h the e x t i n c t i o n of Calcutta Journal, the John Bull a n d Hurkara took up the controversy of the f reedom of Press.

LORD BENTINCK'S ENCOURAGEMENT

John Adam's regulations were the fore-runner of the Vernacular Press A c t of 1878 which bo th in concep­t ion and its application drew a clear d is t inct ion between the two sections of the Press. Fo l lowing the Press regulations,, the Indian-owned Ind ian language papers seemed to have kept clear of pol i t ical topics for about seven years. In July 1824, C J Fair, Edi tor of the Bombay Gazette, was hauled up for casting aspersions on the Supreme C o u r t and asked to furnish a security of Rs 20,000. As he was unable to do so, he was de­ported. D u r i n g this period, though liberal concessions were allowed to papers published by the Scrampore missionaries, only nomina l conces­sions were given to Indian-owned Ind ian language newspapers. Ford Bentmck's assumption of Governor-Generalship was marked by a signi­ficant change in the a t t i tude of the Government towards the Press in general and the Indian language Press in particular. Bentinck saw the obvious advantage of newspapers published in Ind ian languages pur­suing freely social controversies, and of generally relaxing the restrictions on all sections of the Press in the interest of efficient adminis t ra t ion. He extended facilities to newspapers, and between 1831-1833 nineteen newspapers came in to existence. A noteworthy development at this t ime was that bo th Bengal and Bombay started official gazettes, the Bombay Government Gazette and the Cal­cutta Gazette. In Madras about this t ime two newspapers were started, one in T a m i l and the other in Te lugu . I n N W Provinces, a H i n d i journal and an U r d u journal were successfully launched under Govern­ment patronage.

In 1867, an act for the regulation of p r i n t i n g presses and newspapers, for the preservation of copies of books pr in ted in Br i t i sh Ind ia and for the regulation of these was passed to replace t he Metca l fe A c t X I o f 1835. In th is A c t were incorporated all the provisions o f t h e M e t c a l f e A c t w h i c h

dealt w i t h p r i n t i n g presses and news­papers and later came to be k n o w n as ' T h e Press and Registration of Books Ac t ' . After this i t was amended by A c t X of 1890 and by Acts I I I and X of 1914 and i t was further modified in 1952 and 1953.

VERNACULAR PRESS ACT

Meanwhi l e , Government was be­coming increasingly uneasy about the a t t i tude of the Press generally and its relation w i t h Government . I t was particularly apprehensive of the Ind ian language press as preparations for the rebellion of 1857 were made w i th the use of seemingly harmless words and symbols. In 1878, the Vernacular Press A c t was passed w i t h a view to having better control over newspapers published in Ind i an languages, in spite of the representa­t ion made from all the Ind ian presses concerned. A deputat ion on behalf of the Indian Press Association wait ed upon the Viceroy under the lead­ership of Surendranath Banerjee, But i t was all in vain . T h e gagging Act of 1857 was a m u c h milder piece of legislation than the Press Act of 1878.

The Vernacular Press Ac t was re-pealed in December 1881 under the enlightened regime of Lord R i p o n . 'The Nationalist movement since 1883 gave an impetus to the development of the Press in Ind ia . As a matter of fact, it is very difficult- to d is t in­guish the development of the Press and important events in this respect f rom the crucial events and develop­ments of the Nat ional is t movement,

A number of Press Laws and res­t r ic t ions were enforced and placed on the statute book f rom t ime to t ime . After the establishment of the Ind ian Nat iona l Congress, there were sec­tions 124A and 153A of the Penal Code enacted in 1898. There was also section 565 of the Ind ian Penal Code. Four new measures were enacted between 1908-191 ; , namely, the Newspapers ( Inci tement to Offences) A c t of 1908, the Press A c t of 1910, the Prevention of Seditious Meet ings Act of 1911 and the C r i m i ­nal Law A m e n d m e n t Ac t of 1908. There was also" the Official Secrets Ac t as amended in 1903.

DEFENCE OF IINDIA ACT

In 1914 the enactment of t h e Defence of Ind ia A c t added to t h e restrictions imposed on the Press.

The Story of the Indian Press Reba Chaudburi

(Continued from page 292 of issue dated February 26, 1955)

347

T h e Press Association of I nd ia in a memorandum on the operat ion of the Press Ac t of 1910 stated tha t nearly 1,000 papers had been prose­cuted under the Ac t . T h e to ta l amount of securities and forfeitures wh ich went in to the hands of Gov­ernment dur ing the f i rst f ive years of the Ac t was nearly Rs 5 lakhs according to another official re turn made in 1918. Over 500 publ ica­t ions were proscribed under the Ac t . T h e Defence Ac t Rules in Ind ia were no t merely used for war purposes, bu t also for al l pol i t ical purposes so as to carry out the pol icy of the Ind ian Government in regard to re­pression of pol i t ical agitat ion or free pub l i c cr i t ic ism of its normal acts and methods of administrat ion in Ind ia .

P R E S S E M E R E N C Y A C T 1 9 3 1

W h e n Gandh i j i started his Salt Satyagraha in March 1930, the peace between the Press and Government , wh ich had been mainta ined for n i ne years, snapped, A Press Ordinance was issued, reproducing the str ingent provisions of the repealed Press Ac t of 1910, on January 4, 1932. S imul ­taneously w i t h Gandh i j i ' s arrest, the earlier Press Ac t of 1930 was ampl i ­f ied in the fo rm of the C r im ina l Law Amendmen t Ac t o f 1932. T h e struggle for freedom passed th rough many vicissitudes between 1932 and 1946. There were intervals, t hough br ief , of understanding between Government and the Congress. Th roughou t this per iod, however, the Press Emergency Ac t of 1931 remain­ed in force and was appl ied w i t h greater or less severity according to pol i t ica l circumstances. T h e record of prosecution in the 15-year period exceeded the one under the 1910 Ac t . W e l l over a 1,000 newspapers were vict imised in Bombay, Bengal , D e l h i , Madras, Punjab and U P .

W O R L D W A R I I

W h e n W o r l d W a r I I broke ou t in 1939, the Government of Ind ia under the Defence of Ind ia Act arm­ed itself w i t h the power of pre-ccn-sorship of material publ ished in the Press relating to certain matters. T h e penalty of impr isonment was extend­ed to five years; the Off ic ial Secrets Ac t was amended to provide a maxi ­m u m penalty of death or transpor­ta t ion for the publ icat ion of i n ­fo rmat ion l ikely to be of use to the enemy. T h e Press Emer­gency Powers Act was also simi lar ly amended. W h e n Congress adopted the ' Q u i t I n d i a ' resolution in 1942, a fresh not i f icat ion was issued under Ru le 41 o f the Defence o f Ind ia Ac t . Defence of Ind ia Rules direct ly a imed

at the suppression of a l l news relat­i n g t o Congress activit ies. T h e n o t i ­f ication was w i thd rawn after consul­tat ion w i t h t he A l l - Ind ia Newspaper Edi tors ' Conference wh i ch gave an assurance that newspapers wou ld observe certain voluntary restraints in the mat ter of pub l ica t ion of news regarding the ' Q u i t Ind ia ' move­men t organised by the Congress.

An account of the development of the Press wou ld be incomplete w i t hou t a reference to unauthorised and cyclostyled news-sheets wh ich were circulated f rom t ime to t ime. Some were publ ished when press restrictions resulted either in the closing down of newspapers or in newspapers being compel led to ex­clude the news of the nat ional move­ment f r om their co lumns, wh i le others were underground publ icat ions even in normal t imes. At one t ime , instruct ions were communicated by means of wr i t ings on walls and streets. In 1930, the promulga­t ion of a Press Ordinance made the p r i n t i ng o f Gandhi j i ' s Y o u n g Ind ia impossible, and it was issued in cyclostyled sheets.

W h e n in September 1946, a popular in te r im Government was in­stalled at the Centre, a lmost imme­diately, the extensive powers for the contro l of the Press assumed by the Government of Ind ia under the De­fence of Ind ia Rules came to an end. However, in 1946-47 many of the Provincial Governments were compel­led to resort to Ordinances to br ing the communa l si tuation under con­t ro l . These Ordinances were subse­quent ly replaced by emergency legis­lat ion by the Provincial Govern­ments.

PRESS LAWS ENQUIRY

In M a r c h 1947, the Government of Ind ia appointed an enqui ry com­mi t tee to report on Press Laws in force in the country. T h e commi t tee made certain recommendations. T h e more impor tan t o f them are:

(1) T h e repeal of I nd ian States Protect ion against Disaffect ion Ac t , 1922, and the Ind ian States Protec­t ion A c t 1934.

(2) The repeal of the I nd ian Press (Emergency Powers) Ac t , 1931 .

(3) H i e repeal of Foreign Rela­t ions Ac t and the enactment in its place of a more comprehensive mea­sure on the basis of reciprocity.

(4) T h e modi f icat ion of section 124A o f the I P C and the exclusion, by explanat ion, o f the appl icat ion of section 153A, to the advocacy of peaceful change in the socio-econo­m i c order.

(5) Section 144 of t h e Cr im ina l

Procedure C o d e shou ld n o t be app l i -ed to the Press.

(6) Al l act ion taken against t he Press in the exercise of emergency powers should be preceded by con-. sul tat ion between the Prov inc ia l Governments and Press A d v i s o r y Commit tees or simi lar bodies.

THE PRESS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION

W i t h the adopt ion o f the Cons t i ­t u t i o n m January 1950, the Govern­men t of Ind ia was conf ronted w i t h a new set of problems in regard to the Press. Cer ta in newspapers against wh ich action had been taken successfully appealed to the H i g h C o u r t and the Supreme Cour t wh i ch overruled the action of the Execut ive on the ground that they were u l t ra vires o f Ar t i c le X I X (2) o f the C o n ­s t i tu t ion . Th i s Ar t i c le laid d o w n that ' N o t h i n g in the sub-clause (a) of clause 1 of the Ar t ic le (which guaranteed the r ight of f reedom of speech and expression to al l cit izens) shall affect the operation of any exist­ing law in so far as it related to , or prevent the State f r om mak ing any law regarding, l ibe l , slander, defama­t i o n , contempt of court or any mat­ter, wh ich offends against decency or mora l i ty or wh i ch undermines t h e security of, or tends to overthrow, the State ' . T h e Government of Ind ia amended Ar t i c le X I X o f the Cons t i tu t ion in the face of the strong opposi t ion of the A l l - Ind ia News­papers Conference. T h e same year the Press Object ionable Matters Act was passed.

NEWS AGENCIES

W h e n the Vernacular Press A c t was passed in 1878, a Press Commis ­sioner was appointed to give in forma­t ion to the Engl ish-owned and edi ted Press. H is f unc t i on was later widened to enable h i m to deal w i th the langu­age Press too. Some of the Engl ish language papers l ike the Statesman, Engl ishman and Ind ian Da i l y News pooled their resources together a n d brought in to being the Associated Press of Ind ia w i t h Buck and Coatee as its first directors. As K C Roy was refused a directorship, he formed a rival organisation, the Press Bureau, together w i t h Shri Usha N a t h Sen, Roy's genius threatened to develop the Press Bureau i n to a serious r iva l , and he was offered a directorship on the Associated Press of I nd ia . T h e inf luence of K C Roy in the deve­lopmen t o f t he modern Ind ian news­paper has been tremendous. T h o u g h he was never an edi tor , his genius f o r the shaping of news have proved 4 more p o t e n t f ac to r i n br ing ing I n d i a n journal ism uptodate accordtng to

Western notions than that of any

March 12, 1955 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

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THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY March 12, 1955

editor in the previous four decades. In 1915 K C Roy started t h e Ind ian News Agency—a news bu l l e t i n of .about t w o typed pages foolscap sup­p l i e d at the rate of Rs 60 per copy to leading c iv i l and mi l i ta ry officials. T h e I nd ian News Agency cont inued t i l l 1947.

T h e Reuters Agency was started by Julius Renter as a carrier-pigeon ser­vice on the con t inen t and i t develop­ed in to a telegraphic news service based on L o n d o n in 1858, On matters relat ing to Ind ia and the service to and f r om Ind ia , Reuters was subject to strong off icial inf luence bo th in L o n d o n and in D e l h i . T h e Associated Press of Ind ia was later on taken over by Reuters, wh i ch was essentially a Br i t i sh concern. Reuters and the Associated Press were very m u c h under official con t ro l . T h e news of non-co-operation and c iv i l disobedi­ence was kept down to the barest m i n i m u m in the early ' twent ies, and eminen t Indians in pol i t ics and busi­ness felt that on controversial matters l ike the rupee rat io, etc, the i r views were not adequately carried to L o n d o n , and this led to the esta­b l ishment of the Free Press of Ind ia News Agency.

In 1933 the U n i t e d Press o f Ind ia News Agency was started in Calcut ta by Shri B Sen Gup ta . In 1948 the newspapers in Ind ia jo ined hands and formed the Press Trus t of Ind ia w i t h the object of establishing a co-opera-t ively-owned internal news agency.

There are at present two news ser­vices operat ing in I nd ia on a country­wide basis, the Press Trust of Ind ia wh ich subscribes to Reuters W o r l d Service and the U n i t e d Press T rus t of I nd ia w h i c h , by an agreement w i t h the Agence France Presse, gives a service or foreign news to its sub­scribers in Ind ia .

T h e first press association was form­ed in 1 8 9 1 , after proceedings had been ins t i tu ted against the Bengal i newspaper Bangabasi w i t h the object of " improv ing the tone of the native Press and preserving modera t ion in the discussion of pub l i c questions " . In 191 5, five years after the rigorous enforcement of the Press A c t of 1910 despite ind iv idua l protests by po l i t i ca l leaders and newspaper edi­tors, the Press Association of Ind ia was fo rmed fo r the defence of the interests of the Press in general, and protect ion against undue encroach­m e n t u p o n its l ibert ies by legislation and executive ac t ion . In the early ' twent ies, a numbe r of journal ists ' associations were fo rmed at t he p r in ­c ipal centres of newspaper p roduc t i on , no tab ly i n Bombay and Calcut ta .

A f t e r l ong negot ia t ion , t he I n d i a n a n d Eastern Newspaper Society was

f o r m e d in 1939, to ac t as a central organisat ion of t h e Press of I n d i a , and to p romote and safeguard c o m ­m o n business interests. Independent of the Ind ian and Eastern Newspaper Society, b u t nevertheless f r o m i t , de­veloped the A l l - I nd ia Newspaper Ed i to rs ' Conference in 1940. T h e A l l - Ind ia Newspaper Ed i to rs ' Confer ­ence was an outcome of the efforts of some members of the Ind ian and Eastern Newspaper Society w h o were alarmed by the comprehensive pre-censorship order in respect of news relat ing to the Satyagraha movement passed by Government in the closing mon ths of 1940. The Ind ian Fede­rat ion of W o r k i n g Journalists came i n t o existence in October 29, 1950. T h e Federat ion has also kept a v igi­lant eye on all matters affecting the rights of the Press and of wo rk ing journalists.

A perusal of th is report leads one to the conclusion tha t the Ind ian Press is today subjected to more str ingent Press regulations than i t was in prc- Independencc days, bar­

r i ng , o f course, the war periods, in a free and democrat ic count ry , why should such restrict ions be imposed on the Press in the name of safe­guarding the in fant democracy, when the existence of a vigorous and in ­dependent Four th Estate is the rear guarantor of a t rue democracy? At t imes one feels that these str ingent Press regulations are promulgated w i t h a v iew to safeguarding the interests o f t he present administrators. To quote Ratnaval i , an o ld newspaper of Bengal , " T h e K i n g of Eng land is no t in charge of government ; the people make a k ing of thei r o w n , as in Bengal an earthen pot is pu t up and worsh ipped . " In the same way, the present administrators of the country are no t in charge of govern­ment , bu t are pu t up there by the people of Ind ia and as such they must not t ry to stif le the popular voice by in t roduc ing various Press re­gulations in the name of safeguarding the interests of the people.

(Concluded)