news papers in India-1

[Zaveri Rohit <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  Prune messages that you are forwarding or replying to include 
only the relevant material.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi friends,                                                           How
many of us can think of begining the day without a look at the newspaper ?
Herein I am casting a look at the history of news papers in modern India.
                                      The first newspaper in India was
published in India in Calcutta by James Hicky in 1780. This was the Bengal
Gazette, and two years later it was supressed by governor general Warren
Hastings. After this the government's attitude towards newspapers scarely
changed. It was contemptuous of newspapers and their editors and convinced
of the need to keep them under tight government control. The English
language press was, ofcourse, originally intended for British readers, and
its qualities and vices were those of contemporary journalism in Britain.
Many of the newspapers which appeared were, in fact, merely digests and
reprints of British newspapers. Many of the English language journals, too,
resembled their British contemporaries by being highly critical of the
government and government personalities. They did not hesitate to attack
both in the most scurrilous language.                        In 1823, the
government passed two regulations which securely gagged the press. The
regulations were directed against English-language and British-owned
newspapers. There were at that time only one or two Indian-language papers
in existence. But it was, in fact, Indians who reacted positively against
the new regulations. It was safer for them to do so than for a European,
since one of the government's most frequently used weapons against English
journalists was deportation - a weapon which could hardly be used against
Indians. Nevertheless, the protest was made, inevitably (in the
circumstances of the time) by Ram Mohun Roy. He and five other
distinguished Bengalis, including Dwarkanath Tagore, failed in their
appeal, first to the Calcutta Supreme Court and then to the Privy Council
in London, but it was the first demand made in India for liberty of press,
and it was made on sound European principles.

      More about early vernacular press in India in the next posting.
                                                   Rohit Zaveri, Dubai.
                                                            


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to 
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com 
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject 
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html