How media helped create the idea of a free India

How media supported create the idea of a free India Newspapers and journalists played an instrumental role in India's freedom movement, not just by giving residents news, but additionally by turning into their voices.

Key points

• Among these were Amrita Bazar Patrika and The Hindu, founded in 1868 and 1878 respectively.
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak – one among the three who were popularly known as Lal Bal Pal – founded the Marathi language newspaper Kesari in 1881.
• What Kesari was to Tilak, Young India and Harijan were to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation.
• Did you know that back in 1780, Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the capital of British India?
• While the Britishers were busy painting it as a 'mutiny', the Indian outlets produced sure their own version was additionally published, after the Revolt of 1857.

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi were prominent leaders who utilised the power of the media in the Indian independence movement. Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives.

Did you know that back in 1780, Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the capital of British India? An Irishman who went by the name James Augustus Hicky set up a newspaper there in 1780 titled Hicky's Bengal Gazette, additionally known as the Original Calcutta General Advertiser. This English language weekly newspaper was not just the first of its kind in India, but in fact was the first newspaper printed in Asia!

Known for his eccentric nature, Hicky had his newspaper running for two years and was openly critical of the administration of Governor General Warren Hastings. This naturally meant that the East India Firm took offence, and they shortly swooped in to seize the newspaper's types and press.

Hicky's Bengal Gazatte was India's first newspaper. Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives.

Meanwhile, the seeds, nevertheless, had been sown by then. The provocative journalism that Hicky championed and the need to fight for free expression in India formed a template that would be replicated in the years and decades that followed. Taking the fight to the colonists.

By the turn of the century, Indian-owned newspapers began to emerge. Initially starting out as a way to offer voice to social critique and reforms, these weren't political. That was at least another half a century away. These newspapers, nevertheless, demonstrated Indians that they could unite in thought and communicate throughout previously inconceivable distances. Notably, the role of theatre in freedom struggle.

It was from the 1850s that plenty of Indian newspapers kicked off becoming political, championing the need for change. The ruling British were aware of what was happening around them, and took every step they could to strangle the Indian voices. The trouble was, the voices only grew louder the harder they tried to muffle it.

While the Britishers were busy painting it as a 'mutiny', the Indian outlets produced sure their own version was additionally published, after the Revolt of 1857. In their newspapers, the event was described as what it was – a fight against oppression. History is often written by those in power. The newspapers that were blossoming in our country back then, nevertheless, produced sure that it created Indians feel empowered.

In practice, a museum display at the National Science Centre in New Delhi demonstrates a yesteryear citizen working with a printing press. Photo Credit: Biswarup Ganguly / Wikimedia Commons.

It was late in the 19ᵗʰ Century that newspapers truly became synonymous with the nationalist movement. Fostering political discussions and disseminating ideas throughout divides. The news they carried informed the citizens of the latest developments. The editorials that they carried created residents stop to think and consider other possibilities. Slogans that built solidarity during freedom struggle.

It is no wonder that this time additionally coincided with a proliferation of newspapers and magazines, be it dailies, weeklies, or monthlies, all with a robust leaning towards nationalist tendencies. Among these were Amrita Bazar Patrika and The Hindu, founded in 1868 and 1878 respectively. While Amrita Bazar Patrika ceased operations in 1991, The Hindu. It began out as a weekly, still remains one of the country's most trusted news sources throughout different mediums.

Even though different publications had their own voices, means, and ways, they were more or less united in the most pressing problems. These included attacking unfair policies that the British often implemented, demanding reforms, and pushing for self-governance.

Not just print media Even though the bulk of the journalism in the pre-independence years were confined to the print media, it wasn't limited to just that.

At a time when the print medium was severely put to the test through restrictions and censorship, a young Gandhian from Surat, Usha Mehta, decided to set up a secret 'Congress Radio' to take advantage of the new medium and ensure that communications didn't ever come to an abrupt halt.

Setting it up was no straightforward feat, both financially and in terms of technology, but Usha managed it for a few months during the Quit India Movement of 1942. By successfully operating it along with others, she served as an inspiration for plenty of.

Indian journalism, obviously, wasn't just regarding what happened in the English language newspapers and magazines. It flourished in the regional languages as well, be it in Bengali or Marathi, Tamil or Malayalam, Hindi or Telugu. As their reach was literally limitless, in fact, the ruling British might well have been more worried regarding these. How poetry stirred a nation to fight for its rights.

Picture this. A gathering of villagers under a tree or maybe in the locality's only tea shop. There's a crowd milling around, and there's probably only a handful who could read – be it in English or any of the local languages. The single newspaper at their disposal is then read out aloud, and the information and ideas they possess are gradually, but surely, passed on to all.

For context, the British weren't oblivious to the increasing influence of the press, and passed plenty of bills to stifle them. One such bill was the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 that subjected native-language local press to administration censorship, severe restrictions, and even confiscations and imprisonments.

Ingenuity, nevertheless, often speaks loudest when pushed to a corner. Amrita Bazar Patrika, for instance, completely turned itself from a Bengali newspaper to an English newspaper overnight in 1878, so as to steer clear of the clutches of the British.

Mahatma Gandhi voiced his ideas through Young India and then Harijan. Photo Credit: Gandhi Smriti.

Notably, the freedom fighters knew the power that words carried, be it written or spoken. If sloganeering, theatre, and songs were able to kindle the strongest of emotions through the spoken word, newspapers and magazines did the same through the written word. Some of the greatest freedom fighters wielded their power through words, some through just their writings, and some by more ways than one. Additionally see: The not-so-routine I Day quiz.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak – one among the three who were popularly known as Lal Bal Pal – founded the Marathi language newspaper Kesari in 1881. A self-rule activist in India's independence movement, Tilak wrote extensively on subjects pertaining to colonial exploitation of Indian resources, unequal salaries paid to British and Indian authorities, and war expenditure, among other things. Along with criticising unfair British policies, Tilak additionally wrote numerous articles strongly favouring unity between Hindus and Muslims, even as they were mobilising themselves as different factions.

What Kesari was to Tilak, Young India and Harijan were to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. Young India was first published as a book in 1916 by Lala Lajpat Rai – the Lal of the Lal Bal Pal trio – and he applied it to expound on the Indian nationalist movement up until then. From 1919 onward, Gandhi applied the same title for his journalistic work, spreading his ideology and thoughts. He applied Young India to demand for swaraj or self-rule, with non-violence at the heart of the movement. From 1933, Gandhi began publishing a weekly English newspaper titled Harijan. Along with Harijan Bandu in Gujarati and Harijan Sevak in Hindi, Gandhi focused on socio-economic problems confronting both India and the world as the nation inched closer to its independence. In particular, the newspapers carried a number of articles on untouchability, calling for the abolition of the same.

Sweet songs of freedom: How poetry stirred a nation to fight for its rights. Going viral: Slogans that built solidarity during freedom struggle. Nil Darpan to Nabanna: The role of theatre in freedom struggle.

For now, how media helped create the idea of a free India remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.