Newspapers in British India

Part 5

1916 to 1947

The Independent was started on February 5, 1919 by Motilal Nehru
Motilal Nehru was assisted in the paper’s establishment by B G Horniman and Syed Hussain who became the Independent’s editor.
The paper closed down under British repression two years later.

Young India was a weekly paper or journal in English founded by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1916 and later published by Mahatma Gandhi from 1919 to 1931.
Gandhiji used Young India to spread his unique ideology and thoughts regarding the use of nonviolence in organising movements and to urge readers to consider, organise, and plan for India’s eventual independence from Britain.

Mooknayak (The Chief of the Voiceless) was a fortnightly Marathi newspaper published on alternate Saturdays from Bombay that began in 1920 by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
In launching this newspaper, Ambedkar tried to put forth his own point of view on issues such as the evils of untouchability, the socio-economic status of ‘untouchables’, their place in Hindu society, any improvement in their status, etc. Its goal was to shed light on the injustice that exists on untouchables (Bahishkrit), to give voice to the atrocities that will occur on untouchables in the future, and to have a debate and form the untouchables’ future.

Navajivan was the first Gujarati newspaper published by Mahatma Gandhi on September 7, 1919.
It carried the message of the Mahatma to the masses during India’s freedom struggle.
The first edition carried a note to the readers that the newspaper will not take any advertisements.

Harijan (‘children of God’) was Mahatma Gandhi’s famous English-language weekly launched on 11th February 1933 to promote fight against untouchability and to liberate those who were discriminated.
The articles were written by the Mahatma himself or his associate Charles Freer Andrews.
Rabindranath Tagore provided poems on untouchability for most issues.
The newspaper continued until 1948 and was also published in Hindi and Gujarati translations, Harijan Sevak and Harijan Bandhu.

Dawn was founded by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Delhi, India, on 26 October 1941, as a mouthpiece for the Muslim League.
Dawn became a daily newspaper in October 1944 under the leadership of its editor, Pothan Joseph.