Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born in a famous family
of Bengal in 1772. He was a great scholar of Sanskrit, Persian, and English and
knew Arabic, Latin and Greek.
Rammohan was a great champion of the freedom
of the Press. His efforts to liberate the Press were made with the aim of
education Indians about the affairs of the nation in their true perspective. He
himself published newspapers in English, Bengali and Persian for the purpose of
creating mass consciousness as a veritable check against the British
authoritarianism. Besides being a great social reformer Ram Mohan also made a
valuable contribution to Bengali literature and he is regarded as the father of
Bengali prose. He was the first to realize the value of the newspapers as an
instrument for diffusing intellectual light. His earliest books on Bengali
prose were Vedanta – Grantha and Vedanta - Saar which were published in 1815
and 1816 respectively.
Contributions
of Raja Ram Mohan Roy
The study of
the history of freedom of press reveals that Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an ardent(devoted)
supporter and patronizer of freedom of press. He was a pioneer of Indian
Journalism. He brought out journals in some major languages including Bengali,
Persian and Hindi in order to create socio-cultural and political awareness
among the people of India . e was deeply devoted to the work of religious
and socialreform, so he founded the
'Brahmo Samaj* in 1825. Hecondemned
polytheism and idol worship and propagatedthe concept of one God. His religious ideas hadassimilated elements of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism andmodern
European liberal philosophy. He translatedancient Indian works on religion
and philosophy intoBengali.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was basically a
social reformer who contributed significantly for the elimination of
the Sati System and for the spread of
Women Education in the country. He is truly said to be the ‘
Father
of the Indian Journalism .
Ram Mohan Roy tried to spread literary,
political and scientific knowledge among the Indians. He had the intention of
presenting popular demands and grievances before the Government by creating
public opinion on current issues and topics. The purpose Raja Ram Mohan Roy had
in mind could not be served properly if there was no freedom of press
’
Roy published magazines inEnglish, Hindi, Persian, andBengali.
He publishedBrahmonical Magazine inEnglish in 1821.
.
With his inspiration following
three newspapers came into being:
1. Sambad Kaumudi ,(Bengali); 2. Mirat-ut Akhbar (Persian), 3. Brahminicial Magazine
(English)
One notable magazine of his was the Sambad Kaumudi , published in1821. Samvad
Kaumudi began under the editorship of Bhabani Charan Banerjee. But Banerjee left the Newspaper after
13 issues because of the disputewith Roy on the points of Sati System and other social
reforms.
Ram Mohan took charge of it. The Sambad Kaumudi was intended for the common
people. Ram Mohan used the new Bengali prose style for the man in the street Banarjee launched a separate newspaper called
‘Samachar Chandrika’ and promoted staunch Hindu values with its
help.Sambad Kaumudi became
bi-weekly in January1830 and continued for 33 years.
An article contained the description of the
miserable condition of the Hindus suffering from caste prejudices. Another
issue contained an advice to the Hindus to become tradesman rather than mere
clerks. The paper also appealed to the government to establish trial by jury in
the Zila and Provincial Courts. In Apirl 1822, Ram Mohan started Persian Weekly
named the Mirat-ul-akhbar (Mirror of News). Through this paper he tried to
communicate his political and social views to the educated elite according to
their needs.
In 1822, Ram Mohan wrote an editorial about the
trial protesting against the cruel treatment meted out to one Pratap Narayan
Das who had succumbed to the injuries caused by whipping ordered by John Hayes,
the Judge of Camilla. As a result of this Hayes was tried by the Supreme Court
in April that year. Ram Mohan‟s editorial was translated into English, and
published in the Calcutta Journal of May 14, 1822 by its editor, James Silk
Buckingham who was a great friend of Ram Mohan. In all his publications Ram
Mohan emphasized the important of subjects having educational value, besides
those on politics and theology. During 1821 – 24 he published in the
Mirat-ul-Akhbar several articles on scientific subjects like “Echo in
Acoustics” Properties of the Magnet”, “Behaviour of fishes” Description of a
Baloon, etc. His persistent Advocacy for the introduction of scientific
education bore fruit long after his death. But there was a section of
journalists which was opposed to the liberal attitude of Sambad Kaumudi.
2. In 1822, Ram Mohanpublished MIRAT-UL-AKBAR
in Persian language.
The Mirat-ul-Akhbar happened to be the first journal in Persian language to be
published in India. In the Prospectus of the Mirat-ul-Akhbar, published in the
first issue of the weekly, Ram Mohan wrote that the object of the paper was not
to shower praises upon its promoters or his well-wishers or to scandalize
anybody. On the contrary, it aimed at reaching the truth, In its second issue
Ram Mohan published his article on the British Constitution
3.Brahmonical
Magazine ceased to exist after
publication of few issues. But Sambad Kaumudi, a newsweekly,
covered topics such as freedom of press, induction of Indians
into high ranks of service and separation of the executive and judiciary.
Ram Mohan’s Role
as a Journalist:-
Ram Mohan played an important role in promoting
Indian Journalism. He was the first Indian to realize the value of the
newspaper as an instrument for diffusing intellectual light.
The first
liberal paper to be published was the Bengali
Gazette . Bengali weekly started in Calcutta in 1816 by the enthusiastic
members of the Ram Mohan‟s Atmiya Sabha. The newspaper continued to be
published till 1820.
The Serampore Christian Mission started another
Bengali weekly, THE SAMACHAR DARPAN in
1817, and also published an English journal named THE FRIEND OF INDIA.
The first liberal newspaper in English, THE CALCUTTA
JOURNAL, was brought out by James Silk Buckingham in October, 1818.
This was the group of the orthodox Hindus who
started the SAMACHAR CHANDRIKA IN MARCH, 1822, counter act the zeal for reform
of the Sambad Kaumudi . The Persian editorial of the Mirat-ul-Akhbar written by
Ram Mohan were translated into English and were published in the Calcutta
Journal, edited by James Silk Buckingham. In this editorial Ram Mohan revealed
his great learning and deep knowledge of the political affairs of his time. Ram
Mohan‟s editorial criticism of popular Christian faith, English foreign policy
and of the British insolence on public roads towards the common people appeared
too venomous for the British administration in India to swallow.
Soon the acting Governor- General came down with a
heavy hand for the suppression of the liberty of the Press, and promulgated a
new Press Ordinance, drastically curtailing free expression of opinion through
the press.
Immediately
after the enactment of the Ordinance, Ram Mohan closed down the Mirat-ul-Akhbar
as a mark of protest. In the last issue of his paper, he declared his inability
to go on publishing under” what he considered were degrading conditions and he
lamented that he one of the most humble of men, should be no longer able to
contribute towards the intellectual improvement of his countrymen. After
suspension of the Mirat-ul-Akhbar in 1823 Ram Mohan became connected with
several other periodicals, and continued his relentless crusades against
irrationalism and suppression of freedom of the Press. In May 1829 English
weekly, Bengal Herald was started by R.M. Martin in collaboration with Ram
Mohan and Dwarkanath Tagore. It was a liberal periodical with a progressive
outlook. It had also a corresponding Vernacular Publication called the
Bangadoot printed in Bengali Persian and Hindi and was edited by Nilratan
Haldar, a close associate of Ram Mohan. The Bengal Ankara the two leadings
liberal English journals of the time in which Dwarkanath Tagore had large
interests. Later Samuel Smith a leading book-seller and publisher of Calcutta
purchased the Bengal Ankara, which happened to be one of the oldest and leading
English papers in the early twenties of the nineteenth century. Under his
editorship and guidance, the paper soon grew in popularity and usefulness. In
the acquisition of this paper he was given substantial financial help by
Dwarkanath Tagore. Dwarkanath was also one of the main proprietors of the India
Gazette,
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, three more newspaper continued
their publication between 1821-1891. They were ‘The
Reformer’, ‘The Enquirer’ and Gyan Anveshan. All these newspapers were the promoters
of Progressive Hinduism.
Gaudiya
Vyakaran is the last work of Ram Mohan. Before this he wrote a book of grammar
in English entitled „Bengali Grammar in the English Language‟. Gaudiya Vyakaran
was written by him for the School Book Society. The language of this book is
very simple and it can well be called modern. Such simple style was unknown in
those days of 1830‟s.Since Ram Mohan had his early education in Hindi knowing
cities like patna and Varanasi he learnt the language well.
He wrote simple and lucid Hindi and his command over
the language was a matter of wonder. His high attainment in Hindi language is
testified to by the eminent critic Pandit HazariPrasad Dwivedi,
It is worthy of note that Ram Mohan Roy wrote Hindi
prose in Devanagiri script .
Ram Mohan published Hindi translation of Vedanta
Sutra in 1815.
In the following year he published another small
book dealing with Shastrarth:
Soon Ram Mohan established himself as the third
leading writer in Hindi in Devanagiri script.
He is hailed by the latter day critics and authors
as the father of Bengali prose. Though there are prose‟s writing even prior to
Ram Mohan his specific contributions created a great transformation in the
literary genres of the Bengali language and also a social change in the society.
The British East India Company was against Freedom
of press in India. But Raja Ram Mohan Roy strongly argued against this view.
The company had the fear of public criticism under a free press. Ram Mohan Roy
was successful in convincing the authority with his strong logic arguing that
in India Freedom of press would not be harmful for the government as people had
been loyal to it. Roy pointed out that freedom of press was helpful to both the
government and the people.
A free press acts like a channel of communication
between the two and solves many problems. People come to know about the plans,
programmes, policies and intentions of the government through it. People also
express their reactions and grievances through it thus making the governance
more effective. A free press helps disseminate knowledge and boosts
intellectual improvement. It allows creativity: gives literary, cultural and
artistic knowledge and pleasure. The government comes to know about the defects
of its policies and administration and gets a scope to remedy those before any
crisis arises. Raja Ram Mohan Roy argued that a free press fails revolution and
does not nourish it. He felt that there has not been a reduction of violence
under a free press. On the contrary, a number of revolutions have taken place
in those parts of the world where press freedom was denied. Due to lack of
opportunity of expression grievances and discontentment of the people pile up
and ultimately burst out in the form of a revolution.
Ram Mohan Roy however, was not in favour of absolute freedom of press. In stead he
wanted reasonable restrictions on
it. He believed that those who try to incite hatred in the minds of the Indians
against the British nation should be punished. Similarly, an attempt to provoke
hostilities with neighbours and friendly states must be duly penalized. The
notion of freedom of press as held by Roy was to ultimately establish in India
the rule of law and not the rule of persons and their whims.
The Press Commission
was established in India for the first time in 1956. After a lapse of ten years came the Press Council in 1966 for the freedom of press. the history of the
Indian press when the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi curtailed the
freedom of press in 1975 with the imposition of the Emergency. She did not
allow the newspapers to expose the defence and internal affairs of our country.
She was right in her way because it was against the country's safety and
integrity. The
year 2000 saw a milestone in the media with the passage of the ‘Freedom of Information Act’.
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