|
 |
|
 |
|
 Role
of Urdu in National Integration commendable: RK Deore:
Dr. RK Deore - Dean of Arts Faculty, University of Pune while
inaugurating the All Maharashtra Elocution Competition ....
Read
Full
The Print
Media and Minority Images |
|
|
The history of journalism in India
goes back to 1790, when an Englishman James Augustus for the first
time started a newspaper ‘Bengal Gazette’ from Sedampur, a village
close to Kolkata. The first Urdu newspaper was also started from
West Bengal. In 1822 the Persian weekly ‘Jam-e-Jahan’ was first
published in Urdu. Some times it was published in Urdu, at others in
Persian and some times in both the languages. During the initial
days of journalism every newspaper was a weekly or biweekly and none
of them were dailies. On January 14, 1850 Munshi Harsukh Rai started
the weekly ‘Kohinoor’. With a circulation of only 350 it was the
largest circulated newspaper of that time. The circulation of other
newspaper at that time was only 100 to 200.
‘Urdu Guide’ was the first daily newspaper, which was started by
Maulvi Kabeeruddin from Kolkata in 1858. In the very same year a
second daily ‘Roznamcha-e-Punjab’ was started from Lahore. As a
first Urdu daily of Bihar, ‘Dini Bihar’ started in 1876 from Arah
district. ‘Zameendar’, which was the best newspaper of that time,
was started in 1903 from Lahore. It was the first newspaper, which
used the news from news agencies. This newspaper greatly supported
the freedom struggle. That time the circulation of Zameendar was
30,000. Remember this time very few newspapers had these circulation
figures. Before Zameendar, in 1884 Munshi Mehar Bakhsh started a
morning (Naseem-e-Subah) and an evening newspaper (Sham-e-Wisal).
Maulvi Saiful Haq started the daily ‘Rahbar-e-Hind’ from Lahore in
1885. In 1902 Maulvi Sanaullah Khan started the weekly ‘Watan’ which
was published regularly for 33 years. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar
started ‘Naqeeb-e-Hamdard’ in 1912. Later it was called only ‘Hamdard’.In
the very same year Maulana Abul Kalam Azad started ‘Al-Hilal’. After
Zameendar it was the largest circulated newspaper .On March 20, 1919
Mahashay Krishn started ‘Pratap’. Pratap was the first newspaper,
which started supplements.
Before freedom was achieved the following newspapers and magazines
were started to support the freedom struggle. Khilafat, Siasat,
Ujala, Taj, Roznama-e-Hind, Ajmal, Hilal, Milap, Pratap, Tej, Qaumi
Awaz, Jung, Anjam, Inqilab, Nawa-e-Waqt, Hindustan, Aftab, Jumhuriat,
Nadeem, Iqbal, Asr-e-Jadeed, Azad-e-Hind, Sandesh, Vakeel, Khidmat,
Musalman, Azad, Pasban, Veer Bharat and Al Jamiat. Jawaharlal Nehru
started Qaumi Awaz from Lucknow in 1945. Later it was also published
from Patna and Delhi. At present it is published only from Delhi and
is in very poor condition. After India’s freedom Hafiz Ali Khan
Bahadur started weekly ‘Daur-e-Jadeed’. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind started
weekly ‘Dawat’. Now it is published regularly as a Bi-weekly. Dawat
has a particular readership and it is very popular among its readers
due to its views on current issues. Maulana Abdul Waheed Siddiqui
started ‘Nai Duniya’, which is still being published under the
editorship of his son Shahid Siddiqui. Now it is a popular Urdu
weekly in India. Sahara Group had started monthly ‘Rashtriya Sahara’
but later it became daily. Now it is the most popular Urdu daily of
North India published simultaneously from Delhi, Lucknow and
Gorakhpur. Recently this group has launched a weekly ‘Aalami
Sahara’.
According to the official data of Registrar for Newspapers of India
(RNI) in the year 2,000 altogether 46,655 newspapers and periodicals
were registered with them. Among them 5157 are dailies, 337 are bi
weeklies, 16872 are weeklies, 6,240 are fortnightlies, 12,796 are
monthlies, 3,273 are quarterlies, 416 are yearly while 1564 are of
different categories. In total, Urdu (2,803) occupies the third
position after Hindi (18,903) and English (6,830). Out of these
2,803 Urdu newspapers and periodicals the dailies are 519,
biweeklies are 20, weeklies are 1,317, fortnightlies are 361,
monthlies are 506, quarterlies are 60, annuals are 3 while 17 are of
different categories.
Although these statistics show that the Urdu press is in very good
position, the truth is quite different. They are many in numbers but
with very poor circulation. Very few Urdu dailies have a circulation
of more than 15,000. Mostly dailies, weeklies and monthlies are of a
circulation ranging from 1,000 to 5,000. In most cases the
circulation figures are exaggerated. The basic motivation behind
most of the Urdu newspapers and magazines is to get political
benefits. Many newspapers publish only to get advertisements from
DAVP and other agencies of the concerned states. In this age of
Internet most of the newspapers and magazines depend on Katib
(calligrapher). Many editors of the Urdu Press don’t know the basics
of computer. Most of the newspapers and periodicals don’t have
E-mail address. In most cases 2 to 3 persons manage the whole
office. Very few Urdu dailies have reporters, most depend on UNI or
the translation from newspapers of other languages.
The major problem with the Urdu media is that they pay a very paltry
amount to their staff. Many staff members take on another job to
make ends meet. In most cases Urdu newspapers don’t pay to the
contributors. They don’t even send the complimentary copy of the
issue, which carries the matter of the contributor. Mostly Urdu
periodicals depend on religious, cultural and literary subjects.
They hardly include articles on Science, Engineering, Technology,
Agriculture, Finance and Economics. At present there are only two
magazines devoted to science and technology. One is ‘Science ki
Duniya’ publish by CSIR the other is ‘Science’ by Dr Aslam Perwez.
In most cases Urdu journalists are not invited to press conferences.
It will be wrong to say that the new generation doesn’t want to read
Urdu. They think that Urdu newspaper is not a complete newspaper.
The standard of Urdu journalism and the journalist is very low. Why
should they spend money on a newspaper which is full of Nazm and
Ghazal. English newspaper is cheaper than Urdu. On a substantially
lower price English newspaper gives more pages, more news more
views, and more important and informative articles. Current Urdu
newspapers or periodicals have no weight and have no impact on
society. They never publish any investigative story. Urdu journalism
needs a change of style, contents and standards.
Though the number of registered newspapers and magazines is large,
only a few have good/healthy circulation and readership. At present
the leading Urdu newspapers and periodicals are Rashtriya Sahara
(Delhi, Lucknow, Gorakhpur), Qaumi Awaz (Delhi), Urdu Times
(Mumbai), Inqilab (Mumbai), Siasat (Hyderabad), Rahnuma-e-Deccan
(Hyderabad), Munsif (Hyderabad), Qaumi Tanzeem (Patna), Nadeem
(Bhopal), Salar (Bangalore), Azad Hind (Kolkata), Akhbar–e-Mashriq
(Kolkata), Hind Samachar (Punjab), Aalami Sahara (Delhi), and Afkar
e-Milli (Delhi).
Ba-Khabar News Magazine
|
Shutters
down in Malegaon as dead cows found in mysterious conditions
CBI
summons Gujarat Home Minister in fake encounter case: 
Opposition
to take on Govt. on caste based census, inflation: 
Sibal
bats for democracy in classrooms: 
Comment on this article