BaKhabar, July 2010, Page-3

better light a candle than curse the darkness

Urdu Media : Suffering in silence

- A N Shibli

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).

Email: bakhabar@biharanjuman.org 3