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Independence Movement Media (India)

Resistance against the British began long before the 20th century, when the British East India Company expanded its powers in eastern India, particularly in what are now known as West Bengal State and Bangladesh. This entry describes the role of independence movement media dating from the mid-19th century and continuing until Indian independence in 1947. The influence of media from this time in Indian history can still be seen today in street theater.

Evolution of the Independence Movement

One of the earliest events of the Indian independence movement was the 1857 revolt by sepoys (Indian soldiers) in the East India Company's army. Variously known as the Sepoy Mutiny, the Rebellion of 1857, or India's First War of Independence, the 1857 revolt threatened the East India Company's power in today's Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. The British government dissolved the company and took direct control.

Leading figures of the rebellion, including the Rani (Queen) of Jhansi and Mangal Pandey, became folk heroes represented in images and performances that were part of successive waves of the independence movement. Independence agitation grew more insistent from then onward into the 20th century, from the 1885 founding of the Indian National Congress (INC), to Mahatma Gandhi's return to India in 1915, to the 1920–1922 Noncooperation and 1942–1044 Quit India movements. In 1947 Britain withdrew, but not without having very hastily partitioned the subcontinent into the nations of India and Pakistan, instigating the largest short-term migration in history to that date, with 15 million refugees.

Initially not invested in eliminating British rule in India, the INC split in 1907 and became the main organizing body of the independence movement. Socially conscious religious groups such as the Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj also became involved in the independence movement, focusing on social reforms that created national pride among the masses. With the 1905 British partition of Bengal, the Bengali public—angry at British divide-and-rule tactics and failure to consult the people—engaged in widespread boycotts, with INC support. Common INC posters depicted India as an elderly man contemplating three paths: civil disobedience, violence, and collusion with the British.

The Vernacular Press and “Vande Mataram”

Vernacular newspapers such as the Amrita Bazaar Patrika and the Bengalee made important contributions to India's burgeoning nationalist sentiment, and by the early 20th century, there were more than 500 vernacular newspapers. A few were run by British people sympathetic to the nationalist cause, though most were run by Hindu entrepreneurs. Vernacular presses were unrestrained in their critique of British rule and the lack of representation of Indians within government.

The colonial government had strengthened its hold over vernacular presses in 1878 with the Vernacular Press Act, an act known to Indians as the “Gagging Act,” suppressing nationalist writings within vernacular-language (but not English-language) newspapers. Due to significant censorship programs in the wake of this act, the well-known Bengali paper Amrita Bazaar Patrika (Amrita Bazaar Newspaper) became an English-language paper to circumvent censorship. But vernacular presses only grew more resilient in the 20th century. Even at times when the nationalist movement was waning or being repressed by colonial rule, the vernacular press served as critics of government, as educators, and as promoters of nationalism.

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