Urdu Journalism : Independence and the Partition of India

After the partition, many eminent journalists including 70 owners of newspapers migrated to Pakistan coercing leading Urdu journals and newspapers to shut down. Of 415 newspapers, 345 remained in service after partition. In the first year of independence, Urdu journalism was thus inevitably subject to a rough patch and pit-deep in crisis.

A decade after the independence, the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) report of 1957, portrayed an uprising. At this time, the number of Urdu dailies and periodicals rose to 513 and their collective circulation was 7.84 lakhs.

Some of the popular journals in the post-independence era include Daawat, Nai Duniya, Rahnuma e Deccan, Siasat, Azad-e-Hind, Hind Samachar, Akhbar-e-Mashriq, Inquilab, Urdu Times, Salar, Qaumi Awaz, Aurangabad Times, Daily Aftab Srinagar, Munsif, Roznama Rashtria Sahara and Etemaad among others.

Hot footing into the year 2012, the RNI report presents a pleasant surge favouring Urdu journalism, with number of journals shooting up to 710 and a collective circulation of 2 crore and 20 lakhs approximately. The latest statistics reveal an upward surge in Urdu readership across print and digital platforms.

This article is part of an elaborate research-based series on Urdu Journalism : Past, Present and Future

Stay tuned. To be continued…