Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee |
1.5.22
Press
Freedom
The ability of journalists to
report freely on matters of public interest is a crucial indicator of
democracy. A free press can inform citizens of their leaders’ successes or
failures, convey the people’s needs and desires to government bodies, and
provide a platform for the open exchange of information and ideas. When media
freedom is restricted, these vital functions break down, leading to poor
decision-making and harmful outcomes for leaders and citizens alike.
To
highlight this and to remind
governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of
expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration (a
statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper
journalists in Windhoek, capital of Namibia in 1991) the UN declare May 3 to
be World Press Freedom Day.
Unfortunately,
though freedom of speech and expression is enshrined in our constitution, our
position at the World Press Freedom Index has never been good. In 2021, we
stood at 142nd out of 180 countries. In
the report released by Reporters Without Borders—India continues to be in the
category of countries considered ‘bad’ for journalism. Other countries in this
category include Brazil, Russia, and Mexico.
Ram ke Naam
This
Ram Navami, unfortunately, saw communal violence across the country at a never
before seen scale. Sri Ram would have been the unhappiest if he would have
witnessed the violence perpetrated in his name.
On
this occasion I remember the Ramnami
Samaj, a fringe Hindu sect living mostly in Chhattisgarh.
Members of this sect tattoo the
word ‘Ram’ on their bodies and wear shawls
with the word ‘Ram’ printed on them. In some cases they even tattoo the
name of Ram on their eye lids.
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Initially
majority of his followers belong to chamar community. However, soon persons
from kurmi, banik, even Brahmin caste also joined. Researchers believe that this
sect is a continuation of 15th
century Bhakti Movement and an offshoot of the region’s Satnam Panth.
The
number of followers of this sect, who would tattoo the name of ram on their
bodies, however, is coming down with time.
Urdu
Journalism@ 200 years
Contrary
to popular perception, Urdu is not the language of Muslims. It was a lashkari (soldier) language (the word
‘Urdu’ comes from the Turkish word ‘ordu’ meaning ‘camp’ or ‘army’), nourished
during the period of Mughal emperor Shahjahahn. It had words from Persian and
local languages. The purpose was to make communication easy among soldiers who
were from different places: Arab, Turk and locals. Based on the Khariboli
dialect of Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh in the Indian subcontinent, Urdu
developed under local Persian, Arabic, and Turkic influence over the course of
almost 900 years. It began to take shape in what is now Uttar Pradesh, India
during the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1527), and continued to develop under the
Mughal Empire (1526–1858).
The
first newspaper of Urdu language was Jam-i-Jahan-Numa
((a Persian term meaning Mirror of
the World) founded by Harihar Dutta in 1822 in
Kolkata (then Calcutta). The first issue of the paper was published on March 27, 1822.
Harihar Dutta was the son of Tara Chand Dutta, eminent Bengali journalist and
one of the founders of Bengali weekly Sambad
Koumudi. Editor of this three page weekly paper was Lala Sadasukhlal, a
Punjabi.
The printer was William Hopkins, a British national and an employee of the East
India Company. After Bengali it was the second vernacular language to have
published newspapers. The
paper’s founder was an employee of the East India Company, friendly with
William Hopkins Pears Company, a British trading group. The paper’s
professional appearance led the observers to assume that it was a semi-official
gazette, a protégé of the Company’s Administration or a toady paper. The result
has been that for over a century, the scholars and votaries of Urdu journalism
have looked down upon this pioneer as a satellite. Dubbing it as an appendix of
British establishment, they have sought to dump it in the dustbin of history.
However, later research has cast doubts on this.
Jam-i-Jahan-Numa
was published till 1888.
Shortly after Raja
Ram Mohan Roy published a newspaper in Persian titled Mirat-ul-Akhbar (Mirror
of News). It was published on April 12, 1822 from Kolkata. He closed
Mirat-ul-Akhbar in protest against restrictions imposed on the Press on April
4, 1823. This was
the first protest, by a language paper, against a curb on the Press.
Air
conditioning and Indian Railways
April, T. S. Eliot
had written long back- is the cruelest month. In the hot summer months in the
plains of India, including Dhenkanal the place I live- so is May and half of
June, till the monsoon comes with relief of rain. As I was travelling by train
in an air conditioned coach the other day, I was just curious to know when did trains
in India first introduce these coaches. I found the answer with a quick google
search, and it was fascinating.
The first Indian
train to get an air conditioned coach was the Frontier Mail in 1934. It ran from Mumbai to Peshawar via Delhi, Punjab and Lahore.
The air-conditioning
system then was basic, unlike the thermostat controlled power plants we see
today.
In those days, ice
blocks were used, carried in sealed receptacles built beneath the coach floor
and on the ceiling -- which were replenished at several halts along the route.
A battery operated
blower constantly blew air into these receptacles, and the cold air entered the
insulated cars through vents.
Though it was very
basic and messy, the effect was very pleasant. It was luxury at its best then.
(Source: History
and Heritage of Indian Railways/Pazhayathu blog)
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Journalist turned media academician Mrinal
Chatterjee lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes fiction and plays.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
This column is published every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and www.prameyanews.com
