Development of Press and Vernacular Acts

1. Early Press and Censorship

First Newspaper: The first newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette (or Calcutta General Advertiser), was started by James Augustus Hicky in 1780. It was sharply critical of Governor-General Warren Hastings and was seized by the government in 1782.

Censorship of Press Act (1799):

• Enacted by Lord Wellesley in anticipation of a French invasion (Napoleonic wars).
• Imposed strict wartime press restrictions. It mandated that every newspaper must print the names of the printer, editor, and proprietor.
• All content had to be pre-censored by a government secretary before publication.
• Relaxed by Lord Hastings in 1818.

Licensing Regulations (1823):

• Introduced by acting Governor-General John Adams (known for his reactionary views).
• Starting or using a press without a license became a penal offense (fine of ₹400 and confiscation). The Governor-General had the right to cancel a license without reason.
• Crucial Impact: These regulations were primarily directed against Indian-language newspapers. Raja Ram Mohan Roy's Persian newspaper "Mirat-ul-Akbar" had to stop publication in protest against this act.

2. The Liberator of Press and Post-1857 Acts

Press Act of 1835 (Metcalfe Act):

• Acting Governor-General Charles Metcalfe repealed the obnoxious 1823 regulations.
• He simply required publishers only to give a precise account of the premises of publication and cease publication if required by a similar declaration.
• Because of this incredibly liberal policy, Charles Metcalfe earned the title "Liberator of the Indian Press".
• This policy allowed a rapid growth of newspapers until the Revolt of 1857.

Licensing Act (1857):

• Following the Revolt of 1857, Lord Canning urgently reintroduced licensing restrictions on all printing presses.

Registration Act (1867):

• Replaced Metcalfe’s Act. It was mostly of a regulatory, not restrictive, nature.
• It required every printed book and newspaper to prominently display the name of the printer, publisher, and place of publication. A copy had to be submitted to the local government within a month.

3. The Draconian Vernacular Press Act (1878)

The 1870s saw massive famines (1876-1878) and extravagant imperial durbars held by Viceroy Lord Lytton (1877) while millions starved. The Vernacular (regional language) press launched scathing attacks on Lytton’s imperialist policies. The English press remained largely loyal.

Vernacular Press Act (1878) — "The Gagging Act":

• Enacted by Lord Lytton to silence critics. Crucially, it was discriminatory—it applied ONLY to vernacular newspapers, NOT to English-language ones.
• Provisions:
  • The District Magistrate was empowered to call upon the printer and publisher of any vernacular newspaper to enter into a bond with the government, pledging not to publish anything "likely to excite feelings of disaffection".
  • The DM could demand a security deposit, which could be confiscated if the bond was violated.
  • The printer's press could be entirely confiscated on a repeated offense.
  • The DM's action was final, and no appeal could be made in a court of law.

Impact & Evasions:

• To escape the provisions of this brutal Act, the Amrita Bazar Patrika (run by Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh), which was originally an Anglo-Bengali paper, transformed itself entirely into an English-language newspaper overnight.
• The Act caused nationwide outrage among the educated Indian class.
• The Act was ultimately repealed by Lord Ripon in 1882, restoring the equality between the English and Vernacular press.

4. Nationalist Leaders and the Press

The nationalist movement was intrinsically tied to journalism. Almost every prominent leader was an editor or journalist.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak:

• Used his newspapers Kesari (Marathi) and Mahratta (English) to violently critique British rule. He was the first prominent leader to use mass journalism for political mass mobilization.
• First arrested for sedition in 1897 (served 18 months) for defending the murder of Plague Commissioner Rand by the Chapekar brothers in Kesari.
• Arrested again in 1908 under the Newspaper (Incitement to Offences) Act 1908 for writing articles supporting Bengali revolutionaries. Defended by Jinnah, but sentenced to 6 years exile in Mandalay (Burma).

Key Nationalist Newspapers:

• Hindu Patriot: Harish Chandra Mukherjee (Supported Indigo Revolt)
• Rast Goftar: Dadabhai Naoroji (Parsi social reform)
• The Hindu: G. Subramaniya Iyer (started 1878)
• Sudharak: G.K. Gokhale
• Voice of India: Dadabhai Naoroji
• Al-Hilal: Abul Kalam Azad (Urdu - highly critical, banned in 1914)
• Harijan, Young India, Indian Opinion: Mahatma Gandhi
• National Herald: Jawaharlal Nehru