New Delhi: In the history of Indian journalism, National Herald occupies a unique position. After all, many newspapers have the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as its founder and K. Rama Rao, Manikonda Chalapati Rao and Khushwant Singh cannot claim to be editors.
Today Congress workers are protesting against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioning Sonia Rahul Gandhi In connection with the alleged misappropriation of assets owned by Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which published the newspaper. The ED conducted several raids on Tuesday in the Herald case.
Starting as a daily newspaper from Lucknow in 1938, National Herald Played an important role in the freedom struggle, rode the high tide of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and struggled for years following a period of emergency before being shut down in 2008.
In the early years of the daily, Rama Rao occupied the fort until 1946, even though its early popularity can be attributed to Nehru’s writings. While Mahatma Gandhi called him a “fighting editor”, Nehru said, “Rama Rao is a man of ideals and mission”.
The newspaper was banned by the British in 1942, the year Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement. A year after it was revived in 1945, Chalapati Rao took over as editor and ran the newspaper for more than three decades.
Despite being close to Nehru, Rao used to criticize his policies in his editorials. “People think this is my paper. It is actually Chalapati Rao’s paper; He has made him what he is,” Nehru had said in his speech at the daily’s silver jubilee celebrations.
in that Articles published in FirstpostSenior journalist Ratan Mani Lal detailed the early years of the decline of the newspaper.
“The first taste of something going wrong in the dream world of English journalism came in 1977 when the Janata Party came to power and even Indira Gandhi lost. Our editors told us we could be in trouble. However, nothing changed until 1979 when the newspaper first faced lockdown. Gone are the days when non-professional players started making their presence felt in the office,” he wrote.
“Often while walking outside we saw a car stop at the gate and some men get down with a big suitcase. Newsprint and cash were distributed for partial payment of wages, we were told,” Lal recalled.
‘Overstaffing, lack of advertising revenue’
trouble for To inform After the Emergency ended in 1977, it increased further. Allegations of corruption and favoritism had already been leveled against the daily during a period of 21 months.
in his book, Emergencies: A Personal HistoryVeteran journalist Kumi Kapoor wrote: “The National HeraldFounded by Jawaharlal Nehru, supported the Emergency throughout, and carefully removed the quote ‘Freedom is in danger, defend it with all your might’ from its masthead.
Rao left the paper in 1978. Khushwant Singh came But resigned after a few months, showing how much trouble the newspaper and its management had to face.
One India Today The 1978 report suggested that To inform There was no circulation of more than 15,000 in Delhi before the Emergency. “The Lucknow edition did better (around 30,000) but the onset of the Emergency saw a paper boom not only in advertising revenue but also in circulation,” the report said,
during a debate On closing in Rajya Sabha National Heralds In the 1977 Delhi edition, CPI MP Bhupesh Gupta said, “The Nehru tradition is long gone as far as the newspaper is concerned. But all that is left must be preserved. In any case, it is a matter of public interest and a matter of great importance.”
Amid allegations of “conspiracy” to shut down the newspaper, the then Information and Broadcasting Minister, LK Advani, while addressing the House, said that the government “will be happy (if) the management continues the paper on its own with the same policy, same approach”
“…there should be no discrimination in favor or against any paper on the basis of political policy,” Advani said.
In 2008, AJL finally ceased publication of the daily and its affiliate publications. new life And quami voiceciting financial loss.
“Overstaffing, mainly of the press and non-journalists, and the lack of advertising revenue are also said to be the main reasons for the newspaper running at great losses,” IANS reported,
Eight years later, AJL decided to start again All three publications, with National Herald Coming back in digital avatar.
But the difficulties were far from over. In 2014, a Delhi court decided to look into allegations by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy that Gandhi had fraudulently acquired AJL’s properties through his private company Young Indian. The next year the ED decided to reopen the case. Apart from the Gandhi family, Swamy named late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, entrepreneur Sam Pitroda and journalist Suman Dubey in the case.
(Edited by Tony Rae)
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