Urdu journalism in Pakistan: Journey through time

Interestingly, history of Urdu journalism in Pakistan can be traced to the pre-colonial times in India. Interestingly still, it started not in UP or the Urdu speaking part of India, but Bengal, where, one Harihar Dutta, started an Urdu paper, Jam e Jehan Numa, in 1822. Thus, today Urdu journalism covers a history of about 200 years, from colonial India to Pakistan.

The history of Urdu journalism in Pakistan is chequered. Among the pioneers, one can count Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, who started Zamindar in Lahore, in colonial times. As the name suggests, the paper was meant to address farmers issues, but the tone turned to political issues of the times, and anti-colonial sentiments. Zamindar remained influential in political circles. Urdu journalism played an important role in the Independence movement.

Another prominent addition to Urdu journalism can be dated to colonial times; in 1939, Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman started Jang, rather aptly titled to reflect the ongoing World War. The paper was introduced as a ‘medium of communication’ as British India passed through a turbulent time. This was a time when the Independence movement was in full swing, and anti-British and anti-Hindu sentiments were strong. These were given a platform by a young enterprising journalist in the new publication. The publication was moved to Karachi after Independence.

Pakistan has seen many other vernacular newspapers, but not too many in Urdu language. A tendency has been there for vernacular press to focus on regional than national issues, thus these publications have mostly been suspect in the eyes of the Establishment, and have not enjoyed national reach or leadership.

Some political parties have published papers, promoting their particular ideology; prominent among these have been Musawat, by the PPP, and Jasarat by the JI. These remained somewhat in mainstream when ideological lines were pronounced, in the 1970s, and 80s, and with changing times, and governmental crackdown got sidelined. With the changing role of the media, the parties did not remain keen to focus on these publications. During this time, some other papers, viz, Nawa-i- Waqt, Mashriq, Imroze, Anjaam remained in circulation; apart from Nawa-i-Waqt, none was able to face the challenge of time. However, Jang that was meeting the technological challenges, as well as offering much more than news coverage, remained in mainstream. Jang publications also introduced a weekly, Akhbar-e-Jehan initiated by Mir Khalil in the early 70s. The newsmagazine, first of its kind, came close to a tabloid that had political features, as well as good pictorial coverage of arts, travel, as well as fiction. Today, competing with similar English language publications, there is a tilt toward fashion and entertainment.

In one way, Urdu journalism is a reflection of the evolution of Urdu language. The op-ed pages carried articles by notable columnists, mostly on political issues. It has been pointed out that for a very long time, social issues were not in the focus. Yet, pieces by likes of Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Mahmud Sham, and Ibn e Insha had a profound impact on socio-political sensibilities of the readers; on the other hand, couplets by Raees Amrohvi and Jon Eliya added a literary touch to the paper.

The value of the Urdu daily as ‘opinion maker’ cannot be ignored. For a country with a rather low literacy rate, it is not surprising that on the street (stores, small businesses, barber shops) one only found Urdu papers, as a catalyst for political discussion. While readership of papers has generally gone down, Urdu papers still have a role as opinion makers for a sizable portion of semi-literate public. There was a time, in the 1960s, 70s, when full pages were devoted to movie ads, and movie supplements; this has been replaced by colorful ads even on the main page. Another change is ‘break-up news,’ news on the main page continued on the back page.

Urdu journalism faces many challenges, drastic drop in readership, challenge of social media platforms, economic crunch, digitization etc. With fewer number of Urdu newspapers, many are hard-pressed for one or more of the above reasons. It is believed that opinions are not formed through the papers, but through discussions on electronic media and social media posts. Media houses need to address this challenge that affects not just the papers but Urdu readership as well.

After Independence, a major part of Urdu journalism moved to Pakistan. Daily Jang forms an important part in this evolution of Urdu journalism that has seen ups and downs, and still faces challenges of social media. Daily Jang, under its founder Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, gave Urdu journalism a new outlook, and a model. Print media faces many challenges; Urdu journalism shares these challenges. The reader and the publisher together have to face these challenges if the tradition of the printed word is to endure.

The author is former faculty Quaid-i- Azam University. He can be reached at:pakirish@yahoo.com