World’s only handwritten newspaper is 91 and sells at 75 paisas

CHENNAI: The Musalman was established in Chennai in 1927 and is still the market at price of 75 paisas, reported foreign media. Aged a venerable 91, what is possibly the world’s only handwritten newspaper (and the only one without a computer) shows no signs of signing off.

In its office in Chennai, a dark green visiting card bears the newspaper’s name and that of its editor, Sayed Arifullah, and lists the 13 degrees he holds. Arifullah, in his mid-30s with a salt-and-pepper beard, exudes a casual confidence. He has been at the helm for nearly 10 years now.

The Musalman was started by Syed Azathullah, Arifullah’s grandfather, because “he felt there was no voice for Muslims and there should be one.” Located in a small lane next to Chennai’s iconic Wallajah Mosque, the office is a tight space with two rooms, one housing the press and the other acting as reception area. “We are renovating, hence the bustle,” he says. The calligraphy is really the soul of the paper. But with the advent of technology, the katibs, earlier employed in newspapers and Urdu publishing houses, have become redundant.

Once the laborious scripting is done, the advertisements are added and the paper is set to the negative. It goes to print around 1 pm and reaches most of its 21,000 readers by the evening. And it costs 75 paisas. “It’s the cheapest paper in the country!” Arifullah quips dryly, his income coming from the press and not the paper.

“We cover all sorts of news: national, international, local... all the important happenings,” says the editor. From the Egypt elections to ‘carcinogenic’ coffee, The Musalman does cover it all. But like most Urdu newspapers, the focus is on opinions rather than news itself. “The Urdu newspapers in our country are often revenue-strapped and might not be able to carry breaking news or pay for agency copy, so the focus is on providing opinions and context,” says veteran journalist and Urdu aficionado Shams Ur Rehman Alavi.