Part of The first issue of 'The Mahratta', January 2 1881 started by the great Lokmanaya Tilak and friends.
[UPDATE : We got a Marathi -> Hindi translation of Kesari as well ! see below]
When I dawn my dramaturg hat and begin researching for my upcoming play "Fontwala", a part of which will be exploring the history of printing of Indian letterforms .... a thread leads from one thing to the next, till I come upon learning one of many contributions of Bal Gangadhar Tilak towards the freedom of India, this one particularly centered around journalism. I learn about Kesari, a paper in Marathi and The Mahratta, in English started by Lokamanaya Tilak. As I continue reading and clicking and digging deeper, I chance upon the first pages of both Kesari and The Mahratta. Since I cannot translate the Marathi of Kesari to English, I resort to documenting a readable text of this page of The Maharatta. If you so desire to help with Kesari translation in Hindi or English, please find the page at the bottom and help.
This is yet another post is in line with my attempt to work towards "a decade of documentation" 2020 - 2030.
The readable text is as follows :
The Mahratta
with which is incorporated THE
DECCAN STAR.
New Series. POONA - SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 1881 {Vol. 1 No. 1}
OURSELVES.
The inevitable tendency of progress that has been marked to exist in all countries, communities and ages makes us see the mind of the people ready for a new sort of relation to its writers, and the signs of the time prove to be the key-note of the future good that is calculated to result from the labors of periodical and journal writers of the day. We, therefore, cannot be said to be a day too early in the field. The historical associations that are connected with the charming name we have assumed for ourselves, at once lead the untrained mind to suppose that we shall in time descend on the possessions of the older and less careful contemporaries; but these are after all the apprehensions of an unsound and weak mind. From the present times it appears likely that a general reconciliation would put an end to all quarrels between the rulers and the ruled, quarrels which under stubborn and thoughtless governors have weakend and disgraced for a time the good Government of Her Imperial Majesty in India. The instant dangers of Her Majesty's Indian Empire have well induced many men of patriotic spirit and feeling to forget private animosities, and attempts are being made in every direction to co-operate heartily for the general good. Thus in Bengal, Madras, Punjab and the N.W. Provinces political associations have been formed to represent the wants and wishes of the people and newspapers and periodicals are being published for the purpose of creating a healthy public opinion on all points that concern the longevity of the benign British Rule. At such a time the Deccan was badly in want of an organ which would try its best to effectively represent the Deccanees and bring about a right understanding between the subjects and their rulers on this side of the country. The Mahratta was, therefore, a desideratum. Let us by the bye here mention that because we have taken only a limited region for observations because we have assumed for ourselves a name that applies only to a limited community, or because the Mahratta is in the hands of a few educated Brahmins of Poona, we see no reason why we should make the Mahratta a sectarian journal. We assure our readers that not only that the Mahratta will not be a sectarian journal, but that it will from time to time extend its sphere of observation even to alien communities and would always without partiality or prejudice weight questions in the even balances of a clear conscience.
In the next place, it is worth observing here, that though we may deservedly congratulate society upon the marked dependency towards dispensing with this and that ceremony, the time has not, we are sure, yet come when we can do without a ceremony. We, therefore embrace this opportunity of bidding a good morrow to our readers by stating in brief what the Policy of the Mahratta will be. It has by this time been too well known to want any special mention at our hands that the duties of an Indian Journal are two-fold. Our true and primary duty will be to interpret and petition and instruct and advocacy may be said to form the second part of our real work. Having thus defined what our duty will be, we now proceed to discuss what will fall within the scope of interpreting and petitioning and instructing as well as that of advocating. The pages of History are full of evidence to show that since foreigners are not likely to know exactly what the wants and wishes of the ruled are, they are not expected to be the best governors, however benevolent their intentions might be. It may, therefore, be concluded that a foreign rule is almost an impossibility and that foreigners as rulers can only see, do and manage so as to make the yoke as little pressing as possible ; it will thus be our first aim to point out to our rulers in a clear and out-spoken manner how best they can manage to make the yoke press as little as possible. To make this more intelligible we shall here string together the mutifareous evils that we have been subject to, so that the line of our working may at once be clear and marked. The blessings of the British Rule to India were so many flagrant evils about the times of Sir Thomas Munro that he is reported to have said "it would be more desireable that we should be expelled from the country altogether, than that the result of our system of Government be such an abasement of a whole people." Such writings in good time produced a healthy effect on the mind sof the Governors and an act was afterwards passed which is called an "Act for the better Government of India." But the working of this act has not been satisfactory, and we are yet laboring under the pressure of a number of evils which sooner or later England must remove. The first evil that has been forced upon us is the Ryotwari system, which, notwithstanding the vehement opposition of Lord Elphinstone upon us after it had completely ruined Madras ; and the result of the system has been that agriculturists are beggared. The next evil in turn is that of heavy transit duties that have broken manufactures, decayed towns and demoralized the people of India. The third evil is the destruction of our municipal institution which had according to Mr. Elphinstone, " preserved the people of Indian through all their revolutions and ..... degree to their happiness and to the enjoyment of great portion of freedom and independence." The destruction of our ancient traditional municipal institutions does not stop here. The reformed Governors have forced upon us new municipal institutions which have broken the back of all ratepayers until the hand of destruction is seen in all towns and cities, nay villages. The next evil is the grinding taxation and constant drain upon our resources in the form of a costly machinery of Government, Home charges &c. &c. The next in turn is the wanton destruction of the native Aristrocracy who always furnished consumers for the articles of commerce, who stimulated the production of laborers, who were the patrons of arts and manufactures, and lastly the promoters of agricultural improvements. Next in the same category of evils comes the exotic system of English Law, which has most painfully cheeked the growth of Native Society. Lastly comes the destruction or absorption of Native States. These and many more of the kind have been the evils we have been heir to, and it will be the constant endeavour of the Mahratta to impress upon the minds of the benign British Rulers the necessity of eradicating these evils, which they from their stand-point see not but which have spread discontent throughout the length and breadth of this valuable dependency and cast a slur on the benign rule of Britain. In doing this duty of intrepreting what the native community says on these points and petitioning the rulers on behalf of the natives of India, the Policy of the Mahratta will be that of an unbiased, independent, frank and out-spoken journal, without giving way to despondency if our petitions are not heard, and without in the least fearing the chamaelon-like-changing colours of Anglo-Indian Polity. With reference to Native States our policy will always be for the uninterfered continuance of such States. History will bear us out when we say that the decline of a Native State commences from the moment the English come in close contact with it ; for it has been observed that the decline arises chiefly from the inordinate influence the Politicals are allowed to exercise. Our attempts, therefore, will always be directed at shielding the native Princes from the uncalled-for interference on the part of the Politicals and expsoing the latter to the public gaze. These principles of our policy with regard to Native States have been founded upon the experience of many a statesman, like the Duke of Wellington, Sir Thomas Munro, Sir John Malcolm et hoe generis omners. We believe we have defined our policy at sufficient length so as to mislead no body. But before we conclude we have to say a few words with regard to ourselves. So
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I wish I had the rest of the print. Please know that the I have bolded regions, original article as you can see has no bold styling.
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A request for anyone who can, to please translate the following from Kesari
[update : It's done now, see below]
आज मुंबई इलाके और शहर में मराठी भाषा के इतने समाचार पत्र निकल रहे है तब हमारे वाचकों के मन में पहला विचार यही आएगा कि और एक समाचार पत्र की क्या जरूरत है? इस लिए इस समाचार पत्र को शुरू करने का उद्देश्य लोगों तक पहुंचाना आवश्यक हो जाता है।
समाचार पत्र शुरू होकर करीबन बीस पच्चीस वर्ष हो गए हैं और पिछले दस पंद्रह वर्षों से तो इस माध्यम में काफी नवीनता आ गई है। यद्यपि समचरकर्ता या पत्रकारों को अभी भी अपने असल कर्तव्य का बोध होता दिखाई नहीं देता है। इस पत्रकारिता द्वारा वे समाज की भलाई के लिए कितने उपयोगी हो सकते है इसका उन्हें पुरी तरह। सेज्ञान नहीं है। दो चार नामचीन समाचार पत्रों को छोड़ दे तो बाकी के पत्र बद उधर की खबरें छापने का ही कार्य करते हैं। आजकल तो छोटे छोटे गावों से भी अखबार निकल रहे हैं। छापखाना खोलकर पत्र छापना ये महज एक व्यापार बन गया है। विद्या के विशेष संस्कार जिनपर नहीं है ऐसे लोग भी जनजागृति के इस अनमोल व्यवस्था का हिस्सा बन गए है। फिरभी देखा जाए तो चाहे जो भी स्थिति आज समाचार पत्रों की है इससे देश की प्रगति की मदद ही होगी। कम से कम लोगों में वतन के प्रति रुचि ही बढ़ेगी। जो ये व्यवस्था सक्षम और जागृत समुदाय के हाथ में जाए तो देश एवं लोककल्याण का मार्ग अवश्य खुल जाएगा।
समाचार पत्रों के मुख्यत दो बड़े उपयोग है। एक यह यदि पत्रकार अपना कार्य ईमानदारी और निर्भयता से निभाए तो सरकारी अफसरों पर इसका बड़ा प्रभाव पड़ सकता है। जो सही तरीके से पत्रकार अपनी कलम का उपयोग करे तो इसका असर समाज पर उसी तरह होगा जैसे रात में ठीक से लाइटें जलती रहने और पुलिस की गश्त रहने पर चोरों पर होता है। सरकारी कामकाज जो सही ढंग से होते रहेंगे तो इसमें लोगों की कितनी भलाई होगी ये सभी जानते है। और इसके लिए सरकारी कामकाज में पारदर्शिता होनी आवश्यक है। इससे सामान्य जनता पर अन्याय और साथ ही रिश्वतखोरी पर काफी हद तक रोक लगाई जा सकती हैं। पुराने संस्थानों में ( राजे रजवाड़ों) या आजकल के सरकारी कामकाज में कितनी अव्यवस्था और अपारदर्शिता थी और है यह सभी जानते है।
विलायत में रानी से लेकर मुख्य प्रधान और छोटे से छोटे सरकारी अधिकारी पर समाचार पत्रों की कड़ी नजर रहती है। इससे प्राय किसी पर अन्याय होने की संभावना बहुत कम हो जाती है। यही कारण है कि यूरोप के अन्य देशों की तुलना में यहां ( इंग्लैंड) के लोग अधिक सुखी है और। ये बात जगजाहिर है।
तो इस समाचार पत्र को शुरू करने का हमारा उद्देश्य यही है की सरकारी कामकाज पर पैनी नज़र रखी जाए जिससे ना कोई पक्षपात होगा और ना ही भय की भावना होगी। सरकार की नीतियों पर चर्चा एवं आवश्यकता पड़ने पर उनका विरोध यह हमारे उद्देश्य रहेंगे।
Special thanks to : Hemali Shah, Teacher, Akanksha International School, Pune.
Aarkesh Venkatraman for connecting us.
I learned a new word as a result of this transcribing exercise : "desideratum"
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