''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a supporter of the Independence movement. It is published in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, India.

History

The founder editor was Swaminathan Sadanand. It was founded in 1928 to support Free Press of India, a news agency that dispatched "nationalist" news to its subscribers. In the colonial context, Colaco describes it as "an independent newspaper supporting nationalist causes". She quotes Lakshmi as saying that "The nationalist press marched along with the freedom fighters". It played a significant role in mobilising sympathetic public opinion during the independence movement.

Notable former employees

Among its founders was

Stalin Srinivasan Kuppuswami Srinivasan (30 May 1899 - 2 June 1975), popularly known as Stalin Srinivasan, was an Indian journalist and Indian independence activist who founded the journal ''Manikodi'' in 1932. He was also one of the founders of the ''Free Press J ...

who founded ''

Manikkodi ''Manikkodi'' was a Tamil non-fiction literary weekly that was published from 1933 to 1939. Founded by Stalin Srinivasan, V. Ramaswami Iyengar and T. S. Chockalingam, the magazine was noted for its expertly-written articles by eminent authors ...

'' in 1932. Bal Thackeray worked as a cartoonist for the newspaper until being removed from the job. Thackeray then founded

Marmik ''Marmik'' ( Marathi: मार्मिक ''Mārmik'') meaning: traight from the heart/A silent word that goes directly to the Heart is an Indian weekly published by the Shiv Sena from Mumbai, until publication of its daily ''Saamana'' it wa ...

. According to Atkins he was removed "after a political dispute over Thackeray's attacks on southern Indian immigration into Bombay" Notable cartoonist

R. K. Laxman Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman ''Pg. 11 in the source says that Laxman & his brother Narayan were Tamil Iyer Brahmins.'' (24 October 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He is best known for his creation ...

joined The Free Press Journal as a twenty-year-old. He was Thackeray's colleague. Three years into the job, he was asked by his proprietor not to make fun at communists, Laxman left and joined ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

''.

Support to Jewish refugee medical doctors

It supported the practice rights of Jewish doctors who had taken refuge in Mumbai fleeing persecution in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, in the 1930s. Indian doctors opposed their right to practice claiming that Germany did not have reciprocal arrangements for Indian doctors. ''The Free Press Journal'' argued that this was against the "ancient Indian traditions of affording shelter from persecution".

Columnists

* Seema Mustafa: Seema Mustafa is a Resident Editor for ''The Sunday Guardian''. She writes a column "Frankly Speaking Seema Mustafa".

References

External links