Nariman Aderbad Printer (fl. c. 1940) was an Indian amateur radio operator known for setting up the Congress Radio. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939, the British cancelled the issue of new licences. All amateur radio operators were sent written orders hand over their transmitting equipment to the police, both for possible use in the war effort and to prevent the stations from being surreptitiously used by

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

collaborators and spies. With the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

gaining momentum, Printer, in 1940 set up the Azad Hind Radio to broadcast Gandhian protest music and uncensored economic news. He was promptly arrested and his equipment seized. In August 1942, after

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

launched the Quit India Movement, the British began clamping down on Indian freedom fighters and censoring the media. To circumvent media restrictions,

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

activists, led by Usha Mehta contacted Mumbai-based amateur radio operators, "Bob" Tanna (VU2LK) and Printer to help broadcast messages to grass-root party workers across the country. This became known as the " Congress Radio", and began broadcasting from 2 September 1942 on 7.12 MHz. The station could be received as far as Japanese occupied

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. By November 1942, Printer was caught and decided to help the British. Printer is remembered for his call sign VU2FU.

References

Indian amateur radio operators Possibly living people Year of birth missing {{India-bio-stub