Divorcing Religion and Politics

Abstract

This article, while tracing the relationship of the press in princely state of Jammu and Kashmir state with politics and religion, tries to locate the origins of journalism as a distinct field. It fills a major gap in the South Asian media scholarship that has for long ignored the media cultures of the princely states, which covered two-fifth of the territory and possessed a quarter of the population of what was simply referred to as India. The article attempts to map and recognize socio-political actors that have contributed to the growth of the press while tracing their relationship with the princely politics, indigenous politico-religious movements, and the British colonial state.