The Indian Press and Public Opinion on the Congress Movements in Tamil Nadu 1906-1933

Abstract

The Nationalistic tone of the Vernacular Press which manifested to a certain extent after the sepoy Mutiny of 1857 became more pronounced in the post 1870 period. During this period, a large number of vernacular papers mustered the public opinion against the British. Irked by this, Lord Lytton, then the Viceroy of India realized the situation, which was going against the supremacy of the British in India, passed famous press legislation i.e. the Vernacular Press Act on 14th March 1878 to control the anti-British tone of the Vernacular Press in India. In the Madras Presidency, there was no action taken against the Vernacular Press under the provisions of the Act. At this juncture, very few nationalist papers were existed. But these papers did not expose their anti-British sentiments directly. In 1878, G.Subramania lyer and his friends started The Hindu at Madras as a English weekly newspaper.