Yesterdate: This day from Kolkata’s past, November 15, 1858
Telegraph | 15 November 2024
The weekly Bengali newspaper Somprakash was published first on this day by Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan.
Dwarakanath, who taught at Sanskrit College, Calcutta, was inspired by Ishwar Chandra Vidya-sagar’s idea. Vidyasagar, who continued to advise him on editorial matters.
A resident of Chang-ripota, near Sonarpur, Dwarkanath began to publish Somprakash from his residence in 1862. Later, Mohanlal Vidyabagish and Shibnath Shashtri would edit the paper for a few years. In 1974, Dwarkanath began to edit the paper again.
Somprakash was remarkable in the way it addressed social and political concerns of its time in an objective manner. It was strongly critical of the British government and spoke up against the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 and the Ilbert Bill and about the condition of Indians in indigo and tea plantations. The government suspended its publication for a year, following the Vernacular Press Act. It was published again in 1890, after it provided the government with an assurance of its allegiance.
It continued for a few years after Dwarkanath’s death.
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