Soldiering on with 'Sainik Samachar'

NEW DELHIl It was started 100 years ago to provide “a summary of news with a bias” for our soldiers, but over the years the Fauji Akhbar, now Sainik Samachar, became a rare chronicler of the sub-continent’s tumultuous history — rare photographs and official statements giving it a unique identity.

It started as Fauji Akhbar under British India in 1909 and carried all the biases of its colonial masters — condemning Gandhiji’s protests during the freedom struggle and reporting condescendingly on the naval mutiny of 1946. But, pictures never lie.

So the paper became a repository of some of the rarest photographs capturing historic moments in the birth of South Asia’s new free nations and their struggle to find peace.

For example, a photograph from the Residency in Lucknow at 8 pm on August 13, 1947 captures Mr Ireland, the caretaker, hauling down the Union Jack for the last time. The British flag had flown over the Residency without a break since 1857.

Fauji Akhbar’s office was originally in Shimla and published from Allahabad, before it moved to Lahore, then back to Shimla and then to Delhi. Its popularity peaked during World War II when an overseas edition was launched from Cairo for Indian troops deployed in far-off theatres.

The print-order of Fauji Akhbar and its special bi-weekly supplement, Jang Ki Khabren, was in excess of 3 lakh at that time, according to the directorate of public relations in the ministry of defence , which is organising the magazine’s century celebrations.

Fauji Akhbar’s publication was suspended temporarily after Independence and resumed in 1954 as Sainik Samachar, and is today published in 13 Indian languages and English.

To commemorate the occasion, the MoD has brought out a coffee table book called Soldiering On, a rare collection of photographs, memorable documents and vignettes of the Armed Forces.