Panchjanya is an Indian weekly magazine published by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Hindi. It was launched by RSS pracharak Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1948 in Lucknow.[1][2][3] RSS is a right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation that is widely regarded as the parent organisation of the ruling party of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party.[4][5][6][7]
History
The weekly was launched on 14 January 1948, the day of Makara Sankranthi. Its first editor was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The inaugural cover page carried a picture of Lord Krishna with its objective to pursue idealism based on patriotism and to uphold the cultural heritage of India.
Chief Editors have included K. R. Malkani.[8]
It is now edited by Hitesh Shankar, who was formerly an editor of Hindustan.[9] He is also the member of IIMC's new executive council.[10]
In 1995, the Audit Bureau of Circulation credited the magazine with a circulation of 85,000 copies, a figure which Tarun Vijay claimed that it has crossed the 1 lakh. However, its 2013 circulation was 50,000 copies.[9]
Controversy
Panchjanya in its 2015 October 25 edition carried a cover story [Is Utpat ke Us paar’ (The other side of this disturbance)’ by Hindi writer Tufail Chaturvedi] in which it justifies the Dadri incident, saying 'the Vedas order that a sinner who slaughters a cow must be killed. For a lot of us, this is a question of life and death'.[11][12]
In September 2021, it published a 4 page cover story criticising the glitches in GST Tax Portal developed by Infosys. The article questioned if any "anti-national power is trying to hurt India's economic interests through it".[13] This article caused a lot of controversy in Indian politics and IT industry. Later, the communications chief of RSS clarified that "Panchajanya is not a mouthpiece of the RSS and the said article or opinions expressed in it should not be linked with the Sangh".[14]
See also
References
- ^ Jaffrelot 1996, p. 124.
- ^ "Deendayal Upadhyaya". Bharatiya Janata party. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ "Editors of two RSS weeklies lose jobs over pro-Modi stand". Times of India. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ McLeod, John (2002). The history of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 209–. ISBN 978-0-313-31459-9. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 111.
- ^ Horowitz, Donald L. (2001). The Deadly Ethnic Riot. University of California Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0520224476.
- ^ Jeff Haynes (2 September 2003). Democracy and Political Change in the Third World. Routledge. pp. 168–. ISBN 978-1-134-54184-3.
- ^ Sharma, Unnati (19 November 2020). "KR Malkani — RSS ideologue, journalist and politician who predicted Emergency". ThePrint. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ a b New editor for RSS Hindi weekly Indian Express, 15 February 2013
- ^ "Panchajanya editor in IIMC's new executive council". hindustantimes.com/. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ^ "RSS mouthpiece defends Dadri lynching: Vedas order killing of sinners who kill cows". The Indian Express. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ "पाञ्चजन्य". Panchjanya. 17 October 2015. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ Hebbar, Nistula (3 September 2021). "Panchajanya attacks Infosys on Income Tax portal glitches". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Phadnis, Aditi (6 September 2021). "RSS distances itself from 'Panchajanya' article targeting Infosys". Business Standard India. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
Sources
- Andersen, Walter K.; Damle, Shridhar D. (1987), The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism, Delhi: Vistaar Publications, ISBN 9788170360537
- Jaffrelot, Christophe (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1850653011.