Armed forces' magazine soldiers on

PUBLISHING: Sainik Samachar released a coffee table book on its centenary.

On January 2, 1909, five years before World War I, the British government started a magazine for its Indian armed forces. Fauji Akhbar was an Urdu weekly that provided the men in olive green “a summary of news with a military bias.”

The magazine turned 100 earlier this month, albeit under its new name, Sainik Samachar. What was once an instrument to keep troops engaged is now a large publication. The defence ministry publishes 22,000 copies of the magazine in 13 different languages every fortnight. It is sent to every army post.

“We plan to bring it out in more languages and will strengthen our distribution channels,” says Editor-in-Chief DJ Narain.

The journal celebrated the centenary by launching a coffee table book, Soldering On. It chronicles the history of the defence forces over the past 100 years and costs Rs 1,500. Defence Minister AK Antony released the book.

The book is an anthology of articles, rare photographs and documents relating to the history of the armed forces, spanning the last 100 years. It has four chapters. The first chapter covers the trivia related to the magazine, while the second covers the period from the date of its inception in 1909 till 1947 when the British left India. The next chapter of the book titled India Arrives is a journey of free India. Chapter 4, the last, contains interesting articles written by eminent authors like Khushwant Singh, Mulk Raj Anand and Amita Malik.

Some of the memorable pages include a photograph of a young boy of ‘Kashmiri National Militia’ saluting Jawaharlal Nehru in Rajouri in 1948 along with a banner saying ‘We Will Defend Kashmir with Our Blood’. The book has also dug out a rare photograph of Indira Gandhi donating all her 367 gm of gold jewellery towards the national relief fund to support the 1962 war.

Additional Director General (media and communications) Sitanshu Kar said: “The book will also be translated in all the twelve other language editions of Sainik Samachar, including Hindi, and will be brought out in special commemorative volumes.”