Pratap: The 'conscience of India' and a chronicle of press freedom

The book chronicles the rise and fall of the Indian press over roughly a century. It is a valuable resource for students and researchers of journalism, politics, law and literature

PRATAP: A Defiant Newspaper

Authors: Chander Mohan and Jyotsna Mohan

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 368

Price: ₹499

  As you dip into this personal history, the story turns into a thriller. The churning of the freedom movement unfolds through the biography of journalist Virendra Mohan, a “partner in crime” of Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad. What begins as a profile of Pratap, a defiant Urdu daily, becomes a chronicle of India’s press freedom before and after Independence, as well as the censorship of the Emergency and reporting of terrorism in Punjab. The authors often stray from the theme, but the side stories evoke