Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the great freedom fighter and social reformer started the publication of the Urdu weekly Al-Balagh in 1915 at Kolkata in West Bengal.
The newspaper continued the work of Azad’s illustrated weekly Al-Hilal which had previously been banned by the British in 1914. An accomplished journalist, Azad adopted a strong anti-British stand through his newspaper. While writing against British imperialism, he tried to convey the point to the masses, by using representative examples from religion, ancient history and their ideological connections with each other. The paper also tried to create awareness about the damage caused by tolerance and apathy to the abominable injustice perpetrated by the foreign rulers. Through the newspaper, Maulana Azad sought to emphasise on the importance of unity and communal harmony, and asserted that all sections of the society needed to work together to achieve freedom.
Like Al-Hilal, Al-Balagh was also banned by the British government in 1916, and Maulana Azad was expelled to Ranchi under the Defence of India Rules. Through his journalistic activities he played a crucial role in awakening the people politically and making them aware of the truth about imperial rule in India.
Source: Indian Culture Portal