GayleTibbs8 at 12:54, 7 May 2026

2026-05-07T12:54:35Z

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{{Short description|Magazine by Mahatma Gandhi, 1933 to 1948}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2024}}
'''''Harijan''''' (lit. ''children of God'', a term coined by [[Narsinh Mehta]]) was a weekly magazine founded by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] that was published from 1933 to 1955 except for a hiatus during the [[Quit India movement]] of the 1940s. The newspaper aimed to support the campaign by its publisher, ''[[Harijan Sevak Sangh]]'' ("The Servants of Untouchables Society"), for the abolition of [[untouchability]] in India. Issues of ''Harijan'' were usually released on Saturday, initially priced at one [[Anna (monetary subunit)|anna]], and consisted of eight [[Foolscap folio|foolscap]] pages. Companion publications in [[Hindi]] (''Harijan Sewak'') and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] (''Harijanbandhu'') were also established.<ref name="Guha">{{cite book |last1=Guha |first1=Ramachandra |author1-link=Ramachandra Guha |title=Gandhi : the years that changed the world, 1914-1948 |date=2018 |publisher=Alfred A Knopf |isbn=9780385532327 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Chakrabarty">{{cite book |last1=Chakrabarty |first1=Bidyut |author1-link=Bidyut Chakrabarty |title=Social and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-36096-8 |pages=116–129 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4x34We-mY40C}}</ref>

''Harijan'' was founded to replace ''[[Young India]]'', whose publication had ceased following Gandhi's arrest in January 1932. Ten thousand copies of the inaugural issue, edited by R. V. Shastri, were published from [[Poona]] on 11 February 1933 and contained several pieces by Gandhi on untouchability. The issue also contained a short message from [[B. R. Ambedkar]] calling for the purging of the [[caste system]], as a whole, from [[Hinduism]], which contrasted with Gandhi's desire to preserve a ''[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]'' system after ridding it of hierarchy and untouchability. The debate on caste continued in later issues with contributions from [[Rabindranath Tagore]] among others, though Ambedkar refused to write any more to the newspaper that he believed favoured caste Hindu's and was condescending towards dalits.<ref name="Guha" /><ref name="Chakrabarty" />

Along with Gandhi's regular contributions that dealt with contemporary social, economic and political issues, ''Harijan'' published poetry and articles promoting social equality, and updates on religious and educational institutions that had begun to admit dalits.<ref name="Guha" /> Another regular feature was the 'Question Box' in which Gandhi responded to questions and defended his position on various issues of the day.<ref name="Chakrabarty" />

==Collected issues==
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Bodurant |editor1-first=Joan V. |editor1-link=Joan Bondurant |title=Harijan: Collected Issues of Gandhi's Journal, 1933-1955 (19 vols.) |date=1973 |publisher=Garland Publishing |location=New York}}

==See also==
* [[Indian Opinion]]
* [[Young India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Mohandas K. Gandhi|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Defunct magazines published in India]]
[[Category:Defunct political magazines]]
[[Category:English-language magazines published in India]]
[[Category:Political magazines published in India]]
[[Category:Weekly magazines published in India]]
[[Category:Literature of Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1933]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 1955]]
[[Category:Mahatma Gandhi]]

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Harijan magazine - Revision history

GayleTibbs8 at 12:54, 7 May 2026