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Some 15 years ago, the sight of hawkers distributing newspapers in English,Hindi, Bengali and Oriya languages in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, upset MalatiMurmu because she had nothing to read in her mother tongue. Malati’s dismaygave birth to a newspaper that would preserve as well as uplift Santhali (alsoSantali) – the 22nd official language of the Indian Constitution that is not usedin any government work.

With a shoestring budget of Rs12,000, Malati andher husband Mangat Murmu launched Fagun,India’s only Santhali newspaper published andcirculated from Bhubaneswar since April 10, 2008.

Preserving Santhali Culture

Santhals or Santals are a Munda ethnic group native to India, with apopulation of 7.4 million predominantly settled in Jharkhand, Odisha, WestBengal, Bihar, Assam, Mizoram and Tripura, as per the Census 2011. TheSanthali community living across the country reads Fagun. The tabloid notonly bridges the gap between members of the ethnic group but also updatesthem with current affairs.

Malati Murmu editing for Fagun at her Bhubaneswar office.

“The purpose of Fagun is to protect Santhali languageand literature. Our primary focus is on socio-educationand promotion of tribal culture,” Malati says.

Santhali is written in Ol Chiki script, which comprises 30 letters derived from natural shapes like the earth, bending trees or overflowing rivers changing course.

The Ol Chiki script was invented in 1925 by writerand educator Raghunath Murmu to promote theSanthali culture.

At the initial stage, only 500 copies were printed at a manual press. However, thereadership and circulation were augmented with each passing year.

Now around 5,000 copies are printed in an automatic press, each priced at Rs5. Thepaper is read by Santhalis in Andaman and Nicobar Island, Bhagalpur, Chennai,Cuttack, Dumka, Delhi, Guwahati, Jagdalpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Puri, Ranchi, andVisakhapatnam.

Each edition of Fagun covers educational news, arts and cultural programmes of thetribal community, conferences conducted by Santhali and Adivasi societies,government announcements about tribals, traditional Santhali culinary recipes,book reviews, plantation drives, jobs information, campaigns against prejudice andawareness campaign against the consumption of country liquor.

Contribution of Fagun

Despite being a small newspaper, the contribution of Fagun is much bigger interms of its social, cultural and educational impact on the tribal community.

Malati says cultural amalgamation is on the rise nowadays in Bengal and Odisha,where young members are marrying non-tribal communities and leaving behindtheir tribal culture.

Not only that, Fagun also creates awareness among Santhali natives who live inother states and speak Hindi or English.

Her newspaper encourages them to maintain the link with their tribal roots.

“I believe we should not mix cultures at home. Some people move away fromtheir tribal culture owing to their inter-caste marriage,” she says.

“We encourage them to take up Santhali art, music and literature and stayconnected. It won’t affect their marriage or social status,” Malati says.

“Our community observes Sidhu Kanhu festival on June 30 but it is notcovered by the mainstream media,” says Mangat, who works with the Odishagovernment.

The festival commemorates the Santhal Rebellion which started on June 30,1855, to end the revenue system of the British East India Company and thezamindari system in India.

“Our readers feel encouraged to undertakemore plantation drives when they find theirpictures in Fagun,” says Mangat.

Fagun is promoting ‘Mission Ol Chiki 2025’ to celebrate the centenary year of PanditRaghunath Marmu’s invention – the Ol Chiki script. “We are inviting school and collegestudents who don’t know Ol Chiki to learn with the help of Adivasi Socio-Education andCulture Association in Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam,” he informs.

Teamwork

The Fagun reporting team comprises five journalists stationed at Mayurbhanj, three atGhatshila, and one each in Kharagpur, Ranchi and Bhubaneswar.

Besides, a handful of friends from Bankura, Kalyani and Purulia send news items eitherthrough WhatsApp or email in Ol Chiki script while some reporters send type-written orhandwritten copies through the post. Important national news gets translated.

Before the edition goes to the press for printing, the pages are checked through theexperienced eyes of the editor and her team, which includes R. Aswanibhanjan Murmu,the chief reporter and Malati’s husband Mangat.

By the 10th or 12th of every month, 1500 copies are dispatched bypost while the rest are distributed at Dhenkanal, Keonjhar andBalasore through bus services. Soft copy (PDF) is circulatedamong members in Nepal, Bangladesh and the USA.

Besides thousands of regular subscribers, the newspaper also has140 life members.

The paper also goes to the President of India, the Prime Minister, the Finance Ministry, theIrrigation Ministry, the Tribal Ministry, the Governors of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal,Assam and the Chief Ministers of these states. It is circulated among all District Headquartersof Odisha.

The lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone, including printers andpublishers of the newspapers and Fagun is no exception. The edition couldn’t be delivered toits readers residing far-off from Bhubaneswar since buses were called off roads, which forcedthem to reduce the number of copies from 5000 to 2000. But numbers are expected to be backto normal soon as restrictions ease up across the country.

Creating an identity

Malati’s persistence in developing Santhali vernacular through short stories, poetries andcreative writings has drawn the attention of several forums. The All India Small and MediumNewspaper Editor Council, Odisha presented her with an award for ‘Excellence’ in 2010.

Malati Murmu with Mangat Murmu receiving an award for contribution to the Santhali language and culture.

A social organisation of Jhargram, Marshal Gaonta handed over an award for outstandingcontribution for upliftment of Santhali language and literature in May 2015. She was alsohonoured with the Telegraph True Legends Award in February 2016.

While the tribal community is determined to move ahead, lack of education and addictionto country liquor hooch remain a hindrance. Malati says improvement is possible throughcontinuous awareness programmes.

“We plan to reach out to every gram panchayat for education,” she says.

Malati plans to bring an online edition of the newspaper. “Fagun will soon be available onsocial media as well. We keep spreading messages to everyone through Fagun – ‘Love OlChiki, Speak Santhali’,” she says with a smile.

“We would like the Ol Chiki script to be included in the schools and colleges’

curriculum.”

(Partho Burman is a Kolkata-based award-winning journalist. He writes inspiring human interest and

motivational stories.)