“As We See It”

India Today‘s editorial column ran in every issue (with the exception of Vol. 2, No. 7) from January 1941 (Vol. 1, No. 10) to September 1944 (Vol. 5, No. 6). Being in the October 1944 issue, the journal alternated between a “League Activities” column and a column entitled “In Brief.”

General Characteristics:

  • Use of first person plural
  • Column length varies from a half-page to a full page
  • Last sentence of column is short, to the point, hard-hitting
  • Use of phrase “freedom of India” more often than “Indian independence”

Observations:

  • Though Gould claims the India League of America focused on the issue of citizenship for Indians in America, only several of the editorial columns mention citizenship, while the majority of the columns are devoted to independence.
  • While columns published in 1941 and 1942 draw connections between the war and American interest in Indian affairs, by the end of 1943, the focus seems to shift to the American and Indian positions in a post-war world order. The editors also write about U.N. and American responsibilities in the same sentence.

Table 1: column subjects and closing statements

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