S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar

S.Kasturi Ranga Iyengar
Born (1859-12-15)15 December 1859
Kumbakonam, Madras Presidency
Died 12 December 1923(1923-12-12) (aged 63)
Madras, British India
Occupation lawyer, journalist
Known for journalism, political activism
Religion Hindu
Children K. Srinivasan,
K. Gopalan

S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar (15 December 1859 – 12 December 1923) was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist, politician and journalist who served as the managing director of The Hindu from 1 April 1905 till his death in December 1923.

Ancestry and family

His brother, Diwan Bahadur S. Srinivasa Raghavaiyangar, C. I. E, served as the Inspector General of Registration in the Madras Presidency.[1] Srinivasa Raghavaiyangar was an Anglophile who, in 1893, wrote Memorandum of Progress of the Madras Presidency during the last forty years of British administration to refute the charges of economic exploitation made by nationalists.[1]

Early life

Kasturi Ranga Iyengar was born on 15 December 1859 in a village in Kumbakonam. On completion of his education, he moved to Coimbatore to commence practice as a lawyer.[1] He set up a prosperous vocation and moved to Madras to try his luck there.[1] He was not as successful in Madras as he had been in Coimbatore.[1] Eventually, in 1895, he became a legal correspondent with The Hindu which was run by G. Subramania Iyer.[1] He wrote a well known column in the newspaper The Coimbatore Letters.[1] During this period, he also got ample encouragement from C. Karunakara Menon.[1] The rich and prosperous Kasturi Ranga Iyengar purchased the newspaper for a price of Rs. 75,000 on 1 April 1905.[2] He became the editor of the The Hindu and became the powerful voice of people's aspiration.[3]

As Managing -Director

In July 1905, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar appointed his nephew A. Rangaswami Iyengar as Assistant Editor.[2] Kasturi Ranga Iyengar worked to rescue The Hindu by increasing advertisements and terminating subscriptions to customers who did not pay in advance.[2] The tactic proved successful and Kasturi Ranga Iyengar was able to clear his debts by 1910.[2] Kasturi Ranga Iyengar subscribed to the Reuter's news service and allotted space for weather reports, court cases, trade and commerce as well as sports.[2] In 1905, The Hindu, in its editorial, demanded partial autonomy but not independence for India.[2] It also strongly criticised Annie Besant and her Theosophical Society, including her lavish promotional campaign of J. Krishnamurti as the Maitreya Buddha.[2] However, The Hindu offered its enthusiastic support to her Home Rule Movement and protested her internment at the orders of Lord Pentland.[2] It also strongly condemned the protests and the resultant killings of Jallianwala Bagh massacre.[2]

Death

Kasturi Ranga Iyengar died on 12 December 1923, three days before his 64th birthday.[4][5] He was succeeded as editor by his nephew, S. Rangaswami Iyengar.[4] and as Managing-Director of The Hindu by his eldest son, K. Srinivasan.

Legacy

Prior to Kasturi Ranga Iyengar's purchase of The Hindu, he was not much interested in entering public life.[6] Kasturi Ranga Iyengar had the courage to buy a struggling newspaper and embark upon a new enterprise he had no experience in.[6] He was also comparatively new to politics when he made a plunge into the political scenario; yet he was extremely successful for a newcomer.[6]

Being the younger brother of an Anglophile, there was always the concern that at some point or the other, he might abandon his anti-British and Indian nationalist attitude.[6] However, this estimation proved to be false.[6] Contemporaries assert that he was just as intelligent and talented as his illustrious brother.[6]

During his tenure as Managing -Director, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar locked horns with V. Krishnaswami Iyer, Annie Besant and Sir Valentine Chirol to whom he gave the rejoinder: "I am not here to learn journalistic etiquette from you," when the former made rude comments on the latter.[7][8] Kasturi Ranga Iyengar also fought with Governors Sir Arthur Lawley and Lord Pentland.[8]

Iyengar exerted as much influence by his fabulous wealth as he did with his writing.[9] Instead of being chastised and compelled to undergo ritual cleansing on his arrival from England, he was instead given a grand welcome with all honours by the Vaishnavite orthodoxy.[9]

Iyengar's descendants now own The Hindu Group through their family's company, Kasturi & Sons. Ltd.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Some Madras Leaders, Pg 43
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Looking back:MAKING NEWS THE FAMILY BUSINESS". The Hindu. 13 September 2003.
  3. ↑ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam, ed. India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 164.
  4. 1 2 S. Muthiah (13 September 2003). "Looking bck: A clarion call against the Raj". The Hindu.
  5. ↑ Appiah S. Kuppuswami (1980). The crest jewel of divine Dravidian culture. Sri Venkateswar Book Depot. p. xxvii.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Some Madras Leaders, Pg 44
  7. ↑ Some Madras Leaders, Pg 45
  8. 1 2 Some Madras Leaders, Pg 46
  9. 1 2 Some Madras Leaders, Pg 47

References

Further reading

Preceded by
M. Veeraraghavachariar		 Managing-Director of The Hindu
1905–1923 		Succeeded by
K. Srinivasan
Preceded by
C. Karunakara Menon		 Editor of The Hindu
1905–1923 		Succeeded by
S. Rangaswami Iyengar
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