Jun 08 2025 to Jun 08 2025 11 a.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

What happens when a defiant chronicler and an idealist revolutionary converge in the playground that is India’s freedom struggle? Urdu newspaper Pratap, launched in pre-partition India, was a torchbearer against the British Raj. The man who publicly defended it against colonial censorship was none other than Jawaharlal Nehru.

The pen picked up by freedom fighter Virendra, the paper’s editor and the founder’s son who once walked shoulder to shoulder with stalwarts like Bhagat Singh was equally fearless despite threats by the imperial government, Indira Gandhi’s Emergency and a parcel bomb sent to Pratap’s office during terrorism in Punjab.

Virendra was first arrested in the historic Saunders murder case. He was also in jail with Bhagat Singh the day the legendary revolutionary was hanged, sharing a rare first-hand witness account. In Independent India, too footsteps filled Pratap and its editors with dread and terror.

Pratap: A Defiant Newspaper is a timely reminder of the ethos of a struggle, a template for speaking truth to power at all costs. It is the story of a perfect storm. The book is written by Virendra’s son, distinguished editor Chander Mohan and journalist granddaughter Jyotsna Mohan. Jyotsna and Azeezullah Baig will be in conversation with Maya Sharma. There will be a Q&A session with the audience.

Speakers

Jyotsna Mohan
Writer & Journalist
As an award-winning writer and journalist with nearly three decades of experience across TV, print, and digital media, Jyotsna has always sought to hold up a mirror to society. A former Senior Editor at NDTV, her journey led her to pen her debut book Stoned, Shamed, Depressed – an Amazon bestseller that dives deep into the secret lives of India’s teens and reveals challenges that resonate with young people globally.

Based on the family newspaper, her latest book Pratap, A Defiant Newspaper, which she co-authored with her father, was released by HarperCollins India in February 2025. It is already an Amazon bestseller. A columnist for publications in India and abroad, her writings reflect societal issues and challenge the status quo, which she says is her family legacy! She brings this outlook to her online talk show ‘Table Talk with Jo.’ Jyotsna is the recipient of the Sanatan Puraskar, 2025 for Literature.

Maya Sharma
Consultant Editor, New Delhi Television (NDTV)
Maya Sharma is Consultant Editor for New Delhi Television (NDTV). She has been a television journalist for over 30 years – as reporter, anchor and documentary film maker. She is a Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. A Fulbright scholar from Syracuse University, New York, she has won several  awards for her professional work.

Maya was among the first trained television journalists in India, with training at FTII and at CPC,New Delhi. Maya was part of the pioneering live telecast of election results in India in 1989 conducted by Prannoy Roy’s NDTV and Doordarshan – introducing a brand new way of covering election results, including live interviews with candidates and newsmakers, This has been followed by extensive political reporting in all the southern states including coverage of elections since 1989 upto the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the collapse of the Karnataka coalition govenment in 2019. Political reporting is a major focus of her work from Karnataka particularly – and she has closely watched and reported on the politics of this southern state for decades now.