Mahatma Gandhi launched the weekly newspaper Harijan in 1933 to promote social reform.
Harijan began publication on 11 February 1933. Gandhi used it to discuss the campaign against untouchability, which he described as a grave social and moral wrong. The paper covered political issues as well, but its name and central purpose reflected his focus on improving the status of communities oppressed by caste discrimination.
Gandhi wrote frequently for the paper and used journalism as a way to communicate with a broad public. Harijan was published in English, while related editions appeared in Indian languages, including Hindi and Gujarati. His writings addressed religion, village life, education, sanitation, economics, and the direction of the independence movement.
The title means “person of God,” a term Gandhi used for communities formerly subjected to untouchability. Many Dalit thinkers rejected that label as patronizing, preferring self-identifications such as Dalit. Harijan should not be confused with Young India, an earlier English-language journal Gandhi edited, or Navajivan, his Gujarati publication.