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Maulvi Muhammad Baqir (1780-1857) started the first litho-printed Urdu newspaper of Delhi in 1837. The newspaper ‘Delhi Urdu Akhbar’ devoted itself completely to the Nationalist cause in the wake of the great revolt of 1857. After the revolt broke out on 10 May 1857 Baqir renamed the paper as ‘Akhbar-us-Zafar’ (Paper of Zafar) to pay tribute to the leader of the revolt. When the British entered Delhi on 14 September 1857 he was among the first to be arrested. On 16 September he was produced before Major Hudson, who ordered him to shoot him dead. Baqir was executed the same day, making him the first journalist to lay his life for the nation.

Source: Azadi Ke Deewane Museum, Red Fort, ASI, Ministry of Culture