The Al-Hilal was a weekly Urdu language newspaper established by the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed was an Indian Muslim scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement, who lived from 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958. He was one of the most prominent Muslim leaders to support Hindu-Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on...

 and used as a medium for criticism of the British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The first issue came out on 13 July 1912. The newspaper also espoused the cause of the Indian independence movement

Indian independence movement

The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...

 and exhorted Indian Muslims to join the movement. The newspaper was shut down under the Press Act

Press Act

The Press Act of 1910 was legislation promulgated in British India imposing strict censorship on all kinds of publications. The measure was brought into effect to curtail an emerging Indian independence movement, especially with the outbreak of World War I...

of 1914. It was published from Calcutta.