The first editor of the journal ‘Indian Opinion’ ?

Correct answer: D (Mansukhlal Nazar). Gandhiji founded Indian Opinion in 1903 in Durban, South Africa, as a weekly to speak for the Indian community there. Its first editor was Mansukhlal Nazar, a Gujarati-speaking associate who was in charge of the paper in its early months. Gandhi guided it closely and took over the editorial work himself soon after, which is why many aspirants wrongly pick A.

Why the others are wrong:

• A) M.K. Gandhi: He founded the paper and later edited it, but he was not its first editor in the formal sense.
• B) Albert West: He was a printer and manager associated with the Phoenix Settlement and the paper's press. He was not its first editor.
• C) Mahadev Desai: He was Gandhi's long-time secretary and later wrote extensively in Young India and Harijan. He had no role as the first editor of Indian Opinion.

The core concept is the South African phase of Gandhi's political formation: the newspaper was his first sustained tool for mobilising opinion against discrimination, and it shaped his ideas on simplicity and self-rule, which he later carried into the freedom struggle. For Mains, it is a useful example of press as a instrument of protest.

Trap: Assuming the founder is automatically the first editor. Always check the formal office-holder separately from the promoter.