''Thejas'' is a

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

language

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n online

news website An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

and formerly a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports an ...

that was established in 2006. It was initially a morning newspaper published from

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

. Owned by Intermedia Publishing, a private limited company in the same city, it is the mouthpiece of the

Popular Front of India Popular Front of India (PFI) is an Islamic political organisation in India, that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. Formed to counter Hindutva groups, it was banned by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs ...

. The eponymous magazine was the centre of a controversy in 2011 for its pro-bin Laden and pro-Taliban stance. The paper closed down in 2018, leaving only the online edition and the magazine."PFI mouthpiece Thejas to stop publication this year"
''The Indian Express''. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

History

''Thejas'' started publishing from

(Kozhikode) on the Indian republic day on 26 January 2006. Within a short span of three months it started another edition from

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

(Thiruvananthapuram) followed by the third edition from

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Ke ...

within another three months. Also

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial h ...

edition started in 2008 as part of the expansion. In December 2009, it started its

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

edition. It also started an online edition and an e-paper. ''Thejas'' started its Gulf editions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam in March 2011. The fourth Gulf Edition started in Doha on 17 May 2012. The fifth Gulf Edition of Thejas was launched in Bahrain on 27 September 2012 by Akhbar Al Khaleej editor-in-chief Anwar Abdulrahman at a ceremony held in Manama. In October 2018 ''Thejas'' decided to close its print edition and become an

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newsp ...

; the last printed edition was published on 31 December 2018. The magazine by the same name however continued operation and is still in print. The management cited the dwindling revenues from advertisements and increasing debts as the reason for closing the print edition.

Controversies

In 2010, the Communist

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canar ...

denied ''Thejas'' any

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, citing

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be d ...

inputs about the nature of the paper's coverage and its alleged attempts to create religious discord in the state. The

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

-led UPA government at the Centre followed suit, citing similar reasons. The 2011 May edition of their magazine called

Osama bin laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated a ...

a 'martyr' after he was killed by the US army. In October 2013, the district administration of

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

issued a show-cause notice to the

for spreading anti-national reports and why the

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Con ...

should not be stopped. In March 2014,

Kerala Police The Kerala Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The motto of the force is "Mridhu Bhave Dhrida Kruthye" which means "Soft in Temperament ...

registered a case against ''Thejas'' and some other media organizations, in response to a petition accusing of insulting religious sentiments.

References

Malayalam-language newspapers Companies based in Kozhikode 2006 establishments in Kerala Asian news websites Indian news websites Mass media in Kerala Newspapers published in Kerala Daily newspapers published in India Publications established in 2006 {{India-newspaper-stub