''Zamin Ryot'' ( te, జమీన్ రైతు, Jamīn Raitu) is an Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspaper is published once every two weeks. Weekly n ...

published from

Nellore Nellore is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the district, as well as Nellore mandal and Nellore revenue division. It is the fourth most p ...

. It was started by N. Venkatrama Naidu in . It has been called the longest continuously running Telugu newspaper. It is one of the notable district newspapers in Telugu.

Name

''Zamin Ryot'' name is based on words 'Zamin' () and 'Ryot' (). Zamin Ryot is a term used to refer to

tenant farmers A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

under the

Zamindari A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

system. The newspaper was founded to advocate for the cause of the ryots (peasants and tenant farmers) and against the

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

History

The publication was started by Nellore Venkatrama Naidu as ''Zamindari Ryot'' in , before changing its name to ''Zamin Ryot''. Originally meant to advocate against the

in the area, it played an important role in reporting on the success of the Salt Satyagraha in Nellore district. The British government searched house and office of Venkatrama Naidu and also of the editor Chundi Jagannatham for three days from 15 to 17 February 1941, officially on the basis that it spread anti-war propaganda. Such press restrictions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

led to the paper being suspended voluntarily from 1 September 1942. It resumed publication in December 1942. By 1993, it was identified as a pro-

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 ...

publication. For example, during the reign of

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

as chief minister, the publication often criticised and mocked him with "dripping sarcasm". In 2019, editor Dolendra Prasad was attacked by MLA

Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy is an Indian politician from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. He is a member of the YSR Congress Party. Personal life He was married to Sujitha and they have two daughters Lakshmi Haindhavi and Sai Vaishnavi who are married ...

of Nellore Rural district in retaliation for a negative story on him. Prasad later expressed concerns that other attacks on journalists in Andhra Pradesh, inaction by the government on his attack, and a law passed by the cabinet allowing the government to sue media organisations for "distorted news" would lead to a chilling effect on journalism.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Newspapers in India Telugu-language newspapers Newspapers published in India