Dinamalar
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Dinamalar'' is an Indian
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
daily
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 a ...
. It was founded in 1951 by T. V. Ramasubba Iyer. ''Dinamalar'' has an average circulation of 942,812 (ABC Jan-June 2016)


History

Dinamalar was founded by T. V. Ramasubbaiyer on 6 September 1951 at
Thiruvananthapuram 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 populati ...
. The operations were moved to
Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...
in 1957.


Circulation

The newspaper is printed in 10 cities in Tamil Nadu namely
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...
,
Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the E ...
,
Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
,
Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on an ...
,
Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...
, Salem,
Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...
,
Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...
,
Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separa ...
and
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
. As of 2016, the newspaper has a circulation of 942,812.


Content

The investigative journal
Cobrapost Cobrapost is a non-profit Indian news website that was founded in 2005 by Aniruddha Bahal – the co-founder of Tehelka. It is particularly known for its undercover investigative journalism. Description According to Kalyani Chadha, Cobrapost ...
released an undercover investigation and video which exposed the executives of Dinamalar speaking of promoting
Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...
and promoting the agenda of
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
(RSS) and the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) in 2018. Cobrapost reported that the Director Lakshmipathy Adimoolam was devoted to the ideology of the RSS. In the operation, Adimoolam went on to say that his family's loyalty to the RSS and the BJP has harmed their business a lot. Director Adimoolam also mentioned "We have a lot of same wavelength with the BJP family is around." Dinamalar in July 2021 published
fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
claiming that Tamil Nadu's western area was going to be made into a separate union territory called Kongu Nadu.


Controversies

On 8 September 2008, Dinamalar's supplementary edition Computer malar carried a cartoon of the Islamic prophet,
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
which led to protest from Islamic groups. On 22 April 2019, Dinamalar received a backlash after its headline on the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings report was seen to be mocking Christians and Jesus. The report titled  "O...Sesappa" which meant Oh...Jesus in a mocking tone was seen offensive by many. Dinamalar Office asked for police protection following the incident. Many readers on social media objected the heading. Following this, Dinamalar published an explanation and expressed its regret. In January 2019, Dinamalar posted a body-shaming cartoon of the BJP's Tamil Nadu President
Tamilisai Soundararajan Tamilisai Soundararajan (born 2 June 1961) is an Indian politician serving as the 2nd and current Governor of Telangana, and is the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (Additional charge) since 18 February 2021. She was the National Secretary an ...
. The cartoon depicted the BJP leader playing ring toss, makes her look wantonly disheveled. Soundarajan slammed the cartoon and said "Those with a basic lack of respect for women are capable of opining in this manner." Dinamalar called the
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with th ...
as "Palani" instead of "Palaniswamy" in July 2020. The incident caused a controversy. A protest was held in Coimbatore today on behalf of the Social Justice People's Party and at the end of the protest the Dinamalar newspapers were set on fire.


Legal cases

In October 2009, Dinamalar published an article claiming that several
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
film actresses were involved in
prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
along with pictures and names. The
South Indian Film Artistes' Association The Nadigar Sangam ( en, Actors' association), officially known as the South Indian Artistes' Association (SIAA), is a union for film, television, and stage actors in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, based in Chennai. Formed in 1952, the group ...
petitioned to have the senior sub editor arrested and staged a rally condemning the same. The rally was led by
Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
with other actors including
Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...
,
Sarath Kumar Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards S ...
and
Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
. The senior sub editor of the newspaper, Lenin was arrested under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Women Harassment Act and was sent to judicial custody. He was released on the next day on protests from Chennai Press Club, Madras Union of Journalists,
Press Trust of India The Press Trust of India Ltd., commonly known as PTI, is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in New Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 500 Indian newspapers. It has over 500 full-time employees , including abo ...
and the
Indian Newspaper Society The Indian Newspaper Society (INS; formerly ''Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society'') acts as the central organization of the Press of India, an independent body authenticating circulation figures of newspapers and periodicals in India. It pla ...
. Dinamalar stated that the news was obtained from ethical sources and there was no secondary agenda. In February 2012, Vanniyar Sangam leader and
Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
,
Kaduvetti Guru Kaduvetti Guru, (born, J. Gurunathan) also known as J. Guru, (1 February 1961 – 25 May 2018) was an Indian politician, who was twice elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu. He was the president of the caste organization ...
lodged a complaint to Police Commissioner seeking the arrest of Dinamalar editor Krishnamurthy and its publisher Lakshmipathy for publishing news insulting the
Vanniyar The Vanniyar, also spelled Vanniya, formerly known as the Palli, are a Dravidian community or '' jāti'' found in the northern part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. From the 19th century, peasant castes typically classified under Shudra ca ...
caste and trying to create caste violence. The article published by Dinamalar read, "Vanniyars do not interact and keep their distance with other castes. Vanniyars been involved in anti-social activities due to poverty and even though they have show elevated status in society, they are widely known for their
violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...
and oppressive behavior. Due to this, other
caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
s follow an unwritten rule to not do business with Vanniyars. Due to this, Vanniyars are introducing themselves in the community as
Gounder Gounder is a title used by various communities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It may refer to communities such as the , Kongu Vellalars , Kurumbas, Tuluva Vellalars, Uralis, Vanniyars, Vettuvars and Vokkaligas. Etymology There are number ...
in order to avoid professional harm."
Pattali Makkal Katchi Paattali Makkal Katchi (; PMK) is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India, founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 for the Vanniyars, a caste in northern Tamil Nadu. It is currently part of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It contests th ...
's leader G. K. Mani asked why Dinamalar hates Vanniyars so much and also said that the newspaper had constantly defamed the Vanniyars. In September 2019, A Judicial Magistrate in Krishnagiri sentenced the Editor and the Publisher of Tamil daily Dinamalar to two years’ imprisonment in a defamation case filed by a police inspector. The Judicial Magistrate passed the order on a private complaint lodged by an inspector, who was posted in Krishnagiri in 2005. The complainant said in a column “Tea Kadai Bench”, published in the daily, it was alleged that he received kickbacks from those trading in illicit liquor that was transported from Bengaluru into Tamil Nadu via Hosur. Besides, the report alleged that he had acquired properties through illegal means. Though he had sent a legal notice to the daily seeking damages of ₹10 lakh, the publication did not respond to it. The lawyers representing the editor and the publisher had argued that it was the duty of the media to hold those in positions accountable. However, the magistrate held that the article was not backed with evidence and lent to “gossip mongering”. The court said the write-up, that had not named the complainant in the allegations, however, ended up directly naming him as a conversational tool.


References


External links

* {{Newspapers in India Mass media in Chennai Mass media in Coimbatore Mass media in Madurai Newspapers published in Tiruchirappalli Tamil-language newspapers published in India Publications established in 1951 1951 establishments in Madras State