High Court advocate and speaker Sumathi said Dinamalar founder T.V. Ramasubbaiyar “sold paddy fields to create a field of words,” recalling the sacrifices made to launch the newspaper.
She was speaking in Chennai while coordinating a political forum on the topic, “Is Dinamalar’s political view party-aligned or non-aligned?” According to her, Ramasubbaiyar sold all his agricultural lands in a single day to start the publication.
Sumathi noted that while paddy fields yield multiple harvests, a newspaper can deliver a “daily harvest,” and said Dinamalar has continued for 75 years through sustained hard work and the efforts of successive generations. She congratulated the Dinamalar family for carrying forward the founder’s dream.
On the question of political affiliation, she said the key issue is the stance a newspaper takes when reporting a story, and asserted that Dinamalar has not taken a party line. She added that the paper’s positions at different times may have caused discomfort to parties that disagreed.
Citing the newspaper’s first editorial, she said Ramasubbaiyar had clearly stated the paper’s purpose, including a commitment to work for the welfare of Travancore Tamils and opposition to those who betray Tamil interests.
