->Newslinger: Remove Swarajya, a blacklisted questionable source (WP:QS, WP:SPB, WP:RSP#Swarajya)

2020-09-20T17:08:26Z

Remove Swarajya, a blacklisted questionable source (WP:QS, WP:SPB, WP:RSP#Swarajya)

New page

{{too few opinions|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}

'''Singanallur Venkatraman Raju''' (1933 – 19 May 2015) was an Indian politician, best known for his association with the [[Swatantra Party]] and his editorship of ''[[Freedom First]]'' magazine.

== Early life and career ==
Raju was born in [[Singanallur]]; Venkatraman was his father's name, and Raju his first name. Raju was hired by [[C. Rajagopalachari]], the former [[Governor General of India]] and retired [[Chief Minister of Madras]], on 16 December 1959 as the Office Secretary of [[Swatantra Party]], which was launched four months earlier. It took Raju one year to shed his [[socialism]] and become a member of the party—of which he remained a member till the end of his life.<ref name=pillai>Madhavankutty Pillai. [http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/last-man-standing "Last Man Standing"]. ''[[Open (Indian magazine)|Open]]''. 5 April 2014.</ref>

==''Freedom First''==
When Swatantra Party faded away in 1974, Raju, along with [[Geeta Doctor]], took up full-time editorship of ''Freedom First'' in 1978. The ''Freedom First'' magazine had been started in 1953 by the Indian Committee for Cultural Freedom, which was established by [[Minoo Masani]] in Mumbai. Raju raised funds for its continuation in print, and funds for digitization of the magazine since its inception.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Sameer Wagle|title=SV Raju, the Keeper of the Flame|url=http://broadmind.nationalinterest.in/2015/05/22/sv-raju-keeper-of-the-flame/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524230949/http://broadmind.nationalinterest.in/2015/05/22/sv-raju-keeper-of-the-flame/|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 May 2015|access-date=8 February 2016|work=The Broad Mind|date=22 May 2015}}</ref>

==Petition against socialism==
In 1996 the Maharashtra unit of the Swatantra Party, led by Raju and its general secretary, L. R. Sampat, decided to revive the Swatantra Party. To register it again and reclaim the party symbol, the star, they approached the [[Election Commission of India]]. But Indian law demands that all parties swear allegiance to socialism, in accordance with a 1989 amendment of India’s [[Representation of People’s Act]]. They refused and, instead, filed a writ petition in the [[Bombay High Court]] challenging this provision. When both Sampat and Raju had died, the High Court had still not held its first hearing on their petition.<ref name=pillai />

==Indian Liberal Group==
In the late 1990s, he took upon himself the task of reviving the [[Indian Liberal Group]], a platform for liberal values that Minoo Masani had started in 1965.<ref>Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, [http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/L0E0OLItkqngmkvLzTSRJN/SV-Raju-the-last-Swatantrite.html "S.V. Raju: the last Swatantrite"]. ''[[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]]''. 19 May 2015.</ref> He remained its President till 2010. Upon its dissolution, he became co-Director of LiberalsIndia for Good Governance.{{cn|date=September 2020}}

==Publications==
* {{cite book|author=S.V. Raju|title=Minoo Masani|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DbHzz5J24MC|year=2007|publisher=National Book Trust, India|isbn=978-81-237-5079-8}}

==See also==
* [[Liberalism in India]]

==References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
* [http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/liberalism-s-last-lion-115052300805_1.html "Liberalism's last lion: In memory of S. V. Raju and the Swatantra Party"]. ''[[Business Standard]]''. 23 May 2015.
* [http://www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya-news/s-v-raju-1105786/ एस व्ही राजू]. ''[[Loksatta]]''. 23 May 2015.
* Samanth Subramanian, [http://www.thenational.ae/world/south-asia/indias-last-anti-socialist-dies "India’s last ‘anti-socialist’ dies"]. ''[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]]''. 19 May 2015.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://freedomfirst.in/ ''Freedom First'']

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raju, S.V.}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:Tamil Nadu politicians]]

S. V. Raju - Revision history

->Newslinger: Remove Swarajya, a blacklisted questionable source (WP:QS, WP:SPB, WP:RSP#Swarajya)