Senior sports commentator Dharmaraj is no more

Senior sports commentator Dharmaraj is no more

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, April 26, 2012: M. K. Dharmaraja, the senior sports commentator and retired news director of All India Radio, died in New Delhi on April 25 Wednesday.

Dharmaraja, who founded the South Kanara Club, promoted local art forms such as Yakshagana. He was also honored for his contributions to Tulu language at the Tulu Sammelana held in Dharmasthala in Nov 2009.

Dharmaraj, who was fluent in English, was the commentator for test cricket. Keenly interested in sports, he prepared special programs for All India Radio. He was also present in Parliament during important debates and also when Indira Gandhi announced in Dec 1971 that the Pakistani forces had surrendered in Dhaka.

According to I. Ramamohan Rao, the senior journalist, Dharmaraj did not make his achievements public, owing to which not many people knew that he was felicitated at the World Conference for Religions in the UK. A keen student of Jain philosophy, Dharmaraj attended events such as the Mastakabhisheka of Bahubali in Karkala, Shravanabelagola, Dharmasthala, and Venoor. Dharmaraj also has to his credit a number of books on religion and sports.

He was just six years away from his 100th birthday when he died. He has left behind his sons Dr. C. K. Ballal, who practices in Mangalore; Raja Ballal, an advocate in Delhi; Col (retired) S. K. Ballal, who served in the Garhwal Rifles, and Dr. Srimanjari, a professor at Miranda House in Delhi University.