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Dissecting American Media Now
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Last updated: Dec. 12, 2004
An occasional look at South Asian stories that make front-page news
and "Desis In The News"
To participate in daily discussions about coverage, sign up for the SAJA Mailing Lists
Comments/additions/suggestions
Editor's note on this work in progress: The following are SOME landmark news events that featured South Asia or South Asians in North America. They are provided as part of SAJA's mission to critique international coverage of South Asia and the diaspora. The selection criteria is that the event needs to have made FRONT-PAGE news in the U.S. media. The only exception we make is for the passing of major South Asian figures (so that we can see what kind of coverage the U.S. media gave their lives and their deaths). We will be adding events here in the months ahead. If you have resources you can share with us, please let us know. As always, we welcome your feedback.
-Sreenath Sreenivasan, SAJA co-founder
Latest additions: 2004: Singer M.S. Subbulakshmi dies; Top 25 entertainers; Outsourcing of U.S. jobs; 2003: Space Shuttle Columbia; 2003: A giant statue falls in India; 2002: Sniper shooting in Maryland; 1913: Tagore wins Nobel + other Tagore stories; 1948: Jinnah Dies, 1930: Gandhi Makes Salt
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- (2004) Throughout the year: Outsourcing of U.S. jobs to India
As American companies outsourced work to India, the topic become controversial and an election issue. Several magazine covers, major TV reports and editorial cartoons (not to mention late night comics) tackled outsourcing.
- Dec. 12, 2004: Singer M.S. Subbulakshmi dies
The legendary South Indian singer died at the age of 88. In 1977, The New York Times called her "India's greatest singer."
- Oct. 10, 2004: Top 25 South Asians in Entertainment
India Today's North American edition ran a cover story on the top 25 NRIs in entertainment. Check out the names and the order.
- Feb. 1, 2003: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
Indian-American astronaut Dr. Kalpana C. Chawla was among the six crew members killed.
- March 28, 2003: Dr. Chawla featured on videotape found in wreckage of final minutes of crew.
- Jan. 8, 2003: A fallen giant
A giant statue of Krishna that took six years to build, collapsed in Delhi - and received front-page attention in the NYT.
- Oct 3, 2003: Sniper shooting of Premkumar Walekar
Taxi driver Premkumar A. Walekar was shot to death as part of a set of shootings by a sniper near Washington that lasted several days. His story received widespread attention, including front-page mentions in the NYT, WP and an interview by Diane Sawyer with his daughter.
- June 24, 2003: Pakistani family of 7 dies in Brooklyn blaze
Mohd. Nadeem, his wife Yasmine, and five daughters are burn alive in a fire started in a neighbor's kitchen.
- Dec. 13, 2003: Terrorist attack on India's parliament
A daring daylight attack on the Indian parliament in New Delhi leaves 12, including the attackers dead.
- Sept. 11, 2001:
South Asians killed in 9/11 attacks
Profiles of South Asians killed in the 9/11 attacks
- SAJA Roundup of South Asian-related stories
A variety of stories dealing with the WTC and Pentagon attacks, along with the backlash against South Asians and Arabs, among others.
- 1997
NYT Web special: India Turns 50 - includes original reports
The 50th anniversary of India and Pakistani independence made front-page news in the U.S. Here's a collection of Web stories from the NYT.
The Atlantic Monthly's Flashback
The Atlantic looks back at major stories in its collection of India coverage, starting with 1857.
- April 1, 1990: Nepal King Dissolves Assembly
King Birendra dissolved Nepal's national assembly and accepted the resignation of his prime minister afteangry protests over the pace of democratic change.
- Aug. 15, 1975: Sheik Mujib Rahman killed in coup
Sheik Mujibur Rahman, the president of Bangladesh was killed in a military coup. He is widely regarded as the "father" of Bangladesh.
- April 4, 1979: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto hanged
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan (and father of Benazir Bhutto) is hanged.
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- May 19, 1974: India Explodes Nuclear Device
India tests what it calls a "peaceful" nuclear device 24 years before the 1998 nuclear test of India and Pakistan
- June 2, 1974: Bhutan crowns 18-year-old king
The Himalayan kingdom crowns a new king and 150 foreigners attend; first time this once secluded country was open to so many outsiders.
- 1974 Report on India in 2000
An Indian government report predicting what India will look like in the year 2000.
- Dec, 1971: Bangladesh becomes independent/Indo-Pak War
A war between India and Pakistan results in East Pakistan becoming the independent nation of Bangladesh.
- Also see The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971
A U.S. National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book (released in Dec., 2002)
- Sept. 26, 1959: Dahanayake becomes Sri Lanka premier after assassination of S.W.R.D. Bandranaike
Education minister Wijayananda Dahanayake, a former Marxist turned anti-Communist, succeeds S.W.R.D. Bandaranike, who was assassinated on Sept. 25, 1959
- Sept. 3, 1953: Maldives coup
The Maldives, which had become a republic that past January, made front-page news as its founding president, Amin Didi, was deposed by his vice president, Ibrahim Mohd. Didi.
- Jan. 30, 1948: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated
The father of India's independence struggle is assassinated by a Hindu fanatic.
- Sept. 11, 1948: Mohammed Ali Jinnah dies
The founding father of Pakistan dies after a heart attack.
- Aug. 15, 1947: India and Pakistan gain independence
A long struggle for independence from Britain results in India's partition into India and Pakistan and some of the bloodiest riots in history.
- Also see:
NYT Web special: India Turns 50 - includes original reports
The 50th anniversary of India and Pakistani independence made front-page news in the U.S. Here's a collection of Web stories from the NYT.
The Atlantic Monthly's Flashback
The Atlantic looks back at major stories in its collection of India coverage, starting with 1857.
- April 6, 1930: Gandhi Makes Salt
Mahatma Gandhi defies British ban on manufacture of salt by Indians after the culmination of what became known as the "Dandi Salt March."
- Nov. 13, 1913: Rabindranath Tagore wins Nobel Prize
Poet Rabindranath Tagore wins Nobel Prize in literature, becoming the first non-white person to win a Nobel + other archived Tagore stories, including NYT obituary
- 1857: The Indian Mutiny
A widespread but ultimately unsuccessful rebellion by Indian troops (known as sepoys) against British rule.
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