SAJAforum

OBIT: K.G. Kannabiran, India's "Leading Civil Liberties Lawyer for the Last Four Decades"

K.G. Kannabiran, one of India’s “leading civil liberties lawyers for the last four decades,” died on December 30, 2010, at age 81. A biographical sketch, from the Hindu:

Born in 1929, Mr. Kannabiran obtained master's degree in Economics and a degree in law from the Madras University before shifting to Hyderabad to set up legal practice in 1961. Since the late 1960s, he began to defend political dissenters that eventually marked the beginning of his over three-decade-long civil liberties and human rights work.

He was the president of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee between 1978 and 1994 and went on to become the national president of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

* * *

He was a member of Concerned Citizen's Tribunal that inquired into the Gujarat carnage. Earlier, he was appointed as senior counsel by the CBI in the prosecution of the accused in the Shankar Guha Niyogi murder case in Madhya Pradesh.

During the Emergency, he defended numerous political detainees and appeared in four major conspiracy cases — three of them in Andhra Pradesh — that had been filed to suppress political dissent.

In 1971, he filed a writ petition successfully challenging the Andhra Pradesh Preventive Detention Act, 1970, under which writers, poets and intellectuals had been arrested. [The Hindu]

Many of Kannabiran’s writings are collected in a 2004 book, “The Wages of Impunity: Power, Justice and Human Rights.”  His funeral was conducted “quietly” soon after he passed away, as his wife, Vasanth Kannabiran, explained in a guest post on Kafila:

IN MEMORIAM: Bettina Kakaria, Amrit Kakaria's widow, says thank you

A note of thank from Bettina Kakaria, the widow of SAJAer Amrit Kakaria, veteran journalist and member of SAJA's Hall of Fame (see his extensive obit and comments from around the world):

Dear Friends,

Amrit took particular pride in his role with SAJA since its inception, and felt blessed to have been able to help fledgling South Asian entrants to journalism in the country that he loved.

If a man is measured by the strength of his character and the warmth in his heart, my Amrit was a strong, loving man indeed.

If a man is measured by the depth of his friendships, and the selflessness of his deeds, my Amrit touched all of those he encountered; everyone was special to him.

I know that Amrit is in a special place. Thank you for helping me grieve, and thank you for showing me how to heal. God bless you.

Bettina Kakaria

Bettina, we are all thinking of you. RIP, Amrit!

IN MEMORIAM: Amrit Kakaria, veteran journalist and member of SAJA Hall of Fame

>>> SHORTCUT TO THIS PAGE: http://bit.ly/kakaria <<<

Funeral arrangements: Viewing on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 3-5 pm and 7-9 pm at Moloney Lake Funeral Home, 132 Ronkonkoma Ave, Lake Ronkonkoma, NY, 11779; tel: 631-588-1515. The cremation, for family only, will be held on Wednesday at 11 am. Please note: A separate SAJA memorial service will be planned for the weeks ahead.

Please post your comments and memories of Amrit in the comments section below or e-mail saja@columbia.edu - we already have comments from S. Mitra Kalita, former SAJA president; Shashi Tharoor, Indian parliamentarian and author and many more.  Add yours!

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: You are welcome to re-use any of the materials from the site.

Amrit Kakaria, a leading Indian-American journalist in the U.S., died on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010, in Long Island, New York. The cause was a heart attack (he had been battling cancer, but it was under remission). He was 72. He is survived by his wife Bettina Kakaria and other family members, including, his brother Bal Kakaria.

Kakaria retired in 2002 after 45 years in the media business, most recently as head of U.S. operations for the India Today group (he had earlier launched India Today's North American edition and also worked in New Delhi and London).

An early member of the South Asian Journalists Association, Kakaria played a critical role in the group's growth as an adviser to the group's founding members. In 1996, wrote a personal check for $2,000 to launch its most influential program, the SAJA Journalism Awards.

"Amrit was SAJA's guiding spirit and a mentor to dozens of us in the media," said Sree Sreenivasan, SAJA co-founder and a professor at Columbia Journalism School. "His passing is a tremendous loss to all South Asian journalists in the U.S.," he said.

In 2005, he was inducted into the SAJA Hall of Fame, which recognizes pioneering South Asian journalists for their contributions to U.S. media as well as veteran U.S. journalists who helped shape coverage of South Asia (other inductees include Gobind Behari Lal, who won a Pulitzer Prize for science writing in 1937 and the first journalist to write about cancer research; his nephew, Brij Lal, a veteran broadcast journalist who joined ABC News in 1952; Gopal Raju of founder of India Abroad; Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian and former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors; Rajan Devdas, a photojournalist for more than 60 years in India and the U.S.; A.M. "Abe" Rosenthal, the former New York Times editor who covered South Asia as a young correspodent and continued to write about it as a columnist and James W. Michaels, former editor of Forbes, who first covered India during its struggle for independence and revisited the region in reports over five decades).

ABOVE: Amrit Kakaria, as he was inducted into the SAJA Hall of Fame in June 2005 by SAJA co-founder Sree Sreenivasan. PHOTO: Preston Merchant.

"Amrit was involved with SAJA from its very early days and cared deeply about SAJA," said John Laxmi, SAJA treasurer and board member. "He took the liberty to call me and email me every now and then to give me tips, advise and admonitions to keep SAJA on its track and committed to its mission.  Anyone who has dealt with Amrit will miss his kind and gentle friendship," he said.

OBIT: Prakash Parekh, veteran publisher, passes away

Prakash Parekh, publisher and editor of NY-based Gujarat Times has passed away. He leaves a legacy of influence that shaped the Indian-American press and the Indian-American community, including several charities. We are collecting comments below - please post your thoughts.

From the obit published in News India Times:

Pakash Parekh, editor and publisher of Gujarat Times, died of heart failure at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Oct. 1. He was 65. He was suffering from ill health for over a year and had undergone a heart transplant surgery in May.

He was born Dec. 20 in Amravati, Maharashtra, and completed his B.Sc. from Nagpur University. He received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, and joined Kirloskar Consulting in Pune in 1967.

Parekh came to the United States in 1970 to pursue an MBA from Columbia University. After graduating, he began his career in marketing.

He later attended the New York Law School and, after graduating, began private practice.

Parekh served as the editor and president of News India Times and Desi Talk from 1998 to 2002.

He joined the company again under the ownership of Gopal Raju as marketing director for News India Times, Desi Talk, Gujarat Times and Sher-ePunjab in 2004.

A well-known figure in the Indian-American community, Parekh served on the board of directors of various organizations and served as president of the Indian American Cultural Association of Westchester, Indian Cultural Society of New Jersey and Federation of Indian Associations (FIA).

He also served as a legal adviser to several cultural, religious, business and political organizations like JAINA, Vaishnav Temple of New York, BAPS, Indian Dental Association and the Indian American Center for Political Awareness. He was also an active member of the Gujarati Samaj and the Maharashtra Mandal and participated in dramas and cultural shows.

He is survived by his wife Sudha, son Neil, daughter-inlaw Pamela, daughter Amy and son-in-law Rajiv Mehta.

The funeral will be held Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Edwards Dowdle Funeral Home in Dobbs Ferry, New York, followed by a cremation at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale.

Saturday, October 3: 2pm to 4pm (Visitation at the Funeral Home)
6 pm to 9pm (Visitation at the Funeral Home)

Sunday, October 4:
9am to 11am (Visitation at the Funeral Home)

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be sent to one of the following charities: Share & Care Foundation, the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross in Westchester County.

Please post your comments below - we will share them with his family.

IN MEMORIAM: Dharam Shourie, veteran US-based correspondent, dies

UPDATE: Photo from memorial service added below.

[We are collecting thoughts and tributes - please add them in the comments section below.]

We are sorry to report that Dharam Shourie, a veteran US-based journalist and UN correspondent for India's largest wire service, the Press Trust of India, has died. He was 72.

Photojournalist Jay Mandal, whose photo is reproduced here (click to get high-resolution version): sent out a note earlier today:

Folks, I send with deep sadness and sorrow a file photo of of our beloved NY-based veteran journalist friend, a colleague and a good soul,  Dharam Shaib (Dharam Shourie 72) who passed  away on July 29, 2009 at a New Jersey Hospital after a prolonged illness. I have known Dharam Shaib for at least last 18 years. Let's all pray for the departed soul.

Giampaolo Pioli, the president of the United Nations Correspondent Association, shared this message with the group's members:

Dear Colleagues:

MR DHARAM SHOURIE, BUREAU CHIEF OF PRESS TRUST OF INDIA (PTI) AT THE UNITED NATIONS  FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES, PASSED AWAY WEDNESDAY JULY 29 AFTER A PROLONGED ILLNESS AT A  NEW JERSEY HOSPITAL, HIS FAMILY MEMBERS SAID.

MR SHOURIE'S FAMILY WILL ANNOUNCE FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS LATER.

The funeral will be on Friday, July 31 and there will be a memorial service on Saturday, Aug. 1. Here is the information, sent by his family, via the e-mail address that he used for so many years:

DESI SPOTTING: Walter Cronkite's South Asia stories

[Desi Spotting = finding South Asian elements in mainstream stories]

After managing to do a South Asia-related post about the passing of Michael Jackson, I couldn't help putting something together about the death of Walter Cronkite. (And yes, there's more than just the fact that he was known, Indian-style, as "Uncle Walter.")

He was the first newscaster I remember watching upon my arrival in the U.S as a nine-year-old (I wouldn't become a regular Peter Jennings watcher - ABC's "World News Tonight" featured Jennings then as part of a three-anchor format - till after Cronkite left the CBS anchor chair). I also remember that my dad, who molded my news-junkiness, was a Cronkite fan and I have vivid memories of watching "Uncle Walter" with him.

As soon as I heard he'd died, I posted a note about watching him with my dad on Facebook and Twitter and two Indian friends said that they, too, thought of their own fathers when they heard the news.

Long-time SAJA member, Lavina Melwani (whose new blog is Lassi With Lavina), wrote on my FB wall about another aspect of Cronkite's TV work:

In our home, watching the Vienna Philharmonic's annual New Year's Day concert hosted by Walter Cronkite on PBS had become a tradition. And that's the way it was.

During his run as host of the "CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981, many historic events took place in South Asia and he told millions of Americans about those events. A quick search of the Vanderbilt University Television Archive shows abstracts from hundreds of such stories. Click through the listings here to read some of the abstracts. Some of the stories were just short items, such as this 40-second report in June 1974:

(Studio) Smallpox epidemic hits India. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh hardest hit. REPORTER: Walter Cronkite.

OBIT: Prof. Rajeev Motwani, influencer of Google, Paypal

 I learned about the passing of Rajeev Motwani, one of the most influential people in Silicon Valley the way I learn most news these days, from the world of social media. SAJA co-founder and leading tech journalist Om Malik, posted the following on his Twitter feed:

@om: good bye Rajeev Motwani, one of Silicon Valley's good guys and a dear friend. I am going to miss you.

And he followed up with a blog post about Motwani, whose Stanford students included the Google founders:

Rajeev Motwani, one of the savviest angel investors in Silicon Valley, a Stanford professor and most importantly a close and personal friend passed away earlier today. He was 45 and is left behind by his wife Asha and kids.

It is hard for me to write this post — this morning the news of Steve Jobs’ improving health put me in a good mood. My day is ending with a broken heart and tears in my eyes. It is the day which reminds you of the unpredictability of life. Rajeev and I had been swapping emails, hoping to get together for a cup of coffee and discussions about technology. Alas, that shall never be.

After working tirelessly in anonymity, his tutelage of two Stanford University young grad students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, made him a household name in Silicon Valley. He started the Mining Data at Stanford project (MIDAS) and was one of the earliest backers of Google. He was an early investor in Paypal and a special advisor to Sequoia Captial.

Sergey Brin, one of those famous Google boys, posted the first item in nine months on his blog:

It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of my teacher and good friend Professor Rajeev Motwani. But I would rather not dwell on the sorrow of his death and instead celebrate his life.

Officially, Rajeev was not my advisor, and yet he played just as big a role in my research, education, and professional development. In addition to being a brilliant computer scientist, Rajeev was a very kind and amicable person and his door was always open. No matter what was going on with my life or work, I could always stop by his office for an interesting conversation and a friendly smile.

<snip> Eventually, as Google emerged from Stanford, Rajeev remained a friend and advisor as he has with many people and startups since. Of all the faculty at Stanford, it is with Rajeev that I have stayed the closest and I will miss him dearly. Yet his legacy and personality lives on in the students, projects, and companies he has touched.

Here's News.com's report, Valley investor and Google adviser Rajeev Motwani mourned:

Condolences are pouring out over the Internet as news spreads that Rajeev Motwani, a Stanford University computer science professor and well-known Silicon Valley angel investor, died unexpectedly at his home Friday.

Reading all this, you'd presume Motwani was an old man. He was 45 47, a 1988 Berkeley PhD and a 1983 IIT-Kanpur, grad. See his personal site here.

TechCrunch's Michael Arrington posted two documents co-authored by Motwani, from the proto-Google days in 1998.

Here's how Brin ended his post: "Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it."

UPDATE: Cause of death was reportedly accidental drowning in his home swimming pool.

Post your comments here.

OBIT: Parveen Ali, victim of Binghamton shootings

I've honestly lost track of all the shootings that have happened in the last few weeks. I generally avoid following the coverage of mass killings unless it's something I need to know for work. But someone pointed out that one of the 13 victims of the Binghamton, NY shootings was a Pakistani woman, Parveen Ali.

Here's part of a write-up from PressConnects.com, a local news site. It's simply titled "Parveen Ali: From Binghamton and Pakistan; age 26":

Parveen is remembered in the community as a soft- spoken, upbeat person quick to offer help to anyone in need. She especially catered to her mother, while her brothers, Usman and Nader, worked and studied. The family is trying to bring the remaining two brothers and their families to America, too. The father of the family, Nosher Van, does not live in Binghamton.

"She was beautiful," said friend Semra Morina, a Bosnian refugee who worked with Parveen at Johnson Outdoors four or five years ago. "She was young, and she had hope."

And from the NYT:

Ms. Ali came to the United States from northern Pakistan seven years ago. Her brother, Nadar Ali, 24, said his sister hoped to become a teacher. “She was like a parent, like a friend,” Mr. Ali said. “She coached me to go to school, be successful, go to college, be someone.”

He and his sister were planning to visit Niagara Falls on Saturday. “Just to see it,” he said.

IN MEMORIAM: Khalid Hasan, noted Pakistani journalist in DC

We are saddened to report the passing of Khalid Hasan, one of the most senior South Asian journalists in the U.S. and a long-time SAJA member. Please see comments from others (and add your own) and excerpts from his own e-mail messages below (and his 6,000-word obit of Benazir Bhutto).

Read his site, KhalidHasan.net.

Asif Alam, president of the Association of Pakistani Professionals, sent us the following this morning:

Noted writer, journalist Khalid Hasan passes away   
Updated at: 1150 PST, Friday, February 06, 2009  

WASHINGTON: Famous writer and journalist Khalid Hasan has passed away in US, sources said.Khalid Hasan was the author of 35 books and served on different diplomatic positions. He was the press secretary of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Hasan’s funeral prayer
will be held in Virginia tomorrow (Saturday).

Asked for a quote, Alam added: "He was a born journalist who was candid, balanced and fair - he will be missed!"

Here are some of the comments that have come into SAJA. Please add your own below. You are welcome to quote from anything here.

From Sabahat Ashraf, who blogs at iFaqeer.com:

Khalid Hasan was the one Pakistani journalist (at home or based abroad) that actually had his ear to the ground in the diaspora, providing both encouragement and critique, for example, for efforts
like "WikiPakistan". A great loss, indeed, especially at a time like this, when we need people who are rooted in Pakistan itself and can engage with the rest of the world just as comfortably.

Beena Sarwar, another well-known Pakistani journalist, wrote:

I was shocked and saddened this afternoon to hear of Khalid Hasan's  death in Washington, when The News editor called and asked me if I'd  write an obituary. I did, sent it in for publication titled `Khalid  Hasan: A progressive, secular vision and acerbic wit'. Here's the
first paragraph:

Khalid Hasan never suffered fools, gladly or otherwise. He was  particularly allergic to the self-promoting variety, and lost no  chance to take such specimens down a peg or two in his own inimitable  way. An immensely humanistic, progressive and secular vision, a great  love of literature, poetry, art, sport (particularly cricket) and  music, a deep knowledge and understanding of history, principled  stands and an acerbic sense of humour -- all these traits informed  his political analyses and shone through in his columns, books and conversations throughout a long, productive career. 

Also see the lovely remembrance in Pakistaniat by Adil Najam -
http://pakistaniat.com/2009/02/06/khalid-hasan/

On a personal note, I want to add that Khalid was an active SAJA member and always sending in useful/fun/interesting comments to all the SAJA mailings. Some examples here give you a sense of the man (he's always call me "Siri"... I always called him "Hasan saab").

Just some of the messages Khalid Hasan sent to SAJA HQ over the years...

SRI LANKA: Gunmen kill Lasantha Wickramatunga, newspaper editor who criticized government

Lasantha Wickramatunga, editor of the major Sri Lankan newspaper the Sunday Leader and a vocal critic of the Sri Lankan government, was killed by unidentified gunmen on Thursday as his car was stopped in traffic in Colombo, the nation's capital.

Wickramatunga was rushed to the hospital and died after three hours of surgery. The gunmen escaped on motorcycles.

Wickramatunga, 52, had received death threats before. His in-depth coverage of government corruption put him under pressure throughout his career with the anti-establishment newspaper.

The killing of Wickramatunga has brought new attention to the threats and violence that Sri Lankan journalists endure. The country is one of the world's most dangerous for reporters. Now, with prominent coverage of the story of his death, the Sri Lankan government faces new pressure to ensure the safety of its media.

From The Guardian:

The Sunday Leader is locked in a legal battle with the president's brother, Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is suing the newspaper for defamation over stories it published alleging corruption, Reuters reported. Rajapaksa has denied any wrongdoing.

From the BBC:

[Wickramatunga] was prosecuted for criminal libel of President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2000, but escaped serious punishment.

Correspondents say that while some of his stories verged on the salacious, others exposed high-level corruption - he recently reported on an arms procurement deal with Russia in which it was alleged that government ministers were receiving financial "kick-backs".

The Hindu reported that the U.S. and India, two of Sri Lanka's allies, made statements condemning the murder. Agence France-Presse reported that in Colombo, "hundreds of Sri Lankan journalists took to the streets Friday to protest." One news site, LankaDissent.com, closed down in protest of Wickrmatunga's death.

On Thursday, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa released a statement condemning the crime and ordered an investigation of the killing of a man he called "a close friend" and "courageous journalist":

"This heinous crime points to the grave dangers faced by ... our country, and the existence of forces that will go to the furthest extremes in using terror and criminality to damage our social fabric and bring disrepute to the country," he said.

Asked to comment on the killing, former SAJA president and Time magazine South Asia Bureau Chief Jyoti Thottam told SAJAForum: