South Asia 71
South Asia 71 is an experimental project that's designed to use social media to bring to life the events that led to the independence of Bangladesh in 1972. Inspired by projects such as @realtimewwII and @dday7, @southasia71 will tweet the events on the sub-continent from the perspective of an anonymous journalist that has access to secret documents in the US and the UK.
Every tweet will come from exactly 44 years ago. For example, a tweet sent on 1st January 2015 will be reporting the events of 1st January 1971. The project will run for just over one year, from the Pakistan election of 1970 to the end of the Indo-Pakistan war of December 1971.
The website is designed to provide as much background information as a follower of @southasia71 would like to delve into. The reporter's blog page will be kept updated as the year progresses, and provide a summary of events and a further insights into the politics behind the crisis. The blogs have embedded links to the major players and jargon buster pages, which provide short biographies and further explanations.
I feel that live tweeting the events that I've studied for the past three years is a great way to make my PhD research more accessible. It's also an opportunity to discuss ideas that won't be discussed in the thesis, to interact with people...and have a bit of fun!
Every tweet will come from exactly 44 years ago. For example, a tweet sent on 1st January 2015 will be reporting the events of 1st January 1971. The project will run for just over one year, from the Pakistan election of 1970 to the end of the Indo-Pakistan war of December 1971.
The website is designed to provide as much background information as a follower of @southasia71 would like to delve into. The reporter's blog page will be kept updated as the year progresses, and provide a summary of events and a further insights into the politics behind the crisis. The blogs have embedded links to the major players and jargon buster pages, which provide short biographies and further explanations.
I feel that live tweeting the events that I've studied for the past three years is a great way to make my PhD research more accessible. It's also an opportunity to discuss ideas that won't be discussed in the thesis, to interact with people...and have a bit of fun!
A Note on Sources
The majority of the tweets are based upon declassified archival material collected at the UK National Archives in London, the US National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California. On other occasions tweets may be my own personal impressions of the events (via the anonymous reporter!), and in some instances they may be based on secondary reading.
On occasions where secondary reading is used, the tweet will credit the author of the work by name. This is because the most insightful snippets from the literature are often information garnered from interviews carried out years after the event. I feel it would be cumbersome to give full references within the space of 140 characters and would be counterproductive to what is designed as an accessible public history project. However, I have listed a number of useful sources below, and will provide a full reference for any tweet upon request.
Alvandi, R (2014) Nixon, Kissinger and the Shah: The United States and Iran in the Cold War Oxford University Press: New York.
Bass, G (2014) The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide Hurst and Co: London. Twitter: @Gary__Bass
Choudhury, GW (1972) "Bangladesh: Why it happened" International Affairs Vol 48 pp242-249.
Jackson, RJ (1975) SOuth Asian Crisis: India-Pakistan-Bangladesh Chatto and Windus: London.
Mijuahid, S (1971) "Pakistan: First General Elections" Asian Survey Vol 11 No 2 pp 159-171.
Raghavan, S (2013) 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh Cambridge: Mass. Twitter: @srinathraghava2
Dave Riley
I'm currently writing up my thesis "UK-US relations and the South Asian Crisis of 1971" at Cardiff University. I've always been a fan of accessible history, and this project is designed to put my PhD research to a broader use. Tweet: @DaveRiley2810 e-mail: [email protected] |