Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1463

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.4 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

French and English

Preferred Citation:

South Asia press photographs, 1935-1994, Ms. Coll. 1463, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1935-1994 (inclusive)

Form:

Photographs

Abstract:

During the mid-to-late 1970's, South Asia, most especially India and its immediate neighbors, experienced a period of civil and political unrest. This collection consists of French press photos concerning events in South Asia from 1935-1994, with particular emphasis on the turbulent years of the mid-to-late 1970s, in which India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh experienced overlapping civil, political, and environmental crises.

During the mid-to-late 1970's, South Asia, most especially India and its immediate neighbors, experienced a period of civil and political unrest. In India, this took the form of a governmental and social crisis known as "The Emergency," in which Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed proclaimed a state of national emergency, implementing censorship, jailing political opponents, and suspending elections. In Pakistan, the presidency of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ushered in a period of democratic constitutional reform and development which was cut short by a military coup in 1977. The nation of Bangladesh, created in 1971 as a result of the Bangladesh Liberation War, experienced a democratic crisis in which Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibar Rahman, after amending the constitution to give himself emergency powers to circumvent civil liberties, was assassinated as part of a military coup; full or partial military control of the government lasted until 1979. In Sri Lanka, ethnic tensions between Sinhalese and Tamil populations led to extremist violence, such as the assassination of the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiyappah, in 1975 by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

This collection consists of French press photos concerning events in South Asia from 1935-1994, with particular emphasis on the turbulent years of the mid-to-late 1970s, in which India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh experienced overlapping civil, political, and environmental crises. It documents the struggles between supporters and opponents of Indira Gandhi's political movement within India; Pakistani political unrest around the 1977 military coup; development of industrial capacity in Sri Lanka; overwhelming rains in Pakistan in 1974; and flooding in India in 1978. The collection contains stray photographs from the 80's and 90's depicting political moments in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The photographs are captioned to provide political and historical context, either with attached tags or on the reverse of the photos themselves. The photographs are collected in batches according to subject, and there batches appended with catalog numbers (format: PHPC:XXX); however, there is no corresponding catalog to which they can be matched. Therefore the catalog numbers have been retained and the batches arranged chronologically.