PROFILE OF KALAIMAMANI DR PRAKASH M SWAMY PHD (USA)
Dr Prakash M Swamy, PhD, is an outstanding senior Indian journalist with over 50 years of experience in India and the US.
He served as a diplomatic correspondent at the United Nations headquarters for 15 years and worked with distinction in highlighting India’s position in the world body on many international issues.
Dr. Swamystarted his media career as a student reporter in Ananda Vikatan, a popular Tamil weekly along with his friend S Ravishankar in 1976 and later joined The Hindu daily newspaper as an editorial trainee in 1978.
He got confirmed as a staff reporter in 1980.
He was sent to the US for higher studies under the Rotary International Ambassadorial program for his master’s degree in Journalism at the University of Florida in 1986.
After his course he was trained in investigative journalism by the world-famous fathers of investigative journalism Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post who brought down the Nixon Presidency in the Watergate scandal that shook the world. He shot to international fame in 1991 when he did a major international scoop that shook the nation. He proved with forensic evidence that the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a belt-bomb terrorist in Sri Perumpudur and his news reports published in The Hindu proved to be a watershed in India’s investigative journalism scenario. He was able to publish the photos of the assassins taken from the crime spot that helped the Special Investigation Team to prosecute the terrorists.
The Internationally-renowned forensic scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr P Chandrasekharan wrote a book “The First Human Bomb” based on the investigative reporting of Dr Swamy. Dr. Swamy was given numerous awards and citations all over the world for his scoop and addressed several forums for this investigative reporting piece Dr Swamy’s fearless investigative reports against corruption and misuse of power in Tamil Nadu as executive editor of Junior Vikatan bi weekly had earned the wrath of powers that be and there were attempts on his life and brutal attacks were unleashed against him in Chennai during 1991-96. This made him earn a mention under the Indian section in the “Attack on Media” annual report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York. He has exposed many a scam and abuse and misuse of power and became a central figure in Tamil Nadu politics. He used to write under the pen name Kazhugar in Junior Vikatan which catapulted him as a national hero.
He was associated in the past with The Hindu, India Today, Press Trust of India, Ananda Vikatan in India and India Abroad, The Indian Express North America and Caribbean New Yorker, Indian Panorama, South Asian Insider, News India Times in New York. He was also associated with Gainesville Sun of the New York Times Group. Dr. Swamy was instrumental in creating an awareness against the practice, when American companies used the photos of Ganesha and Lakshmi on the toilet seat covers and panties. His news reports in The Urban Indian weekly published in New York created an uproar in India and in the US. This forced the manufacturers to withdraw their products and issue an open apology. His hard-hitting articles against Hindu bashers and pseudo secularists during his 20-year stay in the US helped garner public support for causes worthy of support.
He visited the Caribbean nation of Guyana and highlighted the plight of Hindus there who had forgotten their roots and language. He worked with NGOs to send devotional song CDs, DVDs and spiritual materials to over 50 temples there.He wrote numerous articles mobilizing the public support when the American diplomatic visa of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji was not only denied then as Gujarat Chief Minister but existing tourist visa was also cancelled. He then helped mobilize the Indian-American community to rally around India and Modi Ji by covering extensively the community meetings held across the US. Dr Swamy was also responsible for creating public awareness among the Indian-American community on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal forcing them to put pressure on the US administration and elected representatives to pass the bill acting as tier-two diplomacy for which he won the praise of the Indian Ambassador to the US and several high-ranking Congressmen and senators.
For his stellar role in promoting India-US ties, Dr. Swamy was honored by the US Congress with a House Resolution and the remarks were entered in the Congressional Record of the 109th Congress session. He also received special commendation by individual senators and Congressmen and was honored on the floor of the New Jersey and New York State Assemblies by the Speakers of the respective Houses. Dr Swamy was presented with the US Congress award on creating awareness on the fight against terrorism. As a diplomatic correspondent accredited to the United Nations for the past 15 years, he worked closely with two UN Secretary Generals – Kofi Annan and Ban-ki-moon – and highlighted India’s role in the world body in the national and international media. In the course of his assignment, he had interacted with scores of world leaders – presidents, heads of states, prime ministers and foreign ministers of member states – during the General Assembly sessions.
He was made Member of the Reception Committee to conduct a community event at the world-famous arena Madison Square Garden to welcome Prime Minister Modi to the US in 2014. Dr Swamy was invited as the guest of the Government of India’s first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) organized by Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi in 2003 and gave wide publicity about the event in the American media. He was invited as an official guest and a panelist for the second time for PBD held in Chennai. He was also invited as a special guest of the Queen of Qatar Her Excellency Sheika Moosa for the global conference of Alliance of Civilizations conducted by the United Nations in Doha.
Dr Swamy was chosen a judge of the Emmy Awards – the American television honor equivalent of Academy Awards for movies – and remained its only Indian Judge for over eight years. He was also made a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, New York. In recognition of his international stature in the world of media, he was given the highest State Award of Kalai Mamani by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi Palaniswami in 2019. A prominent public speaker and an orator, he was a special invitee of the World Tamil Classical Conference.He was awarded Rotary International’s Ambassador of Goodwill Award to pursue higher studies in the US. He was also awarded Rotary International’s highest honor For the Sake of Honor Award and Lifetime Achievement Award in Chennai.
Dr. Swamy now serves on the board of the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore that imparts international education in media studies. He was made Regional Advisory Committee Member of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Ministry of External Affairs Government of India. He served as vice president, executive committee member, secretary of New York Tamil Sangam and later foundedthe America Tamil Sangam and currently serve as its Founder Chairman. He is also on the board of management of PS Higher Secondary School in Chennai. He is a member of the Editors Guild of India, former secretary of Chennai Press Club and Chennai Reporters Guild, Member of Delhi Press Club, Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ), Madras Union of Journalists (MUJ), executive committee member of United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) and Foreign Press Association in New York.
He has written one Tamil and one English books both published by Manivasakar Pathipakam and he is releasing his third book Vizhuntha Manidargal which was serialized in Ananda Vikatan in the mid 1990s and became a super hit among readers. He takes part in television debates and gives interviews on subjects of national interest especially to Republic TV and Tamil You Tube channels. He has given over 1,000 interviews in the past five years. He has over 8 million followers on the You Tube.
After his course he was trained in investigative journalism by the world-famous fathers of investigative journalism Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post who brought down the Nixon Presidency in the Watergate scandal that shook the world. He shot to international fame in 1991 when he did a major international scoop that shook the nation. He proved with forensic evidence that the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a belt-bomb terrorist in Sri Perumpudur and his news reports published in The Hindu proved to be a watershed in India’s investigative journalism scenario. He was able to publish the photos of the assassins taken from the crime spot that helped the Special Investigation Team to prosecute the terrorists.
The Internationally-renowned forensic scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr P Chandrasekharan wrote a book “The First Human Bomb” based on the investigative reporting of Dr Swamy. Dr. Swamy was given numerous awards and citations all over the world for his scoop and addressed several forums for this investigative reporting piece Dr Swamy’s fearless investigative reports against corruption and misuse of power in Tamil Nadu as executive editor of Junior Vikatan bi weekly had earned the wrath of powers that be and there were attempts on his life and brutal attacks were unleashed against him in Chennai during 1991-96. This made him earn a mention under the Indian section in the “Attack on Media” annual report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York. He has exposed many a scam and abuse and misuse of power and became a central figure in Tamil Nadu politics. He used to write under the pen name Kazhugar in Junior Vikatan which catapulted him as a national hero.
He was associated in the past with The Hindu, India Today, Press Trust of India, Ananda Vikatan in India and India Abroad, The Indian Express North America and Caribbean New Yorker, Indian Panorama, South Asian Insider, News India Times in New York. He was also associated with Gainesville Sun of the New York Times Group. Dr. Swamy was instrumental in creating an awareness against the practice, when American companies used the photos of Ganesha and Lakshmi on the toilet seat covers and panties. His news reports in The Urban Indian weekly published in New York created an uproar in India and in the US. This forced the manufacturers to withdraw their products and issue an open apology. His hard-hitting articles against Hindu bashers and pseudo secularists during his 20-year stay in the US helped garner public support for causes worthy of support.
He visited the Caribbean nation of Guyana and highlighted the plight of Hindus there who had forgotten their roots and language. He worked with NGOs to send devotional song CDs, DVDs and spiritual materials to over 50 temples there.He wrote numerous articles mobilizing the public support when the American diplomatic visa of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji was not only denied then as Gujarat Chief Minister but existing tourist visa was also cancelled. He then helped mobilize the Indian-American community to rally around India and Modi Ji by covering extensively the community meetings held across the US. Dr Swamy was also responsible for creating public awareness among the Indian-American community on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal forcing them to put pressure on the US administration and elected representatives to pass the bill acting as tier-two diplomacy for which he won the praise of the Indian Ambassador to the US and several high-ranking Congressmen and senators.
For his stellar role in promoting India-US ties, Dr. Swamy was honored by the US Congress with a House Resolution and the remarks were entered in the Congressional Record of the 109th Congress session. He also received special commendation by individual senators and Congressmen and was honored on the floor of the New Jersey and New York State Assemblies by the Speakers of the respective Houses. Dr Swamy was presented with the US Congress award on creating awareness on the fight against terrorism. As a diplomatic correspondent accredited to the United Nations for the past 15 years, he worked closely with two UN Secretary Generals – Kofi Annan and Ban-ki-moon – and highlighted India’s role in the world body in the national and international media. In the course of his assignment, he had interacted with scores of world leaders – presidents, heads of states, prime ministers and foreign ministers of member states – during the General Assembly sessions.
He was made Member of the Reception Committee to conduct a community event at the world-famous arena Madison Square Garden to welcome Prime Minister Modi to the US in 2014. Dr Swamy was invited as the guest of the Government of India’s first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) organized by Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi in 2003 and gave wide publicity about the event in the American media. He was invited as an official guest and a panelist for the second time for PBD held in Chennai. He was also invited as a special guest of the Queen of Qatar Her Excellency Sheika Moosa for the global conference of Alliance of Civilizations conducted by the United Nations in Doha.
Dr Swamy was chosen a judge of the Emmy Awards – the American television honor equivalent of Academy Awards for movies – and remained its only Indian Judge for over eight years. He was also made a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, New York. In recognition of his international stature in the world of media, he was given the highest State Award of Kalai Mamani by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi Palaniswami in 2019. A prominent public speaker and an orator, he was a special invitee of the World Tamil Classical Conference.He was awarded Rotary International’s Ambassador of Goodwill Award to pursue higher studies in the US. He was also awarded Rotary International’s highest honor For the Sake of Honor Award and Lifetime Achievement Award in Chennai.
Dr. Swamy now serves on the board of the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore that imparts international education in media studies. He was made Regional Advisory Committee Member of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Ministry of External Affairs Government of India. He served as vice president, executive committee member, secretary of New York Tamil Sangam and later foundedthe America Tamil Sangam and currently serve as its Founder Chairman. He is also on the board of management of PS Higher Secondary School in Chennai. He is a member of the Editors Guild of India, former secretary of Chennai Press Club and Chennai Reporters Guild, Member of Delhi Press Club, Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ), Madras Union of Journalists (MUJ), executive committee member of United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) and Foreign Press Association in New York.
He has written one Tamil and one English books both published by Manivasakar Pathipakam and he is releasing his third book Vizhuntha Manidargal which was serialized in Ananda Vikatan in the mid 1990s and became a super hit among readers. He takes part in television debates and gives interviews on subjects of national interest especially to Republic TV and Tamil You Tube channels. He has given over 1,000 interviews in the past five years. He has over 8 million followers on the You Tube.