The BBC has made some changes and one of them appears to be the disappearance of BBC Asian Network.

The BBC Asian Network was created in the 1990’s as a response to the growing need of the British Asian Community to have its own voice and culture in the mainstream, Since then, it has grown to be a station that has promoted the BBC and the British Asian Community in Great Britain and the world.

The BBC Asian Network has given the world great people in the news and entertainment realm such as Sonia Deol, Nihal, D.J. Kayper, Rozina Sini, Nikki Bedi, and Anita Rani. Konnie Huq has even participated in some of the programmes of the venerable institution.

The underwriter also remembers some of the interviews conducted by Meirul Din with some of the personalities of Bollywood.

Who could ever forget the programmes of music by Bobby Friction and when Sonia Deol reported about the Glastonbury Festival? How about some of the reports by Rozina Sini about the elections in Pakistan as well as the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto? BBC Asian Network even had a segment by Konnie Huq on being British Asian?

I still remember these and other segments that appeared in this venerable institution. Regardless, It appears that the BBC in its attempts to cut costs has decided that the BBC Asian Network.

It appears that the BBC does not take into account a segment of a population that has their own needs and have a need for a place of their own to express them.

Before continuing, many readers would wander why a US Latin would be worried about BBC Asian Network. The response is simple, music and culture is worldwide. BBC Asian Network has been a bridge between the US Latin and British Asian Community.

The bridge that exists between the US Latin and British Asian Community means that we are alike even though miles and kilometres separate is. BBC Asian Network has served as that bridge. The most notable example of how BBC Asian Network helped was during the three Hurricanes that struck Miami Florida in 2005.

In the year 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Miami Florida leaving anarchy and desolation in its wake. The internet and television was not around and people relied on the shortwave radio and the telephone in order to maintain outside contact with the world. The underwriter received a phone call [the first since the hurricane struck] from BBC Asian Network.

The person who talked to the underwriter from the other side of the phone was Sonia Deol. The underwriter remembered how Sonia Deol asked how was everything and he responded by telling the truth about the abandonment of the people in Miami by the US Authorities at the time.

Sonia Deol was very sympathetic to what was happening in Florida and the underwriter. During the time that things went from bad to worse, the underwriter was able to communicate with the rest of the staff of the venerable network so that people would discover what was going on in Florida during the hurricane.

The BBC Asian Network has presented a face of the British Asian Community that few people see. The face is that of a people who have the internal beauty of family, and friendship accompanied by the tenacity to succeed in life. Please do not shatter this image. Thank You.