All India Radio Srinagar (AIR Srinagar) is a
public radio station operating in
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
,
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
, India. All India Radio Srinagar broadcasts in
Kashmiri, Urdu and
Hindi languages. Formerly known as Radio Kashmir Srinagar, it was renamed as AIR Srinagar following the
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. It is one of public stations in the union territory alongside ''
AIR Jammu
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...
'' and ''
AIR Leh
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...
''. All India Radio Jammu broadcasts in
Dogri,
Urdu and Hindi languages.
History
It was established on 1 July 1948 when
Sheikh Abdullah, the then
Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, inaugurated the Radio Kashmir Srinagar station
near the Tourist Reception Centre in
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
. Its broadcasting station is still located in Srinagar near Zero or Abdullah Bridge.
J.N. Zutshi was the first Director General of Radio Kashmir. He was also the Secretary to Information & Broadcasting to J&K Government. Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din was the first head of the station. Radio Kashmir Srinagar became most popular when
Pushkar Bhan
Pushkar Bhan (1926 in Srinagar – 5 October 2008 in Delhi ) was a radio actor and script writer from Kashmir, India.
Literary career
He wrote three plays in collaboration with Som Nath Sadhu - ''Grand Rehearsal'' (1967), ''Chapath'' or ' ...
's ''Zoon Dab'' was aired for more than nineteen years from the Radio Kashmir station, and became a usual medium of entertainment for the people who used to listen the Radio Kashmir 24/7.
Crisis
After 1953 when Kashmir's political power began to change, observers say that Radio Kashmir Srinagar, shortly after its establishment, came under the control of
All India Radio to counter the Radio Azad Kashmir. Observers also say that both these stations were used to counter programmes aired by each other. When the Azad Radio Kashmir used to air ', it was countered by Srinagar station's '.
Contribution
All India Radio Srinagar has contributed a lot towards the traditional music of Kashmir. It became home of people like
Ghulam Hassan Sofi, who used to sing Kashmir's traditional songs which provided relief to the disturbed minds of Kashmiri people. All India Radio Srinagar also aired
Kailash Mehra's collection
which people liked most.
Janbaaz Kishtwari
''Janbaaz'' () is a 1986 Indian action drama film, produced and directed by Feroz Khan, which became popular for its portrayal of drug addiction and Anil Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia's sex scene. Sridevi appeared in a cameo appearance, capitalisin ...
(Ghulam Nabi Doolwal) was one of the noted artist who showed his talent through All India Radio Srinagar. Nowadays his daughter Jahan Ara Janbaz reaches her fans through All India Radio Srinagar. All India Radio Srinagar is believed to be the only medium which is broadcasting the audio of Kashmiri traditional songs, thus keeping Kashmiri musical tradition alive and contributing towards the Kashmiri society.
Floods of 2014
During floods in Srinagar in September 2014 All India Radio Srinagar (then Radio Kashmir Srinagar) station was only medium of communication between flood affected victims and the then Chief Minister of State
Omar Abdullah led government who also reached to affected through Radio Kashmir. Even after the flood wiped the
Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar which led to wind up its broadcast, just next door to it, Radio Kashmir Station survived much more than any other radio or Internet service. Radio station in floods started Short Message Service so affected people could be rescued while its building was itself submerged. Finally the flood reached the first floor where in studios were affected and radio too closed its broadcast and announcer promised to restore the service as soon as possible. Later news and interaction programmes were aired from makeshift transmitting station on
Shankaracharya Hill.RKS started a Helpline on 4 September 2014 when south kashmir started submerging. It was initiated and started by Sayed Humayun Qaisar, Program Executive. Once RKS itself was under water the program staff climbed on to Shankracharya Hill and continued Helpline with bare minimum resources.
News
Radio Kashmir's news section holds a responsibility whenever political crisis appear, or some other violences appeared during
Kashmir conflict. ''Shehar Been'' is among top of the news program broadcast by Radio Kashmir Srinagar. However, at peak of militancy inside Kashmir, the officials and newscasters of sister department of Prasar Bharti newsroom reportedly received death threats so for some time news was aired from Delhi for Radio Kashmir, it was like this "ye radio kashmir hai ab ap sunye nayi delhi se khabrein".
Religious contribution
AIR Srinagar also serves in the holy months of
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s by producing such programs related to particular holy months like
Muharram and for
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
. AIR Srinagar aired in 1980's the voice of Mirza Abdul Ghani Beigh,
the prominent Kashmiri
Noha reciter and writer. Shia people across the valley remained in waiting for the programme of such religious Noha chanter personalities. AIR Srinagar broadcasts necessary announcements related to different sects living in Kashmir.
See also
*
Radio Sharda
*
AIR FM Gold
*
BIG FM 92.7
BIG FM is one of India’s largest radio networks that broadcasts primarily at 92.7 MHz. It is part of Reliance Broadcast Ltd. with 58 stations reaching about 1.9K towns and covering 1.2 lakh villages in the country. It is accessible to over 3 ...
*
Red FM
*
Vividh Bharati
*
All India Radio
*
DD Kashir
*
DD Urdu
References
{{Authority control
1948 establishments in India
Radio stations established in 1948
Radio stations in Jammu and Kashmir