Sairbeen ( ur, سیربین) is a flagship news and current affairs programme produced by
BBC Urdu
BBC Urdu ( ur, ) is the Urdu language station of the BBC World Service, accompanied by its website, which serves as a news portal and provides online access to radio broadcasts. The radio service is broadcast from Broadcasting House in London an ...
, currently being distributed on online platforms including
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
. It is currently hosted by Aliya Nazki.
The show first began airing in 1968 on radio,
and was previously hosted by notable
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i broadcasters and journalists including
Suraiya Shahab, Shafi Naqi Jamie,
Mahpara Safdar,
Ghazala Yasmeen, Waqar Ahmad Khan, Adil Shahzeb, Aamir Ahmad Khan, Ahmad Raza and Amber Shamsi. This programme is broadcast from London by BBC Urdu.
History
With its start in 1968, it acquired a huge following in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
During the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
, it was notable for broadcasting the events of the war in
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
even as state media was stating that everything was fine in the eastern wing.
By the time of the
1999 Pakistani coup d'état
The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless ''coup d'état'' initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf. The instigators seized con ...
, it had acquired around 20 million people tuning in each week.
In 2014, BBC started broadcasting the programme on
Aaj TV
''Aaj News'' () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language TV station which covers national and international news. The channel started out as hybrid channel (news, current affairs and entertainment), ...
under a partnership agreement.
In January 2021, BBC Urdu stopped broadcasting the programme on Aaj TV and terminated the agreement, citing interference with their editorial policy as one of the reasons, and moved distribution of the programme to YouTube and other online platforms.
References
{{reflist
BBC
Urdu-language mass media