My association with All India Radio has been both as an outsider and an insider. As a young boy, I grew up in Mangalore in South Kanara District on India's west coast. The main source of news for us was the radio, as newspapers would reach us a good 48 hours later from Madras, now Chennai.
I also remember listening to film songs played in the Forces Programme of the radio at 6.10 every evening and music broadcasts by eminent singers like Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Bhimsen Joshi, instrumentalists like Bismilla Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, and M.S. Subbulaxmi, to name a few. I was also addicted to Radio Ceylon which used to conclude at 8 in the morning, the last record being a song by K. L. Saigal.
First, when I came to Delhi, I had opportunity to hear music concerts every Saturday by eminent singers and the annual Sangeet Sammelan, which used to be held at Sapru House.
As a communicator, I realised the importance of the broadcast medium during the India-Pakistan War in 1965. As Public Relations Officer for the Army in the Lahore sector, with my office in Amritsar, I used to listen to Radio Pakistan broadcasts. The Radio Pakistan bulletins would convey that the Pakistan Army was knocking at the doors of Amritsar, assuring people not to panic as the gurudwaras would not be damaged.
The facts were quite different. India had crossed the border at Wagah in the sector, in response to Pakistan's attack in the Chhamb Sector and had reached Burki on the bank of the
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Ichhogil Canal. On the Wagah -Lahore Front it had reached Dograi on the outskirts of Lahore but had fallen back a little, but the battles were being fought on Pakistani soil. Even in the Khem Kharan-Kasur Sector, where Pakistani troops had entered India, there were fierce battles which claimed many Pakistani Patton tanks.
I took media representatives to the forward areas in the sector and All India Radio broadcast the facts to the country. In a matter of two or three days of my arrival in Amritsar, Pakistan Radio lost its credibility among the people of Punjab. Mr Melville D'Mellow, the renowned broadcaster visited the area and produced many programmes.
The next major task in which All India Radio was of great help was during the 1971 war. Its news broadcasts directed at the people of then East Pakistan-in Bengali and Urdu, had a great impact on the Mukti Bahini and the Pakistan Army.
During the second week of the 1971 India- Pakistan war, we broadcast a message from the Army Chief, General Sam Manekshaw, urging the Pakistani forces to surrender in the East. The message broadcast by Sam Manekshaw, told the Pakistani forces in the East, that they were surrounded, in hostile territory, and if they surrendered, he as the General of the Indian Army would ensure their safe return to Pakistan. I do still recall how the message was recorded in the presence of Secretary, R and AW R. N. Kao and Foreign Office spokesperson S. K. Singh.
The broadcast had a great impact and resulted in the early surrender of 93,000 Pakistan troops in East Pakistan.
In 1984, I was asked to head the News Services Division of All India Radio. It was an eventful period. First, we had the Bhopal gas tragedy, then Operation Blue Star, followed by the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi becoming Prime Minister.
The All India Radio was the major news provider for Doordarshan, and for us in the AIR newsroom, it was a 24-hour assignment.
I have had the opportunity to usher in Presidents and Prime Ministers, besides senior Ministers and newsmakers into the studios of All India Radio. We strictly observed the "Broadcasting Code"
The emergence of the Doordarshan, and later in the nineties of satellite channels, reduced the importance of All India Radio in the cities. But All India Radio still remains the most important medium which reaches all parts of the country. It reaches all areas, including those which have no electricity and is able to communicate information to people who are not able to read and write.
I, personally, still remain a listener of All India Radio bulletins. I am glad that Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands its importance. It should improve the morale of All India Radio news personnel and help them get more resources to strengthen broadcast signals across the country.
Mr I. Ramamohan Rao was a former head of the News Services Division of All India Radio. e.mail: raoramamohan@hotmail.