Col Satish Singh Lalotra
”Diversity in sound, unity in message’.. The Radio waves…
Community services in whatever form and shape are often seen to have a profound effect on the masses delivering them the goods and the services that are so very essential part of a societal makeup. Our world is full of such examples wherein community service not only on ground but also on the air have been ruling the roost. ‘Ham radio service’ is one such sterling example of community service dating back to the late 19 th century which has proved its worth in gold whether in the two great wars ( First & second WW) or even otherwise during the periods of ‘Force majeure events’ like the major earthquakes or the great pandemic flu of the early 20 th century. In our own case during the great earthquake of 2001 when Gujarat was torn asunder, it was these Ham radio operators who were the ‘first responders’ in getting the people, goods, services and such like things meshed together and sent forward to the most needed areas. The need to have such amateur radio stations spreading a sliver of hope during times of despair is all too obvious, but then even during relative periods of peace and tranquility that too in the forward areas of our national frontier these are more than required. With the country’s remote areas many times getting obscured from the planning radars of our governing lot, it is these airwaves from such unorthodox stations that are the typical glue in binding together the ruling and the ruler lot. Though all along our national frontiers more so in the northern areas, the governments of the day have been leaving no stone unturned to keep the locals connected with their programmes ; there is still a very wide gap in bridging the grey areas where due to topographical cum technical constraints, local indifference and such like issues much is left to be desired in terms of good governance via these air waves transmitted through border area radio stations.
It is with this seminal thought at the back of the mind of the planners that has made the Indian army go the extra mile in the troubled ex state of Jammu and Kashmir and be an instrument of state power in so far as ushering in the concept of ‘Jawanaurawam Amanhai Mukam’ is concerned. Taking the concept far and wide and off loaded on the shoulders of radio stations like Baramulla and Uri’ to empower local talent with the tag line ‘Alfazhamare Ehsaastumhare’ last year March 2024 , it has been exactly one year when the radio station of Uri operating on 90.0 FM has been ruling the hearts and minds of the local populace. Providing a wide area coverage in areas like Boniyar, Gantmulla, Nowshera, Sheeri, Khawaja Bagh, Sopore, and Sangrama, this station has now virtually put in tandem the thinking parameters of the locals and the rulers. Operating under the overall umbrella of ‘OP Sadbhavna’ launched more than two decades back by the Indian army with the sole aim of reshaping the future of this border area of India , it is not just a military outreach initiative but a sustained effort in nation building and bridging the wide gaps between the writ of the nation and the masses through a dedicated campaign unleashed via welfare and developmental projects. These two community radio stations with that of Baramulla now set to go operational beyond the entrainment programmes to include an entire package consisting of local talent promotion, and social cohesion that was torn asunder due to relentless campaign of vilification, misinformation, obfuscations, and counter narratives undertaken both by our western neighbour as well as renegade elements within the national boundaries of India will be a big game changer. Both radio stations will be doing a yeoman’s service in redefining the information ecosystem and fostering dialogue between the locals and the ‘ so called’ outsiders thereby countering divisive rhetoric.
These radio stations are equipped with the state of the art full-fledged studios, recording rooms, lounge, and server rooms etc. With the launch of these two radio stations, its social media handles on platforms like facebook, instagram and you tube etc are already overactive giving the audiences a wide array of choices to connect with the outside world. It has been learnt that six individuals from the local community, including the station head, three radio jockeys, a content creator as also a caretaker will manage the operations at the radio station FM 89.6 aka ‘ Radio Baramulla’. Encapsulating the tag line of this radio station – ‘Alfazhamare Ehsaasaapke’ the team at this frontline/ border town of Baramulla will have its ripple effects across the LOC with listeners of POK too glued to the programmes being aired from this new community radio center. It will be a big surprise for the readers of this write up of mine to know that our western adversary, Pakistan is way ahead in taking the same message to their nationals by way of their much publicized ‘Suno FM ‘programme that serve not only a small sliver of their territory but to much larger and remote areas of Balochistan, Sind, Gilgit Baltisthan and Khyber -Pakthanowa. This innovative action by the Pakistan army to rule the nation’s airwaves by way of launching of community radio centers has been pivotal in promoting indigenous / native languages as well as cultures in parts of Pakistan that were hitherto inaccessible to the government’s outreach efforts. These programmes were started by the Pakistan army way back in 2008. Research studies in Pakistan has showed that the establishment of community radio centers has the potential of creating community based public spheres for the promotion of languages and cultures who might otherwise be excluded due to language difficulties. Thus using the native languages simplifies the understanding of information and encourages decoding what is unfolding across their regions. In Pakistan alone, according to the Pakistan electronic media regulatory authority (PEMRA) approximately more than 200 FM stations are functioning which has a solid footprint of Pakistan army thus solidifying their base as the proverbial last bastion of democracy which howsoever sham it may appear to the outside world .Have we in India been able to replicate the above example in our border areas which are now under the scourage of ‘Ghost village’ syndrome? I have my doubts, since in a typical democracy like ours the air waves are under the sole authority of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry which will not brook any other Government agency(read army) to step over its toes for fear of losing its turf.
Is it not high time that a relative ease be ushered in the border areas as far as air wave communication is concerned and let the army replicate its efforts in other areas too,for example in the NE and the frontiers of Uttarakhand which are glued to the radio stations of our northern neighbour (China) owing to the strong signals being emitted from across the border? Having ample opportunities to serve in the border areas of our country ranging from Siachen glacier to the remotest areas of NE like Walong, I have been witness to the sense of being hamstrung when it came to getting connected to the main land of India by these air waves. Even while at Siachen, most of our transistors used to get a very strong signal from Pak radio station of Skardu or Gilgit with our own signals being very feeble from the AIR( All India radio). At Gurez while in service I had been witness to how the relay transmitter station of AIR at Achoora/ Davar used to bealways at the cross hairs of Pak artillery way back in 2003 so as to impose a complete black out of information to this beautiful valley of Kashmir thus underscoring the role of air waves in getting people connected . I suppose the policy planners of our country ought to leaf back to the pages of history and see how the propaganda unleashed across the European continent during second Worldwar by propaganda minister of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels nearly tilted the opinion in favour of the former notwithstanding his tyranny. Is it any brainer that the rules of the game as far as communicating with the masses by the ruler have changed? I don’t think so. They remain the same, albeit couched in a different format. It is up to the Government of the day to ‘reformat the format’ of providing and partnering with army as equals in communicating government’s various progammes on the national air waves as per the changing times and run its writ in the remote areas of our country so that both the masses and the ruler are on the same wave length. It’s never too late to change the frequency of the frontier areas by changing the frequency of the airwaves that are at the beck and call of the Government. Sooner the better.
(The writer is a retired army officer)
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