‘radIo KaSHMIr coUnterIng paK propaganda’
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, at the launch of Congress leader Manish Tewari’s new book, Fables of Fractured Times said, “The fax machine in our Governor’s office doesn’t work. Then how would we receive instructions from Pakistan?” This was in context of BJP’s Ram Madhav’s comment that the NC and PDP were receiving instructions from Pakistan. “It is not a secret that for long Pakistan has been interfering in internal affairs of the Kashmir valley,” Dr Jitendra Singh. Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space told Sunday Guardian. Singh cited a well-documented book, Radio Kashmir: In Times of Peace & War released by him, to illustrate Islamabad’s nefarious designs.
The book has revealed how Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, launched more radio stations, mostly along the Indo-Pak border to bombard airwaves with hostile ranting. It has been written by Dr Rajesh Bhat, a senior official in the Policy Division of Directorate General, All India Radio, New Delhi.
In Singh’s opinion, “It has become fashion to churn out a book after visiting J&K for a couple of weeks. Instead of doing detailed research, these fly-by-night authors end up doing more damage, showing their utter ignorance about the real issues. Their abstract intellectualism, like such paintings, makes these authors intellectual terrorists.” A BJP MP from Udhampur, Singh said that “Bhat’s book is an exception.”
The DG, AIR, F. Sheheryar and many senior officials from AIR and Doordarshan, including ADG AIR Rajshekhar Vyas and former DDG, Doordarshan, Sharad Dutt, were present at the release of the well-researched book. Bhat in his book has traced the role played by Radio Kashmir since its inception in 1947 in weaving a cohesive social and cultural fabric. It depicts how Radio Kashmir has countered incessant malicious propaganda by various underground and FM stations that operate round-the-clock from across the border.
Bhat has incorporated rare pictures, transcripts and documents from the archives of J&K. It reveals how Radio Pakistan and its notorious Radio Trarkhal beamed vicious misinformation against India to create unrest in the minds of people of Kashmir. It also discloses how under Operation Topac, the ISI launched more radio stations, mostly along the Indo-Pak border to bombard airwaves with hostile ranting.