Waiting to say ‘Hello Lahore’ from AIR Amritsar

Harjap Singh Aujla

Shut down abruptly in 1953, All India Radio is in the process of resurrection once again in Amritsar. The old station was operating in the medium-wave spectrum. This new station will be modern, digital and in the FM mode. The construction project is moving at a snail’s pace, but even a tortoise can be expected to finish the race.
Let us hope the long delayed project finishes quickly and the people living in the border belt of Punjab can get the news, information and entertainment from their own public sector broadcasting organ. The Punjabis living across the Radcliffe line are enjoying a very powerful and well meaning Pakistan Broadcasting Service from its second most powerful radio station in Lahore. India has been complacent for too long. Work on the Amritsar broadcasting tower started in May of 2007 without the fanfare associated with the foundation stone laying ceremony. The work of the foundation went according to the schedule, but the above ground super-structure proceeded at a dull pace. In 2014, the contractor abruptly stopped the work at an elevation of 280 meters, instead of the full height of 300 meters. The matter is in litigation now. I still have a faint hope that the stalled work will restart soon and the border people will have a state of the art FM service of All India Radio.
No project can really succeed without proper planning. When the British authorities built All India Radio in Lahore in 1937, they relied on the vast experience gained from the working of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All India Radio does not lack in experience, but the needs of the benefitting areas in the Amritsar – Lahore belt are different. Prior to 1947, Lahore and Amritsar were regarded as twin cities. In fact Amritsar was considered as the business and industrial satellite of the administrative, educational and cultural capital of Punjab, the grand city of Lahore. Just as Amritsar falls within the local medium-wave and FM range of Radio Pakistan Lahore, by the same yardstick Lahore falls within the local range of All India Radio’s Amritsar station. There is no way to stop the people of Amritsar from tuning in to the air-waves of Radio Pakistan Lahore. Likewise there is no way to stop the dwellers of Lahore from tuning in to the signals of All India Radio Amritsar. There is a lot in common between the populations of the two cities. Amritsar district used to be a part of Lahore division. They shared a common language and a similar dialect. Many artists from Amritsar flourished in Lahore and the singers and musicians of both cities enriched the film industry of Bombay.
I have a plan for increasing the friendship and comradery between the people of Lahore and Amritsar, through the medium of All India Radio Amritsar. A host of film music directors, poets and singers migrated from Lahore to Bombay. They all flourished in Bombay. Among them were music directors Husan Lal and Bhagat Ram, Pandit Gobind Ram, Master Hans Raj Behl, Roshan, Vinod, Allah Rakha, Ghulam Haider, Shyam Sunder, Khayyam, S. Mohinder, Sardul Singh Kwatra. The poets of Lahore, who migrated to Bombay included Dina Nath Madhok, Rajinder Krishan, Aziz Kashmiri, Mulkh Raj Bhakhri, Naksh Lyallpuri, Qamar Jalalabadi and Manohar Singh Sehrai. The singers of Lahore who ended up in Bombay included Suraiya, Shamshad Begum, Zeenat Begum, Noorjehan and Mohammed Rafi. Songs of all these artists can be picked up and broadcast in a one hour program daily. We can name this program as “Hello Lahore”. The people in Pakistan will be, I am sure, hooked to this show. Vice – versa, a similar program can be presented on the airwaves of Radio Pakistan Lahore, which will be very popular in India. This is a way to build friendship between the two otherwise feuding nations. I can write the script, choose the songs and assist All India Radio Amritsar in preparing this program.