Ravinder Kaul
The artistes, cultural activists and lovers of Dogri language have, for a long time, been peacefully agitating for a Dogri Satellite Channel of Doordarshan. They have been conducting a signature campaign over the past three years and, as per an activist, till now have already gathered over four lakh signatures across the length and breadth of the Dogra land in support of this longstanding demand. However, this has not met with any positive response from the concerned authorities so far. Let us examine the rationale behind this demand.
Beginnings of Television in India
Television began in India as an experimental service in September 1959, with limited transmission on three days a week. A transmitter of 500 watt power could carry the signals upto 25 kms from Delhi. The regular service with a news bulletin began in 1965. In 1972, television broadcast began in the second city – Bombay and by 1975 Calcutta, Madras, Srinagar, Amritsar and Lucknow also had TV stations. In 1976 television was delinked from AIR to form an independent organisation – Doordarshan. Colour television came into existence in India in November 1982 on the eve of the IX Asian Games. Doordarshan currently reaches 87% of India’s population through a network of 984 terrestrial transmitters. It has production studios at 46 cities and a viewership of over 40 crore.
Srinagar Doordarshan
Srinagar Kendra was only the third Kendra of Doordarshan to be inaugurated in the country on 26th January 1972. In that sense it can be said that special attention was paid by Doordarshan to J&K right from the very beginning. However, what came as a cultural boon for the people of Kashmir region did not get spread to other regions like Jammu and Ladakh (then a part of the erstwhile J&K State)
After the initial test transmission period from July 1972 till December 1972 when the telecast time was three and a half hours, the duration of telecast was increased to five and a half hours after formal inauguration of the channel in January 1973. While most of the programmes telecast from Srinagar were in Kashmiri and Urdu languages, Dogri language had to remain content with only one programme titled ‘Dharen Ch’, which began in 1974 and was a weekly programme of 15 minutes duration. This programme was later renamed as Dharaan and its duration increased to 30 minutes. Therefore, the discrimination with Jammu and Ladakh regions began right from the inception of television in J&K.
Doordarshan in Jammu
Doordarshan came to Jammu under most unfortunate circumstances. When the Director of Srinagar Doordarshan, Lassa Kaul was killed in cold blood by terrorists in early 1990, it was decided by the higher ups in Mandi House, the headquarters of Doordarshan, to stop the telecast of news from Srinagar. The newsroom was shifted to Delhi initially. But only after a few days people realised that it was not a workable solution to the vexed problem. Therefore, an OB Van was requisitioned from Jaipur and brought to Jammu. A makeshift studio was created inside a room in Hotel Jammu Ashok and in March 1990 the News, both in Urdu as well as in Kashmiri, started to be telecast from Jammu.
Soon the news people came across another problem. There was a gap of five minutes between the Kashmiri News and Urdu News and the news staff did not know how to fill up that gap. A news commentary or some public reaction was used to fill this gap for some time. However, it was later decided to make five minute music programmes or short skits for this purpose. It is these five minutes that have now extended to a three hour transmission, including one hour State hook-up relay. The Programme Generating Facility (PGF), as it is known in official terminology, was inaugurated in Jammu in 1993.
DD Kashir
DD-Kashir as a separate Regional Language Satellite Channel got established with its formal inauguration on June 06, 2000. The channel was launched specially to beam programmes of interest to the people of J&K with a purpose to reach to remotest villages and sensitive border areas of J&K. The Channel DD Kashir, on its official website declares that it produces programmes in 12 different languages/dialects being spoken by people of different regions of the state. These include “Kashmiri, Urdu, English, Hindi, Dogri, Ladakhi, Punjabi, Gojri, Pahari, Balti, Sheena and Pashtoo”. However, if one were to seek information about programmes telecast on this Channel in languages other than Urdu and Kashmiri during one year, one would get the dismal picture of programmes produced in these diverse languages spoken in J&K. The official declaration about promotion of these languages through DD Kashir remains only on paper and not in actual terms.
Geographical Spread of Dogri Language
The region covering the area of Jammu and Kashmir, lying between rivers Chenab and Ravi, the adjoining State of Himachal Pradesh, mainly Kangra and Chamba districts, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur districts in Punjab and areas of Sialkot, Zaffarwal and Shakargarh in Pakistan, is mainly the Dogri speaking region.
Population Divide
The total Population of J&K State as per 1971 Census, the decade in which Doordarshan first entered J&K, was 46,16,632. Out of these, the number of those who registered their mother tongue as Kashmiri was 24, 06,272 (52%). The number of those whose mother tongue was registered as Dogri was 11, 39,259 (24%). The remaining 10, 71,101 persons (24%) had registered their mother tongue as Ladakhi, Gojri, Pahari, Punjabi, Bhaderwahi, Siraji, Padri, and Kishtwari. Barring Ladakhi, all the remaining languages belong to the people residing mainly in Jammu Region. Since Srinagar Doordarshan was the only television station in the State, the programming should have been devised in a manner that would have done justice to all the linguistic groups of the State. However, as can be seen from above, only one weekly programme of 15 minutes duration, which was later enhanced to 30 minutes per week, was assigned to Dogri language and virtually nothing was done for the remaining linguistic groups of the State.
Geographical Spread
Interestingly, official website of Prasar Bharti gives details of the States and Union Territories covered by its Regional Satellite Channels. The Website also categorically states the languages covered by the Regional Satellite Channels. Barring the State of Sikkim and the Union Territory of Ladakh, all other States and Union Territories are currently covered by Doordarshan’s Regional Satellite Channels.
The Linguistic Spread
The Eighth Schedule of Indian Constitution has 22 languages listed in it. Of these languages, while some languages are covered by three or four Regional Satellite Channels, there are some that have been completely ignored.
Marathi is covered by 4 Regional Satellite Channels (DD Sehyadri (Maharashtra), DD Goa, DD Dadra and Nagar Haveli and DD Daman and Diu. Similarly, Malayalam is also covered by four Regional Satellite Channels viz. DD Malayalam (Kerala), DD Andaman and Nicobar, DD Lakshadweep and DD Puducherry. Bengali is covered by 3 Regional Satellite Channels viz. DD Bangla, DD Andaman and Nicobar, and DD Tripura, Tamil by 3 Regional Satellite Channels DD Tamil, DD Andaman and Nicobar, and DD Puducherry and Telugu also by 3 Regional Satellite Channels DD Yedagiri (Telangana), DD Andaman and Nicobar and DD Puducherry”.
Bodo, Dogri, Maithli and Santhali languages are not covered by even a single Regional Satellite Channel of Doordarshan. Interestingly, all these four languages were added to the Eighth Schedule of Indian Constitution in the year 2003. Apparently, the people handling these desks at Prasar Bharti missed out on the news of inclusion of these languages in the Eighth Schedule and did not deem it fit to assign a Regional Satellite Channel to these languages.
It is quite strange to learn that the Regional Satellite Channels of Doordarshan cover even the languages that are neither a part of the Eighth Schedule nor recognized by the Sahitya Akademi. These are Khasi (DD Meghalaya), Mizo (DD Mizoram) Kokborak (DD Tripura), Garhwali (DD Uttarakhand) and Kumaoni (DD Uttarakhand)
Doordarshan has been considerate in many States and Union Territories for assigning more than one language to a particular Regional Satellite Channel, keeping in view the aspirations of the speakers of these languages in those particular States/UTs. For instance DD Goa covers both Konkani and Marathi, DD Puducherry covers Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, DD Tripura covers Bengali and Kokborak. In contrast, DD Kashir is designated only as a Kashmiri language Channel as per the official Website of Prasar Bharti. The other languages that it telecasts its programmes in is only a matter of grace and not because it is mandated to do so.
Jammu and Kashmir (earlier a State and now a Union Territory) is unique in the sense that it has two capitals, one for winters (Jammu) and the other for summers (Srinagar). This is due to the unique geographical and ethnic diversity in the region. Therefore, 2 Satellite Channels for this region is the need of the hour. The Dogri Satellite Channel will also cover Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab and Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh.
Conclusion
If 8,25,900 persons who registered their mother tongue as Mizo (2011 census) can have a Regional Satellite Channel of Doordarshan exclusively dedicated to it (DD Mizoram) why can’t 25,96,767 persons who have listed Dogri as their mother tongue (2011 Census) have a Regional Satellite Channel of Doordarshan dedicated to Dogri language.
DD Kashir states on its official website that the Channel was launched in order to “specially beam programmes of interest to the people of J&K with a purpose to reach to remotest villages and sensitive border areas of the region in order to bring a sense of togetherness among people therein.” This holds true of Dogri language too as the turmoil that was once confined to the Kashmiri speaking parts of J&K has now entered Jammu region too. Hence the need to spread the word of togetherness in this area. Moreover, as the areas of Sialkot, Zaffarwal and Shakargarh in Pakistan, is also a Dogri speaking region, the Channel will also serve a strategic purpose of beaming programmes for people living in these areas who can see for themselves and in their own language the development taking place in Jammu region.
Although the time is over now for having Dogri, Gojri, Pahari also officially as part of the Kashir Channel, but why was DD Kashir exclusively dedicated to Kashmiri Language and not multiple languages of J&K as is the case with DD Goa, DD Puducherry and DD Tripura?
It will be clear from the above analysis that great injustice has been done to Dogri language till now. It is time that this historical injustice is corrected and an exclusive Regional Satellite Channel of Doordarshan is assigned to Dogri language so that the brave and patriotic Dogri speaking people, who have always been at the forefront in defending the territorial integrity of our nation, are given their due. Justice may have been delayed, but it must not be denied to them.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
