In this episode, part 1, on the rise of community radio in India, we hear from various activists involved in the community radio sector.
Produced by Emmanuel Madan & Jaggi Singh, MONTREAL, for CKUT 90.3FM. Thanks to Victoria Fenner, Indu Ramesh, Ram Bhat, Faruq Faisel, Dhirren Panchal, Sophie Toupin, Sophea Lerner, and the many other people who contributed to this show in some way.
Speakers include:
- Aastha Chauhan, DELHI -- artist and organizer with the Khoj Artists' Association, and active with grassroots media efforts in the Khirkee Village (Delhi);
- Stalin K, AHMEDABAD -- convenor of the Community Radio Forum in India, and co-founder of the Drishti Media Collective in Gujurat;
- Biju Mathew, NEW YORK CITY/HYDERABAD -- radio programmer (WBAI), activist with the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate, and active with community radio efforts with social movements in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh;
- Satinath Sarangi, BHOPAL -- managing trustee of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic, which provides free medical services to the survivors of the Bhopal disaster, and an activist with the Bhopal Group for Information and Action;
- Ashish Sen, BANGALORE -- organizer with the Community Radio Forum in India, and director of Voices, a development and communications NGO based in Karnataka concerned with democratization of the media.
This 1-hour broadcast focuses on the rise of community radio in India. Since independence in 1947, and based on regulations that date to the colonial British period, India -- a country of one-billion people popularly described as the "world's largest democracy" -- has not had licensed community radio stations. Aside from state-run All-India Radio and private for-profit commercial stations, there are only a handful of campus stations that have been permitted on the air with very limited mandates.
However, with recent changes to broadcast regulations, the result of court challenges as well as lobbying and mobilizing by community groups for at least a decade, there is the potential for thousands of community run radio stations to emerge in the next two years.
On this show, part 1 of an ongoing series, we hear from some of the activists on-the-ground, who are part of the community radio movement, and also part of organizing to set up grassroots radio projects. Topics addressed on this first show include: history and background to community radio in India; resource challenges faced by community groups; the subversive medium of audio; the politics of language; "community", NGOs and the Hindu Right; regulations governing community radio in India; and more.
-- Produced by Emmanuel Madan & Jaggi Singh, MONTREAL, for CKUT 90.3FM. Thanks to Victoria Fenner, Indu Ramesh, Ram Bhat, Faruq Faisel, Dhirren Panchal, Sophie Toupin, Sophea Lerner, and the many other people who contributed to this show in some way. --
This radio documentary is part of what will be an ongoing series about about the rise of community radio in India as part of news programming at CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal in the coming year. We appreciate your feedback, and we want to collaborate with other programmers, in South Asia and beyond, who are interested in supporting autonomous grassroots community radio in India. Get in touch!
--> Contact us by e-mail: emandjaggi@gmail.com
--> Related websites: * Drishti Media Collective (Gujarat): http://www.drishtimedia.org * Khoj Artists' Association (Delhi): http://khojworkshop.org * Voices (Karnataka): http://www.voicesindia.org * Bhopal Appeal and Sambhavna Clinic: http://www.bhopal.org * Campaign to Stop Funding Hate: http://www.stopfundinghate.org * CKUT Community Radio in Montreal: http://www.ckut.ca
[A message of solidarity and support, by the production team here at CKUT in Montreal, to those community radio activists all over India fighting to democratize the airwaves, and struggling for social justice. We'll be listening when we can; we are inspired by your efforts!]
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