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DAWN Tuesday Review, April 10-16, 1997

Radio Station Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Radio Station has produced such talent as Zarina Baloch, Abida Perveen, Muhammad Ali (filmstar), Mustafa Qureshi (filmstar), Khameesu Khan, Misri Khan Jamali, Allah Bachayo Khosio, Allan Faqeer, Faqeer Abdul Ghafoor, Ustad Manzoor Ali, Ustad Umeer Ali Khan, Rubina Qureshi, Mehtab Rashdi, Qurban Jeelani, Mai Bhagi, Dhol Faqeer, Ustad Muhammad Jumman, Ehsan Farooqi (dramatist and novelist) and Himayat Ali Shair.

It was inaugurated on 17 August 1955 with a 1 KW transmitter and a 6 room dominion. Later, during the regime of Ayub Khan, the station was shifted to another building and a 10 KW transmitter was inaugurated on 28 Dec. 1962. This was replaced with a 120 KW device on 4 Feb, 1971, giving the radio a range of over 88 miles.

Drama and folk music have been the two prominent features of this station. In addition to the people named above, there have been Hameed Naseem, Sajjad Haider, Ilyas Ishaqi, Mirza Abid Abbas Binish, Ameer Shahnaz Naz, Sultan Jameel Naseem. Also Iqbal Jafferi, who excelled in creating sound effects, even in live broadcasts.

Ghafooro Aur Jamhooro was a patriotic programme that was broadcast during the 1971 war. Anwar Solangi and Abdul Haque Abro are said to have made a great impact in it.

In 1992, when the region was flooded by a formidable overflow of the Indus, the Hyderabad station set up an emergency makeshift station at Kotri by the name of Mehran Mauj Studio. It did a lot to inform the people about the flood update and boost the morale.


This brief writer-up appeared in an issue of Tuesday Review celebrating the 50 years of radio in Pakistan.
 
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