All India Radio’s Glory Days and Its Search for Autonomy

As India celebrates 72 years as an independent sovereign nation, it would serve us well to remember the immeasurable influence of All India Radio (AIR) in shaping the cultural landscape and mindset of the nation. ­Despite India’s inherent diversity, the achievement of this sense of nationhood is to be lauded. The idea of nation ­included not just geographical unity, but also the social, cultural, economic and scientific developments that all Indians, irrespective of the differences in language and religion, could be proud of. In building a socially and politically cohesive ­national entity, based on democratic and secular principles, the services of AIR were used to educate the populace on what that meant and how it would work. In the decades following independence, AIR as the state broadcaster enjoyed a monopoly of the airwaves. It emerged as the sole source of news, views, knowledge and ­entertainment for the Indian audience. During the early years of independence, radios blared from every home, street, corner shop; and with the coming of transistor radios in the 1960s, from every passing bicycle. Since there was primarily one station, listenership of every programme was almost ­ubiquitous, thus influencing most of the Indian citizenry in common cultural patterns, and political, social and economic concerns. 

In pre-independence India, radio played the twin role of a medium of communication as well as a tool of propaganda. During World War II radio services were used by the military for internal transmission of strategies and troop movements. It was also vital as a medium to transmit news to the public. A shortage of paper and limitations of widespread delivery of printed matter made radio’s reach to a wide audience a boon. Furthermore, the delivery of instant news—live reportage from the field—assured radio’s popularity as a medium of communication. It was also a tool for propaganda in these years, used by both the Allied and the Axis powers. The efficacy of radio broadcasts was not lost on the Indian freedom fighters, either. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, a group of Congress freedom fighters started underground radio broadcasts, exhorting people to uphold the struggle and bringing to their attention news that was censored in print media and on the official news channels. A dangerous enterprise, the chief movers of this effort of Voice of Freedom radio were constantly on the run, broadcasting from different locations in order to avoid arrest. Mostly run by Congress stalwarts, the radio came to be called the Congress Radio. But, soon, the authorities found them, arrested all the leaders, and shut down these airwaves.