KARACHI: A noticeable presence of Rangers personnel on the premises of Radio Pakistan just a few years after the bulk of the operations undertaken in the stone-built structure were shifted to Gulshan-i-Iqbal has raised concern about the fate of the historical building.

The Radio Pakistan staff said that the personnel of the paramilitary force, whose headquarters has been housed in the historical building of Jinnah Courts for the past few decades, had informed them that their stay was meant for security arrangements related to Muharram.

During a visit to the historical building in the first week of Muharram, the Rangers’ presence on the premises did not look out of the ordinary though Mehboob Sarwar, programme manager and official in charge publications of Radio Pakistan, sounded a little concerned by their presence. He said the staff were told that the Rangers were there to monitor the law and order situation in Muharram. “This is alright as long as they do not overstay,” he added.

However, it was noticed that the personnel of the paramilitary force had settled themselves in the empty rooms of the building, indicating that they might have other ideas.

It was through a rather unfussy process that some years back the bulk of the operations undertaken in the historical Radio Pakistan building were shifted to its new premises in Gulshan-i-Iqbal. However, it did not render the original stone-built structure on M.A. Jinnah Road futile. There were, and still are, certain departments which functioned from the old building including the publications department and a recording facility.

Talking about the operational aspect of the Radio Pakistan building, the programme manager and official in charge of publications told Dawn that national songs were still recorded at the historical offices.

After independence, the Radio Pakistan offices were first set up in a school on Queen’s Road. A year later they were shifted to this building on Bunder Road (now M A Jinnah Road); and from then on the site earned a historic significance, mainly by virtue of high quality broadcasting. Renowned men of letters Z.A. Bukhari, Shahid Ahmed Dehalvi, S.M. Saleem and Abdul Majid were associated with it, which clearly point to the great feats that Radio Pakistan managed to achieve in its early days.

When the programme manager was contacted on Nov 5, he said that the Rangers were still present on the premises.

Despite repeated attempts by Dawn to seek comment of the paramilitary force on the issue, the Rangers were not available.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2015

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