Demands immediate launch of long-promised Duggar Satellite Channel
DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
JAMMU, Mar 22
Th. Gulchain Singh Charak, President, Dogra Sadar Sabha and former Cabinet Minister, Jammu and Kashmir, has highlighted the trilogy of Dogra Culture, the Dogri language along with its various dialects and the ethos of the ‘lamb and lion, both drinking water from the same pond’, propounded by Raja Jambulochan, founder of the capital city of Jammu, as the reflection of rich and glorious tradition, ethics and aspirations of the Dogras.
Addressing a press conference here today, the former minister emphatically reiterated the necessity of a serious initiative from the government side for revival and rejuvenation of the Annual Jammu Festival / Duggar Festival in all the districts of Jammu region on a large scale, to mark the forthcoming Baisakhi celebrations this year.
Shri Charak also stressed upon the urgent need for immediate launching of the long-promised Duggar Satellite Channel by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for viewers within the country and across the borders. At the same time, he was candid enough to laud the concerned authorities of Jammu Smart City Project, who have started the renovation and restoration work of Raja Jambulochan Memorial at the Ranbireshwar Temple Chowk, Jammu, to its pristine glory.
In this connection, Shri Charak reminded that it was the Dogra Sadar Sabha, J&K, which had struggled to get the Raja Jambulochan Memorial established through the then government in 1994 at Ranbireshwar Temple Chowk, near Civil Secretariat, Jammu, to remind and educate the local people and the visitors, about the rich cultural legacy and human values of brotherhood and communal harmony, on which Raja Jambulochan had established this capital city of Jammu, around 3400 years ago.
Shri Charak appreciated the assurance given to him recently by Rahul Yadav, IAS, Commissioner, Jammu Municipal Corporation and CEO Jammu Smart City Ltd., that the site will be developed under Jammu Smart City Project in the most befitting manner, by taking into account the history and culture of Jammu. He hoped that the sentiments and historical facts will be taken into due account during the on-going development and designing of the Memorial so that the place becomes a centre of attraction, not only for the locals, but also for the tourists and visitors from outside J&K.
Shri Charak said that he was reminding the administration and the government, well in advance of the Baisakhi festival, that after years of casual approach in organisation of the Annual Duggar Festival/Jammu Festival, it must be restarted and rejuvenated on a grand scale all across Jammu region in all the districts. He stressed that all concerned government machinery, tourism and culture departments, local artists, singers, dancers, musicians, painters, religious organisations, NGOs, social, cultural, business organisations, traders, etc. must be sensitised, involved and geared up in such a way that the festival doesn’t remain a mere formality, but people actively participate in the mega-event. For the DSS, the Festival of Baisakhi carries immense historical, cultural and religious importance for the people of Jammu and the Government shouldn’t allow its sheen to get worn out, he said.
Shri Charak regretted that the event had become a mere eye-wash during the past few years, while it was high time that this socio-religious-cultural event of the Dogras is given due importance by the UT government.
Shri Charak was critical of the Politicians from Jammu itself, who had sabotaged the efforts of Dogra Sadar Sabha more than a decade ago to convince the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting about the urgency to launch Duggar Satellite Channel from Jammu. Shri Charak expressed happiness that DD Srinagar, DD Kashir, etc. were doing very well in Kashmiri, but lamented that DD Jammu continued to be neglected, so much so that the DD Jammu was lagging far behind to the point of near-extinction. The local artists were suffering as their most important window of communication through this medium was almost getting closed. He disclosed that on 14 February, 2014, it was decided in a meeting of the Prasar Bharati Board that the Doordarshan Kendras of Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Jammu will be upgraded to Satellite Channel, but unfortunately, all others except Jammu got it. Shri Charak referred to letter number 9/23/2023-PI dated 01-01-2015 of the Directorate General of Doordarshan Prasar Bharati in this regard which mentioned about the proposal to convert Jammu Doordarshan into a 24×7 Satellite Channel. He appealed to the government to consider this highly legitimate demand in right perspective and upgrade Doordarshan Kendra Jammu to the full-fledged Duggar Satellite Channel immediately without any further delay. He reiterated that in addition to its culture and language based requirement, the intervention was necessary to counter false propaganda being telecast by Pakistan TV against India from across the Border/LoC.
Shri Charak endorsed the long pending demand of Doordarshan Approved Drama Artists Association before the Union Government to upgrade the Doordarshan Kendra Jammu to the status of Duggar Satellite Channel so that this medium effectively serves to educate, entertain, and awaken the masses on heritage, culture, modern science and technology, welfare schemes, etc. by making the best use of Dogri language, culture and invaluable legacy. Shri Charak appealed to the Government of India and the Hon’ble Lt. Governor, J&K, to give a serious consideration to the demand for launching of Duggar Channel and rejuvenation of DD Jammu at the earliest so that long pending demand of Jammu region is fulfilled and the much-needed voice of the Dogra artists attracts viewership from far and wide. He emphasised that launching of Duggar Channel and rejuvenation of DD Jammu were highly essential now than any time earlier.
The demand for throwing open the General NC Vij Road, that has been barricaded along the front gates of Civil Secretariat Jammu for common people, was raised once again by Shri Gulchain Singh Charak. He stressed that the barricades had badly divided the old Jammu City into two halves putting the people into unwanted and immense troubles that have been enumerated a number of times. He proposed that the security concerns could be duly addressed by making suitable arrangements within the sprawling Civil Secretariat campus.
Others who were present in the press conference include Col. Karan Singh, Prem Sagar Gupta, Col. Dr VirendraK.Sahi Vrc, Ghambir Dev Singh, Amanat Ali Shah, C.M Sharma, Jagdeep Singh, Narinder Singh Jamwal, Ravi Singh and others.
