Public Service Broadcasting Day recalls Gandhi's 1947 radio address

Public Service Broadcasting Day is being observed on November 12 to recall Mahatma Gandhi's special radio address in 1947 to people displaced by Partition. The occasion marks his visit to Broadcasting House in New Delhi, the only time he went to the building.

During that visit on November 12, 1947, Gandhi spoke through Akashvani to people staying in Kurukshetra. The broadcast reached people grieving after displacement during Partition.

The anniversary subsequently became an annual observance for the broadcaster. In 2000, Sushma Swaraj, then the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, announced that November 12 would be designated Public Service Broadcasting Day each year.

Annual programmes recall Gandhi's message

Akashvani has marked the day through special events and programming since that announcement. The observance connects the anniversary of the Broadcasting House visit with the broadcaster's continuing efforts to share Gandhi's teachings.

Music is one element of those celebrations. Akashvani's music artistes perform bhajans that Gandhi cherished as part of programmes held for the occasion.

The broadcaster's work around Gandhian thought is not limited to the November anniversary. It also airs and organises special programmes based on his philosophy in different parts of the country throughout the year.

The annual occasion encourages broadcasters to take those ideals and teachings to audiences across India. Its focus remains the historic broadcast through which Gandhi addressed displaced people in Kurukshetra.

The New Delhi visit and the Kurukshetra address are thus both remembered on the anniversary. While the visit took place at Broadcasting House, the special broadcast was directed towards people living with the consequences of Partition away from that setting.

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