Srinagar, Dec 24: Freelance producers and directors associated with Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar (DDK) on Monday demanded restoration of DD Kashir channel.
Demanding promotion of in-house productions, they said Kashir Channel has been turned into a Bollywood channel.
“The Kashmiri language for which it is meant is nowhere. I have been in the field for the last 28 years. Thousands of people have been associated with the Kashir channel in one or the other capacity, earning their livelihood,” said a freelance producer Shehzad Rasool.
Maintaining that Kashir Channel has been destroyed under a “well-planned conspiracy”, Rasool said that feature films being telecasted during prime time have no viewership.
“People neither watch feature films nor like them. Everybody has been asking why Kashmiri programmes have disappeared. No programme to promote Kashmiri culture is being telecasted on the channel,” stated Rasool.
Singer, producer and director, Aijaz Rah said the payments for many programmes pertaining to Kashmiri culture have been withheld for a long time by DDK.
“Only feature films are telecasted, and money is being paid for them. We fail to understand why Kashmiri programmes are not being telecasted or why Kashmiri artists have been pushed to the wall,” he said.
“Among us, many have availed loan facility from banks. We were sure that we would be able repay the loan, once we receive the payments,” Rah added.
They said their meetings with the higher-ups have not yielded anything.
“We meet everyone from Director General (DG) to Minister for Information and Broadcasting, GoI. The assurances given by them have proved futile. The higher-ups shall take measures at an earliest to bring the Kashir channel to it pristine glory,” Rah added.
