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AZAD (FREE) KASHMIR RADIO (AKR), Part 1
Thank you to Ray Robinson and Jeff White of Wavescan for sharing Adrian's nostalgic trek to the Pakistan border
Jeff: Wavescan’s editor-in-chief as I’ve just mentioned, is Dr. Adrian Peterson, N9GW, who served with Adventist World Radio for decades, mostly in Asia. He was primarily stationed in Poona, India, but during his time there, he visited many other countries in the region. Among notes he has passed to Ray Robinson, we found a write-up of a trip Adrian had made in the 1980’s to the Pakistani side of the disputed territory of Kashmir, which is known as Azad Kashmir (or, ‘Free’ Kashmir). He went station hunting, literally, and here to read Adrian’s report is Ray Robinson.
Ray: Thanks, Jeff. Adrian wrote:
During the 1960's and 70's, there was a great deal of confusion and speculation among international radio monitors regarding the authenticity of a station identifying itself on air as "Azad Kashmir Radio". This station had been logged in the tropical shortwave bands in several countries of Asia, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and even occasionally in Europe and the United States. Two different identification announcements had been heard stating, "Azad Kashmir Radio, Muzaffarabad", and "Azad Kashmir Radio, Trar Khel".
A partial answer to this intriguing situation had been supplied by two men well-known in the radio world, U. S. diplomat and DXer Gregg Calkins, and noted international radio monitor in Sri Lanka, Victor Goonetilleke. Gregg visited the station in Muzaffarabad in 1975 while stationed in Pakistan, and Victor had made some astute monitoring observations from his residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
So what was the status of Azad Kashmir Radio? In reality how many stations were there? How many transmitters carried the AKR programs? When was the station inaugurated? All of these questions needed an answer.
Now, back in 1983, while stationed in India, I was making plans for an itinerary into neighboring Pakistan on AWR business. So, I thought, why not make a side trip up into Azad Kashmir, and find out for myself just what the answer was to the mystery of Azad Kashmir Radio?
Historically, the large verdant vale of Kashmir, up against the foothills of the high Himalaya, has been fabled through the years in song and poem. This productive valley has been the prize of king and conqueror, and at the height of its power and prosperity, was an independent mountain kingdom, with the two main towns being Jammu and Srinagar. At the time of partition between India and Pakistan in 1947, Moslem claims to Kashmir became a major cause of dispute between the two neighboring powers, and a subsequent war erupted. At the time of ceasefire in 1949, India held the major portion of the territory, including the prized valley, and Pakistan retained only a narrow mountainous strip along the western edge. This small and rugged territory was given a new name, Azad Kashmir (in Urdu), or in English, Free Kashmir. It’s a long, thin crescent-shaped territory, about 150 miles long north-south and maybe 30-50 miles wide, with a population of around 4½ million, and it’s administered as an autonomous territory by Pakistan.
Adrian continued:
Although I had been into Indian-held Kashmir on two previous occasions (and while there I saw India's Radio Kashmir), this was my first visit to Azad Kashmir. When the appointed duties of my Pakistan itinerary were completed, I boarded a country bus in the capital city, Islamabad, for the arduous journey up into mountainous Azad Kashmir. Soon we were in the hilly areas, and for many hours, the bus bumped over narrow winding, unpaved roads, cut into the rock along the edge of steep gorges, several thousand feet deep. Here in these localities, it is the practice of drivers to pass each other slowly on the wrong side of the road, so that correct judgment can be made regarding the rising cliff on one side and the falling ravine on the other.
On a sunny Asian afternoon, the bus arrived in Muzaffarabad, the tiny capital city in the north of Azad Kashmir. This is a typical Himalayan town located in a picturesque area of the mountains near the confluence of two large rivers. The town hugs the sides of the hills and the usual bazaar runs the length of the main street. I checked into what might euphemistically be called the “best” local hotel.
In the late afternoon, I walked the town, and the next morning I went up to the radio station, which was clearly identified by a large sign, "Azad Kashmir Radio". It was located at the upper end of the bazaar area, with a delightful view of the valleys and mountains and an overview of the town. I was received by the Director and he authorized an official tour of his station. It had been inaugurated there on October 15, 1961.
The main building on the small AKR estate housed the studios and offices for "Azad Kashmir Radio, Muzaffarabad". At the time of my visit, a music recording session was under way, with several local musicians sitting in little clumps on the carpeted floor. It was reminiscent of music recordings in my own radio studio for Adventist World Radio back in Poona, India.
The second and smaller building contained two transmitters, a 1 kW unit radiating in the 3 MHz tropical shortwave band, and a 10 kW AM unit radiating on 1510 kHz. As I left the property, I glanced at the three masts which support the low-slung AM and shortwave antennas.
At the time of my visit, a new 150 kW transmitter was radiating test transmissions on 792 kHz medium wave. This unit was at a new location on a knoll overlooking the highway just before entering the other end of the town. This new unit was testing on air at midday local time on 792 kHz and it was brought into regular service a month later. The antenna appeared to be a 5/8th wave vertical radiator. It is probable that the older 10 kW AM unit was removed from service soon after the new 150 kW transmitter assumed regular broadcasting.
This was a sign-on of Azad Kashmir Radio, Muzaffarabad in September 2006:
Audio Clip - 2006 09 03 - Pakistan - Azad Kashmir Radio, Muzzafarabad - sign on available at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan
So, at least, part of the mystery was now solved. Azad Kashmir Radio, Muzaffarabad was indeed a legitimate radio broadcasting station, radiating local programs on a tropical band channel. The low power output accounted for the fact that the station was not heard regularly at great distances. But, what about the other station with the identification of "Azad Kashmir Radio, Trar Khel"?
The next day, I boarded another bus for the rugged return journey back into Pakistan, but this time traversing the southern route out of Azad Kashmir, via Trar Khel. Although Trar Khel was briefly the capital "city" of Azad Kashmir, it is in reality no more than a small, unheralded village.
While in this second locality I enquired about AKR Trar Khel, and several people knew nothing about it, perhaps intentionally. I then talked with the postmaster, and he told me that all mail addressed to AKR Trar Khel is bundled up and forwarded to an address in Rawalpindi. So that, then, was the answer. AKR Trar Khel is not located in Trar Khel at all, but rather in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Before leaving the area, I tuned in to the channels used for the broadcasts from the two AKR stations, and was surprised that reception from both stations was particularly poor in Trar Khel.
When I returned to the twin city complex in Pakistan, Islamabad - Rawalpindi, I discovered that AKR Trar Khel is indeed located in Rawalpindi. Program production for this station takes place in its own studio complex, which is located on a main thoroughfare running through the city. On many occasions I had seen this modest and unidentified white building without realizing its significance to the radio world. It is located within walking distance of the city's only regular radio station, Radio Pakistan, Rawalpindi.
The programs of Azad Kashmir Radio, Trar Khel were broadcast from a 10 kW transmitter located at the large shortwave base operated by Radio Pakistan. This base, 15 miles out of town along the Grand Trunk Road towards Lahore, was actually two bases side by side. There were believed to be eight active transmitters at that location, with output powers of 10, 100 and 250 kW. One of the original 10 kW transmitters in the older of the two bases was the one used for the programs of Azad Kashmir Radio, Trar Khel. (The WRTH and other international radio publications listed the "Trar Khel" - Rawalpindi transmitter as being 100 kW, but my experience would suggest that usually a 10 kW transmitter was used.)
Interestingly, even though this was supposed to be a somewhat clandestine operation, the local village people near the transmitter base were ‘in-the-know’ and listened to Azad Kashmir Radio, "Trar Khel" on their small transistor receivers. Although this outlet purports to be located in Trar Khel, half a day's journey by bus across the mountains, it is in reality broadcasting to Trar Khel and not from Trar Khel.
This was a sign-on from Azad Kashmir Radio, Trar Khel in October 2016:
Audio clip - 2016 10 00 - Pakistan - Azad Kashmir Radio, Trar Khel - sign-on available at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan
Ironically, there once was a small radio station actually located in the village of Trar Khel – a mobile unit which began broadcasting on April 16, 1948. The studio was housed in an army truck and a low-powered tropical-band transmitter was in another. Although it is not known how long the station was on the air, it is probable the station was in use for no more than a few months at the most. It is not known exactly when programming was transferred from the mobile units in Trar Khel back to the permanent site in Rawalpindi, although still announced as AKR Trar Khel. However, an FIBS listing shows two shortwave channels in use for AKR Trar Khel in 1949, so it is probable the Rawalpindi facility of AKR came into operation at the end of 1948.
Use of shortwave for broadcasting in and from Pakistan ended in 2021. But they do still make quite a lot of use of medium wave in that part of the world, and if you open this year’s edition of the WRTH, what do you find? Azad Kashmir Radio, Muzaffarabad still on 792 kHz in the north but now with 100 kW, and also Azad Kashmir Radio from a new location, Mirpur, in the south, with 40kW on 936 kHz, plus a small number of low-power FM stations.
There’s also a very interesting story about Adrian’s attempts to obtain QSL’s from these stations in Azad Kashmir, but we’re out of time for today. Perhaps I can bring that another week.
Back to you. Jeff.
(Ray Robinson/Wavescan)
