![]() ![]() ![]() “VOA was a reliable source of information about the events of 1971 starting with Pakistan Military’s Operation Searchlight and the ensuing Bangladesh Struggle for independence,” said Ghosh, who was among the few Indian journalists to have reported on the Liberation War from Bangladesh after entering that country. Terming the discontinuation of the VOA Bangla Service as a sad day in the history of journalism, veteran Indian journalist Manas Ghosh reminisced the days when he would tune in to their radio broadcast for getting authentic news of the happenings in Bangladesh during 1971 Liberation War. “The notion in the west that the liberation struggle in East Pakistan is not a freedom struggle was repudiated by the radio service of the VOA,” he added. VOA Bangla’s independent news broadcast not only enthralled audiences but also helped change perception in the west,” said Islam. “The period beginning in 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, ushered in a golden period for the service. The VOA’s Bangla service played a yeomen service during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.ĭhaka-based Researcher Ashraful Islam calls the coverage of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War by the VOA Bangla service as its golden age. VOA was a staple medium for most people when radio was the primary news medium and shortwave radio transmissions from outside the borders were a lifeline to the Bengali Speaking population for independent news and information.īringing to its Bangla listeners remarkable world events such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech and Neil Armstrong’s first walk on the Moon - both in the 1960s - to the disintegration of the Soviet Russia in 1991, VOA built its reputation and goodwill in the Indian Sub-continent. ![]() Launched in January 1958 when Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan and it was a territory under martial law with no television or private radio, the radio service brought independent news and information about the world and events taking place. “As the demand for TV and online access to news in Bangladesh expands, VOA’s Bangla service program offerings need to be on the platforms its audience already is most active,” said John Lippman, Acting VOA Programming Director, in a press release from the largest US international broadcaster. The reason being cited for the discontinuation of the Bangla service is the dwindling share of the service’s shortwave radio audiences that are now less than one percent, while VOA’s social media audiences have grown significantly. Voice of America’s (VOA) Bangla-language service - FM and shortwave radio transmissions - officially ended on Saturday, after 63 years of serving Bangladesh and the Bengali speaking Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. VOA transmitted the first-ever eyewitness account of the Ramna Massacre in Dhaka by the Pakistan Army ![]()
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