Srinagar: The Jammu Kashmir Youth Media Federation has alleged that every Kashmiri artist is facing a tough time for the past ten years due to the change of policy at DD Kashmir.
In a statement issued here, the JK Youth Media Federation said: “As we all are aware of the situation being faced by every Kashmiri artist for the past ten years, it is time we take or make the concerned department take action against the discrimination against our fellow artists.”
“The entire community of Kashmiri artists depend on the govt sponsored channel, i.e, DD Kashir which was created with the sole motive of uplifting the art and culture and the artists of Kashmir, yet it has not remained the same,” reads the statement.
“The motive of the channel has changed as the centre of focus of the channel has shifted from showcasing ‘Kashmiri Art and Culture’ to being a platform for flop Bollywood movies with no entertainment content for the Kashmiris. It is amusing to see how the central government, as well as the state government, is reluctant in addressing the problems of the artists,” it said.
“Every other sector across India and world have faced a down surge in their operation and finances except the Kashmiri Artists fraternity since it has been witnessing a similar downfall in their earnings for the past 10 years as the payment of the artists have been hanging for many years now with no clarity on when they’ll be released,” it added.
“There have been some calls from the channel to some of our fellow producers to submit proposals for acquisition but unfortunately that has remained pending too. Artists of Kashmir are witnessing the worst era whilst there has been no activity by DDK or Radio Kashmir or JKCAAL in tackling the hard times. Operations in DDK had terminated around 10 years ago, with payment schedule unsure, which in turn made the entire fraternity along with theatre workers struggle for a living,” said Javiad Ahmad Khan, one of the undersigners of the statement.
“It is also seen that there have been no shows that reflect the art and culture of Kashmir since August 5, 2019. It is a worrying situation for every Kashmiri artist to see the sole motive of the channel to die slowly, i.e, reflecting the culture of Kashmir through the regional channel, DD Kashmir. The channel which was started to showcase Kashmiri Film Industry is now running flop Bollywood movies at prime times,” he said.
“The channel was launched to showcase the local programmes but unfortunately, the programmes are not telecasted anymore, instead feature films are being shown. The irony is that the channel has been turned into a “money minting machine for Mumbai-based producers whose flop movies are run at a prime time while local artists suffer. We simply want DD Kashir to work the way other regional channels are working. There is nothing ‘Kashur’ in Kashir channel. We are losing our culture as well as our identity,” said Khursheed Mir, another undersigner of the statement.
“Several artists have spent their hard-earned money on the programmes but they have not been telecasted yet and their payments have not been released. With this, the only demand of every Kashmiri Artist to the central as well as state agencies is that the local programmes should be telecasted again to revive the glory of this channel and the pending payments released as soon as possible,” he said.
