Bangladesh Betar holds meeting to resume Urdu service

A notice for the meeting has been published on its website

Bangladesh Betar bosses have met to weigh the possibility of reviving its Urdu service.

According to a Betar official, the meeting was held on Thursday.

A notice regarding the meeting was published on the Bangladesh Betar website at 11am on the same day. The notice was posted the previous day.

When asked about the meeting's outcomes on Thursday evening, Mohammad Salahuddin, additional director general (programme) of the country's oldest electronic mass media, told bdnews24.com: "No decision has been made yet. We can't comment until a decision is reached. If a decision is made, it will be approved by the director general and sent to the ministry before any announcement is made."

The notice, signed by Director Shahnaj Begum, detailed that A Salam had requested the resumption of the Urdu service on behalf of registered artists on Sept 10. In response, Salahuddin scheduled the meeting for Thursday at 11am.

He also requested that the heads of the programme, engineering, and news divisions, along with unit heads from the headquarters and Dhaka, attend the meeting on time.

Bangladesh Betar says on its website its external services department broadcasts five hours of programming and news daily in Bengali, English, Arabic, Hindi, and Nepali via shortwave (4750 kHz, 63.16 metres), mobile app, and website.

The broadcasts aim to improve Bangladesh’s image globally and highlight the government’s development activities, as well as the country’s history, heritage, and culture.

The specialised unit also plays a crucial role in forging cultural bonds with various countries, presenting Bangladesh’s history and culture to expatriate Bangladeshis and foreign audiences in the Middle East, Europe, and South Asia, thereby serving as an audio envoy for the country, according to the state-run broadcaster.