BHITSHAH (Matiari), Dec 13: Radio Bhitshah FM channel, which will broadcast information on and poetry of great Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai went on air on Saturday at a simple ceremony.

People travelling up and down the National Highway will be able to tune in to the channel and listen to Bhittai’s poetry.

Sindh Minister for Culture Ms Sassui Palijo and noted Sindhi intellectual Ibrahim Joyo inaugurated the channel’s transmission in place of Federal Information Minister Sherry Rehman who could not reach there from Islamabad.

A two kilowatt transmitter has been installed at the channel’s building housed in a building of the culture department and the radio’s transmission will be listened in a radius of 60 kilometres. Its test transmission has been on air for some time.

The minister laid a floral wreath on the grave of Bhittai before inaugurating the channel and participated in a live programme along with Ibrahim Joyo and DG of Radio Pakistan to mark formal beginning of the radio’s transmission.

“Bhittai’s message meets modern day’s requirements because he preached knowledge, love and peace for all times. His poetry reflects that he always abhorred illiteracy and now it’s up to us to work for the enlightenment on the pattern of Europe,” Joyo said in his comments.

He hailed the channel’s establishment and said that Bhittai’s poetry was a treasure trove of knowledge and light. “The channel will help our youth understand Bhittai’s poetry,” he said.

Sassui Palejo praised information department for opening the 6th FM channel in Sindh and said that it was an era of information and media. “The country is passing through a critical phase given the fact that Pakistan itself has been a victim of terrorism,” she said.

She stressed the need for creating a balanced society in Sindh and added that Sindh’s soil was not conducive for Talibanisation because people of Sindh were tolerant and they hated extremism.

Later, at a cultural programme at the Centre of Excellence in Bhitshah, intellectuals and writers said that the channel would help promote Sindhi language and message of Bhittai. Parwano Bhatti said that Radio Pakistan had worked hard to the message of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Radio was an important tool of information, which could be understood equally by literate and illiterate people, he said.

Former station director of Hyderabad Sikandar Baloch described Bhittai as a messenger of universal peace. It was media’s responsibility to follow his message and try to create a balanced and tolerant society in the province, he said.

Mr Joyo underlined the need for separating religion from politics and said that worldly institutions could not work like a seminary. He urged the audience to study Europe’s journey up the path to enlightenment.

He called for giving up the many customs prevalent in the society, which were outdated. “Bhittai is a heartthrob of Sindh people. He loved his homeland and its people,” he said.

Ms Palejo announced holding an international conference on the eve of Bhittai’s Urs, setting up Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai research cell and a website on the great Sufi poet.

She said that a plan had been prepared by the culture department for the forthcoming Urs for which Radio Pakistan would be taken on board.

She said that two Bhittai chairs at a cost of Rs2.5 million had been established in Karachi and Sindh universities while Khairpur University would have one by 2009.