City Landmarks – Radio Pakistan Office

Talk about heritage buildings and the history attached to them and very few buildings in Karachi could boast as decorated a history as Broadcasting House of Radio Pakistan. What exactly is it used for now? well literally biting the dust. Preserving heritage buildings has never been our strong point but one could argue that perhaps Radio Pakistan deserved better since it was owned by the state itself and there was no ambiguity on its ownership.

Radio Pakistan building has been home to the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation since 1949. This is where eminent media personalities such as Z.A. Bukhari worked and laid the basis of a successful entertainment institution. This is where some of the most famous music shows and dramas were recorded, which inspired and entertained entire generations of our nation. In absence of television and other mediums of information, it was the nerve center of news for entire nation. This is where Presidents had come to address the nation and visiting head of states had given interviews (Imagine the star value of its guestbook). This is where Noor Jehan, Mehdi Hassan and many other musicians, poets and singers created some of most memorable music.

The studios stand abandoned today, and perhaps, for a very long time.

On October 2007, a fire had broken out on the first floor of the building, possibly due to an electrical short-circuit which burnt down the entire first floor along with archives and equipment of historical significance. Some of the offices were shifted to a new facility in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. New compounds have also been created around the original building are still in use by Radio Pakistan.