Radio Veritas Asia’s Bengali Service celebrates RVA Day

Radio Veritas Asia’s Bengali Language Service celebrated RVA Day at Tejgaon Church Community Center, Dhaka, in Bangladesh, on December 16.

About a hundred listeners from all over the country, including priests and nuns from various formation houses, associations, and hostels, attended the event.

The program started with the Eucharistic celebration officiated by Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario with Father Bulbul Augustine Rebeiro, director of the Christian Communication Center, Father Kamal Corraya, Father Patrick Gomes, and Father Hamlet, CSC.

 “Today is a day of joy and pride for us because we are also celebrating our country’s Victory Day,” said Father Rebeiro in his welcome address.

“On this day, we remember our brave soldiers who have won the battle of life by giving themselves for our country,” said the priest.

“I express respect and gratitude to all of them,” he added.

“On this day we are also celebrating Radio Veritas Day. This day is a special day for all of us,” said Father Rebeiro.

Cardinal D'Rozario said he came to the celebration remembering “many things of the past.”

“I was associated with Veritas from 1991 until 1996,” he said, adding that during those days, people enjoyed the programs that offered “dialogue,” raised consciousness, and played devotional songs.

 “When there was no media, Radio Veritas was the voice of the voiceless,” he said.

“We all know that RVA is running 22 languages ​​in Asia,” said the cardinal, but while the station is based in Manila, its contents are also published in Bengali.

The cardinal said RVA has become a “bridge” between the two Bengals -- India and Bangladesh.

On December 1, 1980, RVA started broadcasting Bengali language programs for the Bengali speaking people of Asia. RVA has since been called “the Voice of Asian Christianity.”

Bishop James Romen Boiragi of Khulna, chairman of the Social Communication Commission, noted that many listeners joined the celebration even with the short notice.

“This shows us their immense love for Radio Veritas Asia,” said the bishop who sent a message via video.

“For more than 50 years, Radio Veritas Asia preached truth and justice through their programs,” he said.

Father Corraya, former director of the Christian Communication Center, said he was directly associated with the Bengali service of RVA and described it as “a burning light … where no religion caste is seen.”

“When the lamp burns, it gives light to all,” he said, adding that only RVA offered a cultural exchange between Bengalis in the two Bengals.

“[RVA] has been used as a model of many FM radios in Bangladesh," said the priest.

One of the participants in the celebration, Gaur Mohan Das, president of Dear Bandhujon Betar Listener Club, said he enjoyed interacting with new and old listeners, adding that his experience “cannot be expressed in words.”

“I feel very happy to become part of the Radio Veritas Asia family," he said.

 Another participant, Sazzad Hossain Riju, a listener of RVA Bangla programs since 2001, said the diversity of RVA’s productions “fascinates me.”

 "Every program of Radio Veritas is informative and contributes to social consciousness," said Sazzad.  

During the event, Father Rebeiro offered special thanks to Sister Mary Anna Gomes, RNDM, for her long service in RVA as a producer.

RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local languages.

In 2018, responding to the emerging media context, RVA moved from short-wave radio to digital media platforms.

RVA “proclaims the Good News” through its websites and social media platforms in English and 22 Asian Languages.

In 1974, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences assumed full responsibility for RVA, making RVA a common project of the Church in Asia under the FABC Office of Social Communications.

Today RVA has emerged as the digital voice of the Church in Asia, engaging both "global" and "local" Asians in continuous dialogue on religion, culture, and solidarity with the poor. - Nikhil Gomes