BROADCASTING legend, Mr. Rafiq Ahmad Khan passed away in Jamaica yesterday after having contracted the Chikungunya virus.

A close colleague of his, Mr. Ron Robinson, in a tribute to Khan stated that Khan’s name will be “indelibly etched into the weave of the broadcast quilt” that should be woven for broadcast history and posterity.

‘THE RAF’
“Call the name of any great broadcaster of yesteryear and the name Rafiq Khan would be associated with their success. Indeed his worth was recognised throughout the region and beyond…he was fearfully, but fondly respected and endeared himself to us all,” Robinson reminisced.

“All the icons of the golden years of radio of the 60s, 70s and 80s benefited from the mentoring of ‘The Raf’. Not only was he a great motivator and teacher, but one of the finest practitioners of broadcasting.” – Ron Robinson

He added: “His advice became the solid foundation on which we built our careers, advice that is remembered to this day. As a programme director and, subsequently, General Manager, his uncanny ability to identify individual weaknesses and strengths in broadcasters made him the powerful motivator he was as he knew that ‘The Raf’ could do (or expertly advice on) what he demanded of us.”

“He has always been the kind of personality that inspired you.” — Shamshun Mohamed

According to him, broadcast history would be incomplete without the name Rafiq Khan deeply etched in it.
“All the icons of the golden years of radio of the 60s, 70s and 80s benefited from the mentoring of ‘The Raf.’” “Not only was he a great motivator and teacher, but one of the finest practitioners of broadcasting…He was simple and natural, especially his supreme command of the spoken word,” Robinson said.
He also recalled the fact that it was Khan who described the hoisting of the Golden Arrowhead for the first time on May 26, 1966, and this was because every other broadcaster at the time knew that he would be the best.

“There is no doubt that Rafiq was a giant in the field. We will not see another Rafiq in this generation.” – Rovin Deodat

“Guyanese were moved to tears at that moment…the Raf’s work was incomparable…this was complemented by a voice that was unique and, I repeat, a command of English that was enviable,” Robinson stated.

INSPIRATIONAL
Ms. Shamshun Mohamed who also worked with Khan, described him to the Guyana Chronicle as an inspiring individual.
She said: “I worked with Mr. Khan for a number of years at Radio Demerara, while he was General Manager, and I have always found him to be someone who set good examples and that was one of the hallmarks of his tenure. He has always been the kind of personality that inspired you.”
According to her, Khan has made significant contributions to the broadcasting field, both in and out of Guyana. “He will no doubt be very missed by those who had the privilege of knowing him, especially in the media broadcasting fraternity,” she said.

A GIANT
Another one of his colleagues, Dr. Rovin Deodat, offered his condolences to Mr. Khan’s family and highlighted that he was a “pioneer” in the broadcasting field locally, in the Caribbean and in other countries.
“I can talk for an hour about Rafiq, but the simple fact is that he was one of the greatest architects of broadcasting in Guyana. He set the benchmark for good broadcasting and for what a good broadcaster should be, in terms of quality and characteristics,” Deodat said.
He recalled that Khan schooled a number of other young people, including him – many of whom are today renowned personalities in broadcasting.
“Rafiq virtually took a number of young people including myself and other well-known broadcasters now and transformed us from individuals with potential talent and into the people who we are,” Deodat said.
He stressed that the one message Khan strived to impart in all those he mentored was that “Broadcasting not about the broadcaster, but about the public, about the people we served.”
“There is no doubt that Rafiq was a giant in the field. We will not see another Rafiq in this generation,” Deodat said.
Similar tributes have been pouring in from all quarters since news of Khan’s passing was made public.

HIS LIFE
Khan was involved in the broadcasting scene at a unique historical moment in the Caribbean. British broadcasting policymakers were grudgingly coming to recognise that the paramountcy of British cultural and political interests in the colonies had to make way for local interests.
Managing and influencing change in this area was a difficult role that he played well. Starting out as a radio announcer in 1949, when he was just 16 years old, he came up through the ranks. In 1956 Khan became Programme Director of Radio Demerara, British Guiana’s sole radio station in those days. In 1958 he set up and nurtured BGBS (which later became GBS) as a companion station to Radio Demerara. With both stations operating under the umbrella of the Guyana Broadcasting Company, he was appointed General Manager in 1970.
By then, British Guiana had gone through tumultuous changes, and had, in 1966, become an independent Guyana. In the year 1970 Guyana went on to become the Co- operative Republic of Guyana.
Throughout the changing scenes, Rafiq Khan coupled management skills with continued demonstration of his abilities as broadcaster par excellence and master of the spoken word. Notably, he led or participated in radio broadcast coverage of major national events in Guyana.
He also nurtured local broadcast talents and in some way touched the lives of virtually all professional Guyanese broadcasters of that period. He encouraged the production of local radio drama, comedy, and music, always insisting on the highest standards possible.
As head of a major media organisation, he could not escape the rough currents of political and social change. To his credit, he survived them rather well.
Armed with the experiences of a unique historical moment, with no textbook to go by, he himself became a textbook in managing and influencing change and development in broadcast communication in the Caribbean.
Even while Khan served the Guyana Broadcasting Company, he became Management Consultant to the Rediffusion Group of Broadcasting Systems in the Caribbean. After resigning from the Company in 1978, he served regional communication organisations in various capacities. In 1979, he began a period of 13 years with Unesco, 10 of them as Regional Communication Adviser for the Caribbean.
Khan continued promoting excellence in radio and television as he advised governments as well as non- government institutions on the development and use of communications nationally and regionally, as he lectured at UWI and University of Guyana, and as he served as Communications Consultant.
After retirement from UNESCO in 1992, he went into private practice as International Media Consultant.
Khan has received awards for his contributions to broadcast communications from governments and regional organisations throughout the Caribbean, including induction into the Caribbean Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1996.