MixTogether & Friends

The BBC Asian Network faces closure, but Vijay Sharma (the head of the Network) is nowhere to be seen.

Yesterday the Guardian published an article by Nihal, one of the top presenters from the Asian Network. He appears to have been drafted in to make the case for the survival of the Network in its current form. Although Nihal is probably the most widely known presenter from the Asian Network (he also has a show on Radio1) he is by no means the most senior member of staff at the station.

BBC Asian Network is ultimately under the control of Andy Parfitt, who controls BBC Radio 1, Popular Music, BBC 1Xtra, BBC Asian Network and BBC Switch.

Vijay Sharma is responsible for managing the Asian Network, followed by Husain Husaini and ‘Markie’ Mark Strippel. None of these senior staff members has made any public comment since it was announced that the Asian Network faces closure.

Dhiren Katwa, senior news editor at Asian Voice, complained over a month ago that Vijay Sharma had been ‘in hiding’. Nothing appears to have changed.

It is quite unbelievable that DJs and presenters are being left to defend the station, while the senior management team (who have attracted much of the criticism for the station’s troubles in recent days) are nowhere to be seen.