Making use of radio

While the power of radio has more or less been on the wane in the urban centres, the medium still has a huge influence in more remote locations, which includes our tribal areas. Radio was the medium which stirred up the Taliban frenzy in many places in the tribal areas, with Maulana Fazlullh — commonly known as ‘Mullah Radio’ — using it to spread his message of hate into every household in a manner few other mediums could achieve. In this sense, the government’s decision to set up four FM radio stations across the tribal belt made sense. The idea, obviously, was to change mindsets and win over the hearts of the people — that rather clichéd phrase we have heard so often — and lead them away from militant hands towards mainstream national life.

Sadly, due to mismanagement — like so many other official policies — this attempt was unsuccessful. Indeed, it may have had just the opposite impact. Rather than voicing the views and thinking of the people of these areas, or emphasising their needs, the Radio Pakistan channels were used as an official propaganda tool. On the other hand, there are reports, which state that the Pashto language services of international radio stations are far more popular than the government-run channels. In fact, one of the government-run stations in South Waziristan has already been closed.

Meanwhile, despite a ban, stations run by the Taliban continue to function illegally. Their message remains vicious and full of hate. This is a case of a policy gone horribly wrong. The plan of using radio to win over the populace, could have succeeded but it has not because of sheer incompetence, coupled quite possibly, with a lack of genuine interest and commitment towards bringing about change in those parts of the country where distrust for officialdom still runs high. In other words, a valuable opportunity to address the problems faced by the people of the tribal belt has been lost.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2012.