ISLAMABAD: The radio frequency authorities have admitted not developing any mechanism to block illegal use of airwaves despite a large number of violations over the years.

The unauthorised use of the radio spectrum, according to the Telecommunication (Reorganisation) Act of 1996, is an offence that may be punishable with imprisonment up to three years or a fine up to Rs 10 million or both.

However, the regulatory authority – the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) – has remained dormant throughout the years.

These details emerged on Thursday during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which reviewed the board’s audit report of the 2013-14 fiscal.

The moment PAC was informed several operators had been using radio frequencies illegally, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho from the PPP lamented the board could not even stop Mullah Fazlullah, the incumbent chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Mullah Radio, as he came to be known, illegally used airwaves of the Swat district to galvanise public support through a mixture of terror and persuasion in 2008 when the militants took over the picturesque valley.

“We did not have the equipment to block [Fazlullah’s station] but the agencies concerned [army] did have them,” replied the FAB executive director.

After the PAC meeting, a senior official told The Express Tribune that blocking an illegal radio station was not that simple.

Blocking, he said, is not possible unless the location of the radio is clearly identified. “Fazlullah was playing hide and seek back then in the valley but even then the law enforcement agencies managed to tackle him,” he claimed.

Responding to a question, he said blocking a particular radio in an area was difficult as blocking airwaves would trigger a blackout of all radio stations. The auditors lamented FAB could not develop functional regulations despite the lapse of 17 years since its establishment in 1996, allowing operators to use them illegally.

But FAB is not the only one to blame. According to the audit report, PTA also did not take timely action and issued general letters to the illegal users with a delay of one year.
Express Tribune

These statistics have been revealed in a report called the Fata Development Indicator Household Survey 2013-14. The report will officially be released on Monday (today).

The lack of a reliable source of information has left a gaping hole which people fill by listening to various stations such as Radio Dewa, Voice of America, Radio Mashal and BBC Radio stations. Worryingly, they also have access to militants-backed radio stations such as Khilafat and Da Haq Awaz.

Radio Al-Khilafat is run by Jamatul Ahrar while Da Haq Awaz is broadcast by the banned Lashkar-e-Islam, led by notorious militant Mangal Bagh. The broadcasters obviously believe it is an effective medium to spread their ideology. The stations sponsored by the militants are mainly run from across the border in Afghanistan.

“Compared to local FM channels or Radio Pakistan, Fata residents mostly depend on Mashal or BBC as their have wider reception in the area,” says an official, requesting anonymity.

“The channels from across the border transmit programmes at prime time in the evening when people are back from work or gathered at hujras.” The militants run their campaigns and continuously push their agendas from across the border, threatening anyone opposing them.

Senior officers, requesting anonymity, say the development indicator survey 2013-14 contained data about the performance of former governor Shaukatullah.

“There is no data about development in Fata under Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi,” a senior officer tells The Express Tribune. Though 20 months have passed since he took charge, there has been no survey in his reign despite the fact that tribal areas are said to be comparatively safer.

According to data made public, the report states unemployment rate among the youth between 15 and 24 years stands at 11.8%.

In addition, literacy rate in Fata is 33.%. At least 0.7% children between the ages of two and nine have one disability. Alarmingly, a skilled professional is at hand for only 29.5% of births. The findings further state only 38.3% of Fata households have flush latrines while 6.3% are equipped with underground drainage systems.

Keeping in view the mass displacement of people from many tribal agencies, there is a question mark over the authenticity of the report. No official of the secretariat was willing to speak on the record before the official release.

Express Tribune

The most recent addition is the Radio Khilafat station of the Islamic State (IS).

The station has traumatised locals not only in the tribal areas, but as far as the settled area of Charsadda near Mohmand Agency.

“They’ve been running all sorts of propaganda,” a resident of Charsadda tells The Express Tribune. “Most of the content is a call for recruitment.”

The battle for the airwaves in the northern parts of Pakistan is nothing new, but an IS-backed radio station is. A concentration of various militant outfits formed their basis on the areas bordering with Afghanistan.

The Khalifat Radio and a station being run by a banned outfit have been running their campaigns from across the border with intermittent transmissions, threatening the local population. The frequencies may have varied, but the messages stay the same.

A senior security official says the radios are being run from three main areas in Afghanistan—Nazyan, Archeen in Nangarhar and Kunar. “The radio transmitter is at a height of more than 7,000 feet which makes the reception area wider,” he reveals. “That is why the transmission can be heard in areas far [and wide] even though [the stations] are operated from within Afghan territory.”

Not only Pakistan, but the US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, in his unannounced visit to Kabul on Friday, had warned of “nests of IS” in Nangarhar. His views were earlier corroborated by General John Campbell who leads international forces in Afghanistan. He said IS militants had gathered over the last six months in Nangarhar and Kunar.

The developments on the Durand Line are not isolated incidents. In its previous maneuvers, the IS had managed to attract a faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan fighters who pledged allegiance to IS. The latter is now helping these fighters take on the Afghan Taliban.

A former jihadi and current politician in Afghanistan says one reason for this could be the fact that they all swore allegiance to Mullah Omar who is no longer there. “How else would you explain the same people fighting against each other?” he asks. “If IS manages to capture Afghan Taliban, they slaughter them,” he explains. “What they did to locals in Nangarhar is another story.”

He says in the absence of an administration, locals are leaking information to the Afghan Taliban to counter IS after a five-year-old child was killed along with his family.

Another security official in Pakistan says it is easier for militants to setup an FM transmitter as little equipment is required. He adds the presence of people affiliated with banned outfits who escaped the military operation is a recurrent problem.

However, he says these recent developments have not gone unnoticed. Meanwhile, officials in Pakistan have been quick to deny any radio transmissions from high profile militant commanders on its airwaves.

Express Tribune

According to the local media, the radio broadcast can be heard in Halimzai Tehsil of Mohmand Agency.

The brodcast begins after Maghrib and lasts for an hour. First there is a sermon that lasts for 30 to 40 minutes. Rest of the broadcast consists of naats and Jihadi anthems.

Pakistan Today

ISLAMABAD: Raza Ali Abidi, arguably one of the most accomplished broadcasters in South Asia, has called for a focus on airing infotainment so as to reintroduce radio listening in the country.

The veteran broadcaster and author of a number of books as well as travelogues cited the fast paced nature of broadcasting itself as the main reason for the decline in popularity of mass media such as radio.

The decline of the Pakistani media

Abidi, while speaking at an interactive session “Radio ki kahani” organised by the Allama Iqbal Open University on Thursday, said despite being taken over by various other media outlets, radio had remained resilient through the ages.

He suggested that the dynamics and possibilities of broadcasting infotainment-based content should be considered for making radio more palatable and relatable to people across the country.

To a question if radio still had the potential to attract large audiences, Abidi said he believed that if around a hundred well-trained youngsters were put to the task of broadcasting carefully selected content-based programmes then radio could thrive in the region once again.

The new voice on Radio: Rangers

“I personally think, given the competing nature of other relative mediums such as the TV and the internet, radio will also take its time to recognise and claim its place eventually,” he added.

Abidi said that given the inquisitive nature of young people and their quest for knowledge, he believed that radio would once again become as popular a medium as the television and the internet.

During the session, he also spoke about the importance of remaining well-versed in the Urdu language.

Abidi said that despite the fact that Urdu transmission had been somewhat tainted with the addition of English language words more recently, the [Urdu] language still thrived in the region, and that it was just a phase, which would pass .

“Urdu underwent many such phases as even Sir Syed had the habit of using a lot of words from English in his writings but that too did not really influence or harm the development and popularity of the language and Urdu broadcasting in general,” he said.

AIOU Vice-Chancellor Dr Shahid Siddiqui announced that the university had decided to expand its broadcasting network throughout the country by installing FM boosters in major cities.

He said that the FM transmitter boosters would also be installed in the remote areas of the country.

Siddiqui also announced that the university’s FM radio live broadcast timings had been extended till late night.

Abidi, a journalist and author, is best known for his radio documentaries on the Grand Trunk Road and the Indus River. He was born on 30 November 1936 in Roorkee, India.

In November 2013, Abidi was awarded an honourary doctorate by Islamia University of Bahawalpur for his services in the field of broadcasting, journalism and arts. He was also honored as adjunct professor by the same institute.
Express Tribune

Speaking to journalists, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Ibrahim said the radio station was functioning in Ghallanai since May 2009, but its range was limited to Mohmand and a few parts of Khyber Agency.

The upgrade will ensure the availability of high frequency to Mohmand, other parts of Bajaur and Khyber agencies as well as parts of Charsadda, Peshawar and Nowshera districts. Rs2.1 million has been allocated for the radio station’s upgrade.

The high frequency upgraded radio station will go on air on FM 98 and FM 96. Its total transmission time will be increased from two hours to eight hours and the station will feature multiple programmes on culture, education, health, agriculture, Islamic education, and patriotism.

Ibrahim stated that the radio station will also help with the eradication of militancy from the area. “In the past, FM radio stations in Swat and Bajaur have played a significant role in disseminating militant propaganda in the region. This time, the new radio station will counter all such propaganda,” he said.

Former peace committee leader Malik Muhammad Ali Haleemzai concurred with Ibrahim and said the radio station is another method of eradicating militancy from the region.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PTI leader Rahim Shah said that the station will provide entertainment, but it is not possible to spread political awareness through it. “It may not help in addressing the problems of the people and will not be able to serve as an independent media actor,” he said.

Express Tribune

This was resolved at a National Radio Conference convened in Islamabad in December 2011 to mark the first 10 years of independent radio broadcast sector in Pakistan, to review successes and challenges of the first 10 years of private radio in Pakistan and to chart a course for the second decade of radio.

The two-day conference, which was also attended by educational broadcasters – campus FM radio stations of universities with journalism and communications departments – and government-run radio stations in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, adopted the following Declaration:

DECLARATION – National Radio Conference – December 9, 2011 – Islamabad, Pakistan

“We the independent FM stations of Pakistan, representing about 40 private FM stations in all four provinces of Pakistan – and Azad Kashmir, at a National Conference Radio Conference held in Islamabad on December 8 and 9, 2011, by Intermedia Pakistan, which convened to review the successes and challenges of the independent radio sector for the last decade and to chart a roadmap for professional development for next decade, assert the following:

As a professional sector, the independent FM stations of Pakistan affirm our commitment to community development through representation of community interests and focus on community service through our broadcast operations.

The independent radio stations of Pakistan are establishing an association that will focus on development of this sector along professional lines dedicated to defending its rights and responsibilities, business and professional development, forging partnerships with local communities and other stakeholders and serving as the primary watchdog of local community interests across Pakistan. For this purpose, a Steering Committee comprising broadcasters Waseem Ahmed, Naeem Mirza, Rafiq Fieca, Mahesh Kumar and Azhar Hussain has been set up with Adnan Rehmat of Intermedia Pakistan as coordinator, which will draft the mission statement, objectives, constitution and rules and regulations of the proposed association of independent radio stations of Pakistan.

The independent FM radio sector in Pakistan is a natural partner of the civil society of Pakistan and the development sector in our collective endeavor of promoting a development agenda for the local communities across Pakistan.

The independent FM radio sector in Pakistan is happy to serve in – and seeks to strengthen – its principal role as a bridge between the local communities and the local governments to promote a community development agenda through local dialogue.

The educational broadcasters – particularly through the Educational Broadcasters Forum (EBF), which represents universities in the country with journalism departments and campus radio stations – support the independent radio broadcasters in their cause for greater professionalization and offer a partnership between these two groups to further promote the professionalization of the overall broadcast sector in Pakistan.

“Through a unanimous resolution, we the independent FM stations of Pakistan also demand the following:

The independent radio broadcast sector should be recognized and acknowledged as the principal voice of local communities across Pakistan

The regulatory regime governing the broadcast sector in Pakistan should be urgently reformed in consultation with the independent broadcast sector, particularly the radio sector, to reflect the new dynamics of the media landscape as the current laws predate the existing broadcast sector and which were drafted without consultation. Among other reforms this should include representation of the independent broadcast sector, including the independent radio sector, on the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Board.

The federal, provincial and district governments should acknowledge and approve the independent radio sector as one of the key recipients of government resources dedicated to development as a community service priority.

The government authorities should promote community-friendly policies aimed at supporting community radio broadcast media and focus on expanding the radio media map to the communities across two-thirds of Pakistan, which currently do not have local radio stations, and therefore no platform to articulate their interests to the authorities and amongst themselves.

Background to the National Radio Conference “Building a Better Broadcast Sector in Pakistan”

Are FM radio stations in Pakistan becoming a voice of local communities or not? Why has radio in Pakistan not captured popular imagination as a source of information like TV and newspapers? These questions were among a host of issues that were tackled in a two-day national conference of Pakistan’s leading FM stations held in Islamabad on Dec 8-9, 2011.

Intermedia Pakistan, a Pakistani media development organization that has been providing advocacy, research and training resources for the radio sector since 2005, conducted the conference titled “FM Radio as a Voice for Local Communities – Building a Better Broadcast Sector in Pakistan”.

The conference brought together the ownership and senior management of over 40 FM radio stations from all over Pakistan to take stock of 10 years of independent broadcasting in Pakistan and celebrate its successes and discuss the challenges and to try and map what the trends will be over the next 10 years.

The conference, supported by Europe-based International Media Support (IMS), also aimed to provide opportunities for all key broadcast stakeholders such as Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), community groups, government authorities and radio associations, etc., to promote networking and collaboration opportunities.

It has almost been 10 years since the broadcast sector regulator Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) was established to promote independent broadcast media in the country. “This milestone calls for a review of the successes and challenges of the dozens of FM radio stations in Pakistan and how they have become to be an every-day reality in both the urban and rural areas in large parts of the country and are positively contributing to a sense of community,” Adnan Rehmat, the Executive Director of Intermedia Pakistan said at the conference.

The first day of the conference (Dec 8, 2011) focused on evaluation and reviewing the successes and shortcoming of the radio sector in Pakistan. Separate sessions included discussions on perspectives from abroad on the role of radio in community service; the role of PEMRA in sectoral development; ten years of FM radio in Pakistan; the future of radio in Pakistan; community service through radio – the role of the regulator and the radio stations; collaboration for community – how can communities and radio stations forge partnerships; and commitment to community – the way forward for radio stations.

The second day of the conference (Dec 9, 2011) focused on discussing ways and mechanisms of building networking among Pakistan’s FM stations including discussions on why radio has still to emerge as a popular public information medium in the country; models of sectoral representation for radio and association building; mapping possibilities and opportunities for professional networking of radio stations; future plan of action for Pakistan’s radio sector and designing a charter of collaboration.

Intermedia