One of the mistakes of some coverage of extremist movements in different parts of the world is the presumption that ideologies are simply generated and transmitted in a vacuum: those people are just crazy, and you can’t change them. In fact, with the consolidation of Nazi Power in Germany after 1933, and, more recently, with the events leading up to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 (see this), the specific medium through which extremists propagated their ideas — namely, the radio — mattered a great deal.

Radio also figures keenly today in some of the most unstable regions of Pakistan, an issue explored in depth in a story in this month’s issue of Himal Southasian, “Mullah Radio.” In some regions of Pakistan, including the Swat Valley and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), militant Islamists have been particularly effective in spreading their message via FM radio. One key figure is a guy named Maulana Fazlullah:

[Maulana] Fazlullah set up an illegal FM radio station, known as Fazlullah FM, broadcasting on 92 megahertz. The technology to do so was not only quite affordable, costing as little as PKR 15,000 (less than USD 200); it was also completely portable, thus allowing its owners to easily outpace the authorities’ attempts to shut them down. Despite the broadcast’s relatively small coverage area (it was at first unable even to reach the rim of the Swat Valley), Fazlullah’s nightly tirades against the Americans and then-President Pervez Musharraf quickly earned him a degree of fame among the locals, who dubbed him the ‘Radio Mullah’. (link)

The particular ins and outs of Radio Fazlullah are also worth attending to:

At that time, in the early days, Fazlullah was listened to mostly by women at home (and children); indeed, this was the first time that women of the area had ever been able to listen directly to a preaching mullah, as they are traditionally absent from the actual sermons. At his beckoning, these women donated their jewellery en masse, and he amassed a fortune amounting to millions of rupees. But Fazlullah’s popularity among women began to change in late October 2007, when militants loyal to Fazlullah beheaded four policemen, parading their severed heads through Swat. The women started to be less excited about Fazlullah. This incident also marked the start of a reign of fear, as local zealots increasingly looked to the Radio Mullah to fuel a war for the enforcement of Sharia as well as against opponents including politicians, the army, the police and those supporting them. As fighting intensified, the station became increasingly powerful – and ever more threatening to the army, police, politicians and civilians.

The broader reaction mirrored that of the women, though with an ironic twist. In the beginning, the local menfolk and powerbrokers had not taken Fazlullah’s broadcasts particularly seriously. But after a ban was enacted on women visiting markets and on education for girls – both of which were spearheaded by the radio station – the number of listeners increased substantially. This was as much out of fear as enthusiasm, however, with the population now desperate to stay informed on exactly what the militants were planning – what they would say about the fighting, at whom they would aim their threats on any given day. (link)

What I think is interesting about this is, first, the specifics of the listenership (women at home, listening in the daytime). It’s also interesting to see the author’s speculation that the station was first listened to out of enthusiasm, and later out of fear. Later in the story, the author also talks about counter-programming that has been set up, by American-funded groups as well as the government. The FATA-sponsored counter-programming has apparently been quite popular.

In general, stories like these remind one how unpredictable factors can make it difficult to really get a sense of what is really going on in a particular region of the world. You could flood a region with propaganda and aid, but have all your efforts undercut by a Mullah with a microphone and $200 of radio equipment. That said, focusing on the medium might give opponents of extremist movements something concrete to focus on. It’s very difficult to win a point-by-point debate with any kind of religious extremist (as I know all too well); it’s perhaps not quite as hard to block something like a radio station, even a portable one.

You can read the rest of the article here.