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Of Outlaws and Forced Marriages: Radio Show Tackles Key Issues in Tribal Region

Photo: John Butt/Internews Reporter Sonia Bukhari (right) covers issues in the home for the cross-border radio program. "It was our aim that we should work for the betterment of society. This work of ours is still continuing, regardless of whether we are paid or not paid."

(August 3, 2007) In the remote mountainous region along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where tribal rule and tradition trump the rule of law, a remarkable radio program produced by and for the local population is tackling the region’s most sensitive issues head-on.

The weekly radio program, Da Pulay Poray, whose Pashto name means “On the Borderline,” has – among many other topics of importance to the local population – extensively covered the tradition of giving sanctuary to “outlaws,” or militants hiding from the law. 

“This practice is at the root of conflict in the region over the past few years,” says Internews project director John Butt, who directs the program from Internews’ office in Peshawar, Pakistan. “Our radio reports show that outlaws are considered guests by the local population. But they have a duty to keep the peace.”

In one of the programs devoted to this topic, Malik Abdul Aziz from the Bajaur tribal agency is heard saying, “Whoever is granted asylum . . . has to listen to what we tell them, and act in accordance with our customs. They are duty-bound to live with us like tenants.” 

According to a listener survey Internews conducted in early 2006, Da Pulay Poray listeners on both sides of the border said one of the things they had learned from the program was that, in the words of one respondent, “One should not give asylum to unknown persons or those who are their country’s enemies, because strangers in the present age can destroy even their country.”

Da Pulay Poray is the only program broadcast in the border regions that covers news stories from the perspective of ordinary people, looking at sensitive issues such as the struggles of opium farmers in eastern Afghanistan to find other sources of income, the destructive tradition of blood feuds on the border region, and more recently sectarian conflict. In a deeply conservative region, the program was also one of the first to address women's issues, with stories produced by women journalists. Topics include the practice of giving girls in marriage without their consent to end disputes or to pay off debts.

The program incorporates traditional means of communication in its coverage of modern problems. Musicians perform original music on traditional instruments, while presenters incorporate verses from the Koran, and frequently interview tribal elders for their perspectives. (Listen to audio samples of the music and the programs, and read the English transcripts.)

Broadcast in Pashto on over thirty independent FM radio stations in the border regions since 2005, Da Pulay Poray is on the air from the North West Frontier Province in the north of Pakistan and Nangarhar in the east of Afghanistan, to Kandahar and Quetta in the south, on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border.

The radio program is part of the Pak-Afghan Cross-Border Radio Training and Production Project, which Internews began in 2004 to strengthen independent media in this region. The project has trained dozens of energetic, committed reporters from Pakistan and Afghanistan in radio journalism and production, and works with a core team of 30 reporters and stringers.

These reporters are so dedicated to the program that, when the grant funding ran out in March 2007, the staff decided to continue producing the program on a volunteer basis, dipping into their own personal savings to cover their expenses. As producer Shoaib Zada said, “If I am not being paid, okay, that is a problem for me. But if, God forbid, this program stops, then the voice of the people will stop.”

Farishta Shaykhani, an Afghan refugee living in Peshawar, explained why she continues to volunteer for the program, despite pressure from her family to quit: “By working for cross-border programs, I am able to help people. I will never abandon that help.”

While Internews continues to seek grant funding for the program, the staff members have been asking their listeners to send in contributions to offset production costs.

“Our work of putting on truly popular programs—highlighting ills in society through the eyes of ordinary people, and letting the same people suggest solutions to their problems—is a way to increase tolerance and understanding in the region,” said Project Director John Butt.

Internews has worked in Afghanistan since 2002 and in Pakistan since 2003 to support an open, diverse and vibrant independent media sector.