Quetta:Radio waves havelately been sweeping Pakistan'stroubled Balochistan province, playing hip tunes and holding at bay politicalturmoil, raging militancy, a separatist movement and trouble on the border withAfghanistan. 

A radio boom has overtaken the entire valley over the pastfew months, thanks to two FM stations. Although there are no clear estimates ormarket surveys, the number of radio listeners has increased tremendously. 

"Amidst fears that books and radio were two rapidlyfading mediums that continuously failed to attract Balochistan's youth, comesthe FM culture that has dramatically changed these perceptions," saidsources.

The boom acts as a balm for youth trying to reach out to theworld of music. This has been made possible by the two FM stations not airinganything remotely political. 

Utterly oblivious to sensitive subjects like politics andreligion, these two stations are engaged in entertaining their listeners withhip tunes from assorted genres. 

"In a largely uneducated society, where entertainmentis taboo and music is 'haraam' (not permissible), the FM stations, whereeducation and information go hand in hand, have come as a pleasant surprise forthe people of Balochistan," Rubina Rahim, Sachal 105 Station Director,told the newspaper. 

Walk inside a swanky bookshop, a drug store or a restaurantin the Balochistan capital and the visitor immediately notices the FM maniathat has come over the valley. 

At present, only two FM radio stations are operating in Quetta. Thegovernment-controlled FM 101, located inside the Pakistan BroadcastingCorporation (PBC) compound, was the first to start its transmission about twoyears ago. 

After nine months of trial transmission, a private station,Sachal 105, run by the Sachal Communication Group, became the second FM radiostation. 

Its service was regularised on Sep 20, 2006, and is justfour months old. 

Though controlled by the government, Tanveer Iqbal, themanager of FM 101, says FM 101 is very different from Radio Pakistan interms of censorship. "We try to preach love and harmony. Our RJs observeself-censorship. There are no government dictations as to what sort of songs wecan and can't play." 

"On radio, there is no artificiality. The language usedis a peculiar blend of English and Urdu, which is the one spoken colloquially.This frank and gracious lingo is easily digestible for listeners and makes FMradio different from traditional radio," she says. 

Enthused by listeners' response, Tanveer argues that Quetta and the rest ofBalochistan are very different from the image people living outside have aboutthe province. 

She said when the FM station began looking for talent inQuetta while launching Sachal it was surprised to see the huge number of youngmen and women who turned up for the auditions for RJ's. 

"There is no lack of talent and enthusiasm among theyouth of Balochistan, just a shortage of opportunities that bars them fromemploying their full potential," she says. 

"There is just no outlet for young men and women in Quetta. They don't knowwhat to do, so they end up being exploited either by religious or nationalistelements for subversive activities,"she said.
 

The FM radio stations in Balochistan are also gainingpopularity for the wide coverage given to regional languages. For instance,Sachal 105 airs programmes, most of them musical, in seven languages. These areUrdu, English, Balochi, Pashtoo, Bravi, Persian and Sindhi. Though FM 101 airssongs in several languages, its programs are presented solely in Urdu.
 

FM 101 is on the air 23 hours a day, while Sachal 105broadcasts for 18 hours. The RJs at both these stations, both young men andwomen, are mostly students from the universities of Balochistan. 

While these FM stations are gaining tremendous popularityamong all listeners, the management of the privately owned Sachal 105 says thebiggest problem is a shortage of advertisers, cutting the station's revenuegeneration. 

"Quettahas no large public or private companies at all. People love to listen tomusic, but they prefer to advertise their products on cable television or inthe local newspapers," says Rahim.