Sittwe: In a bid to propagate its strategies and activities among the ethnic nationalities of Burma, the Burmese military junta has extended its ethnic radio programs to one hour long slots.
According to a listener, "The ethnic radio program for seven major nationalities in Burma was being aired through the Myanmar Broadcasting Service in Naypyidaw while each nationality got an hour on air per day in their respective languages."
The seven major nationalities, which are represented in the radio programs, are Arakanese, Mon, Kachin, Shan, Karen, Kayah, and Chin.
"The Arakanese program is aired every day from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm. Most of the time is used for Arakanese national songs. But, the radio airs the policies of the military junta between the songs, one after another, using up nearly 30 minutes," the listener said.
The Burmese military junta did not allow airing of Arakanese nationalist songs in the past, but is now attempting to draw the Arakanese people to listen to the radio program.
According to a local source, even though the Arakanese radio program airs Arakanese songs through the Myanmar Broadcasting Service, the program is less popular than the BBC, VOA, and RFA.
The majority of the people still listen to the BBC, VOA, and RFA to get accurate and unbiased news about Burma.
When asked over the phone about Sittwe FM radio, a monk told Narinjara that Burma Information Minister, Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan once told a senior monk in Sittwe, that the Burmese military junta had been defeated in the media war with opposition groups, despite the junta having the upper hand in other sectors.
The military junta recently set up a FM radio station in Sittwe, to propagate its policies. Before the radio program, the junta had set up a printing house in Sittwe to publish its newspapers - Kaymon and New Light of Myanmar - for local distribution to the Arakanese people. However, these attempts to target people through the media have apparently failed to gain the support of the Arakanese population.
Radio Free Asia (Burmese) and the Democratic Voice of Burma also air programs every day in the various ethnic languages, and all major ethnic nationalities in Burma receive nearly 30 minutes a day of programs in their language.
