Hans Rustad 14 radiostasjoner i Mogadishu innstilte bruken av all musikk tirsdag, og bøyde seg dermed for trusselen fra jihadistene. De hadde truet med alvorlige konsekvenser hvis ikke radioene sluttet med musikk innen tirsdag. Musikk er ifølge dem uislamsk.
The threat left radio stations scrambling to scrub even the briefest suggestion of music from their daily programming. «Bam! Bam! Bam!» — the sound of gunshots that Somalis in Mogadishu have grown accustomed to hearing for decades — was played by Radio Shabelle on its daily news broadcast to replace the music it usually uses to introduce the segment.
Similarly odd sounds — like the roar of an engine, a car horn, animal noises and the sound of water flowing — were used to announce programs on some of the other radio stations that stopped playing music.
«We have replaced the music of the early morning program with the sound of the cock, replaced the news music with the sound of the firing bullet and the night program of News Series with the sound of running horses,» said Osman Abdullahi Guure, the director of Radio Shabelle radio and TV, one of the most influential radio stations in Mogadishu.
«It was a really a crush,» he said. «We haven’t had time to replace all the programs at one time; instead we have chosen these sounds.»
The insurgent group, Hizbul Islam, issued its ultimatum ten days ago and gave Tuesday as the deadline to comply, saying that music was «unIslamic.» In other parts of the country, insurgents have taken over or shut down some radio stations. Last week, the Shabab, the country’s most powerful insurgent group, said it was banning foreign broadcasts like the BBC World Service and Voice of America, calling it Western propaganda that violated Islam.
The radio stations that stopped playing music on Tuesday are based in both insurgent and government-controlled areas of the ruined capital. Those located in insurgent-held territory seemed to have little alternative, but some of the media managers in government-controlled territory argued that the lack of security and the loss of advertising income led them to comply as well.
Vanlige folk ble lei seg over vedtaket. De følte de mistet ikke bare musikken, men pressefriheten.
Many residents expressed dismay at the new restrictions. «We are really losing of all hope of life,» said Hashi Abdullahi, who listens to music on the radio. The insurgents have «punished our life with bullets, and today they are punishing us by a ban on all types of music,» he said.
Many also worried about getting accurate and balanced news after learning that the radio stations followed the orders of the insurgent groups.
«I think that this was a test to terrorize the media in Mogadishu, and it’s seems like a justification to confiscate the radios that fail to comply with the order in the areas under their control, said Ugaas Mohamed Bashir, chief of the Somali minority clans and the vice chairman of Somali Traditional Elders Council.
