By: Sidrah Roghay

Karachi: As a delegation of 22 journalists from Mumbai were welcomed at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, a declaration of cooperation was signed under which journalists agreed to use acceptable language while reporting events in both countries and to eliminate words which propagate hate speech.

In a historic move, the presidents of the Karachi and Mumbai press clubs, Tahir Hasan Khan and Prakash Akolkar, respectively, decided that measures to improve cooperation between journalists from both countries should be taken.

This will involve exchange programmes for journalists of the two cities every alternate year which would offer internships for young journalists, the exchange of national literature and strengthening of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc).

“The people who are there to protect the borders should do their duty. We are here to extend our friendship and do our duty,” said Tahir Hasan Khan. In his speech, he emphasised that there were “extremists and fundamentalists on both sides” and this should not be a reason to hold back.

Prakash Akolkar shared that at the Karachi airport during customs checking, he asked if the Hindi language would be an acceptable means of communication. To this, a customs official replied that only Urdu and English were understood.

“I told him I don’t speak Urdu and he replied, ‘You are speaking Urdu right now’”, the Mumbai Press Club president said. “A Sudden realisation struck me that even though our script was different, our words are the same,” he laughed.

He went on to say that the common man in both countries wanted peace and also urged the relaxation of visa regulations. He added that he wants to see more of Pakistan than just Karachi and Hyderabad, the only two cities for which the delegation was granted visas.

“When I landed in Karachi, I thought I was looking into a mirror because there were so many similarities,” said Anahita Mukherjee, a journalist from the Times of India, who is also part of the Aman Ki Asha initiative.

Talking about divided families across the two countries, Mukherjee said that she lived in a Sindhi neighbourhood of Mumbai and met families who had relatives in Rajasthan and Karachi, but could not meet because of visa issues. “Even though the flight to Karachi was an hour and a half long, I felt like I had climbed a mountain, because crossing the border is so difficult.”

At the end of the welcome ceremony hosted at the Karachi Press Club, journalists from Mumbai were presented a memento and the Mumbai Press Club presented a shield to the KPC.

Earlier, at a roundtable discussion, journalists from both countries discussed measures that could be taken to strengthen the Saarc countries. Economic, cultural and medical suggestions were also made.

A member of the Pakistan Medical Association proposed that a “no Gutka or no betel nut day” should be observed and promoted by the media in both countries to address similar health problems.

Another member of the South Asian Free Media Association highlighted the sensitivity of issues facing both countries. “Before 26/11, media cooperation was at its peak, then a blame game started and this should be prevented. The media should act more responsibly.”

Talking about following the European Economic Integration Plan, some argued that extending trade would automatically resolve core issues as “greed is a good motivator”, while others said that political issues needed to be addressed foremost.

“The Maruti-Suzuki, which is made in India, is shipped to Dubai and then brought to Karachi. Imagine how much foreign exchange is lost because of sour relationships,” said an Indian economic reporter.

Senior Pakistani journalist Ghazi Salahuddin, while expressing the need for not just journalists to join hands but media houses to collaborate, said that public opinion in the two rival countries changed after the Aman ki Asha campaign was jointly launched by the Times of India and Jang Group.

“If this has to become an Asian century, we need to focus on similarities and not just our disputes,” said a member of the Indian delegation as he expressed the need to focus on labour and health laws in the Saarc countries.
Source: The News
Date:11/16/2011