End use of language of hate,say Pak journalists

Fazil Jamili,Editor (Internet) for Jang Group of Newspapers and a poet,said there were some encouraging signs as over the years,the hate-spewing discourse had moved out of Pakistan’s mainstream media reports and is today limited to the editorials in the right-wing media.

“The bloodshed that followed the post-Partition migration generated a lot of bitterness on both sides and this was reflected in the media,which for a long time continued to used headlines such as “Jahannum base” (went to hell) while reporting on the death of Indian soldiers. This kind of biased language was also evident in school textbooks. The same is true of the Indian media and textbooks,but today the situation is changing,” said Jamili.

Karamat Ali,Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research,emphasised on the need to refrain from using vitriolic language in the Indian and Pakistani media while reporting about each other. “Even today,certain newspapers refer to India as the “traditional rival”,“asli dushman” (eternal enemy) or “dushman mulk” (enemy state) while reporting on India-Pakistan cricket matches or other events. It is the responsibility of media to tone down this language of enmity,” said Ali,who is also a well-known peace activist.

Stressing on the vast similarities between the port cities of Mumbai and Karachi,Ali added that there has been some thaw in relations between the two nations over the past two years and it is now up to the media to strengthen it further. He said a step was taken in the direction in last November when a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed betweeen the Mumbai and Karachi press clubs during a visit of mediapersons from Mumbai to Karachi. The MoU said the media on both sides would prevent nationalism,jingoism or militarism from colouring their reportage.

The visits by the delegations from Mumbai and Karachi are aimed at highlighting issues pertaining to the rigid visa regime or the Sir Creek issue — both issues that affect visitors with relatives on either side or fishermen who languish behind bars if they accidentally stray on the other side of the exclusive economic zone.

Tahir Hasan Khan of The News International said a more liberal visa regime is required to dispel the misconception of people on both sides. The view was supported by Tourism and PWD minister from NCP Chhagan Bhujbal who met the delegation on Monday night.

“Security is of concern,which is why the governments are rigid when it comes to issuing visas but why trouble the common man,” said Bhujbal. The delegation is expected to meet CM Prithviraj Chavan,Home Minister R R Patil,MP Sanjeev Naik,Navi Mumbai municipal commissioner and heads of various political parties in the course of their five-day stay in the city.