Pakistan: crossing borders, sharing words, joining the dots

Pushing back the boundaries. That¿s what media women from South Asia attempted to do - in both a real and figurative sense - when they met up in Lahore recently to form the South Asia Women in Media (SAWP), a professional platform. In doing so they had to do more than merely cross national borders, they were attempting to transcend the borders of professional hierarchy and social convention.

When 200 women, speaking at least 10 languages between them, from eight countries - some of which are hostile to each other - get to meet on one platform, there is bound to be a fair degree of friction and chaos. But there was plenty of meeting ground, energy and shared expectations as well. Mannika Chopra, a senior Delhi-based journalist put it this way, "South Asia is full of complexities. Setting up SAWM is like saying, ¿stand up and be counted¿ in terms of tackling these complexities."

At the end of the two-day exercise everybody felt that they had gained from listening to each other¿s stories. They also broadly agreed that media women in the region needed a more equal, secure and enabling work environment, and that the concerns of ordinary women here required greater media attention. The document that emerged from the meet underlined this: "SAWM will work towards the increased participation of women in the media, equal wages and a gender sensitive environment. It will focus on women¿s rights and the fair representation of women."

What cannot be denied is that women are much more of an emphatic presence in the South Asian media than even five years ago. The Lahore meet established this: There were 33 representatives from India; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal had contingents of 15 each; while five-member teams came from Bhutan and the Maldives. As Nasimun Ara Huq, the feature editor of ¿Bangladesh Shomoy¿, said with a smile, "When I started my career 35 years ago, I was the focus of much curiosity. At night, when I used to return around one a.m., people would conclude that I cannot be a ¿good¿ girl. Today, women journalists can come back home at three am and still be considered ¿good¿."

Women journalists may now be considered "good" but they continue to be "untouchables" remarked Sangeeta Lama, a Kathmandu-based radio journalist. "In Nepal, women journalists are too insignificant to matter. There are only around 500 of us and sometimes we joke that we have become untouchables because we can¿t touch so many stories - the important beats are still earmarked for men!" said Lama.

Neighbouring Bhutan, which has only recently opened up the media, has about five newspapers but no woman editor and only got its first female chief sub-editor some months ago. But Kezang Choden, who incidentally did her journalism course in India, blamed this state of affairs on the women themselves. "Bhutan, unlike many other South Asian countries, has a matriarchal society. Unfortunately, many women do not wish to use their social status to educate themselves and prefer to stay at home and be secure in their access to family wealth."

Rising fundamentalism is a very real concern in many of the countries in the region. Said Rehana Hakim, editor-in-chief of the Karachi-based monthly, ¿Newsline¿, "We have people in government defending honour killings. Women media persons need help - not to access special privileges but just to function as normal journalists." Shehar Bano Khan, a Lahore-based freelancer, who was earlier working for ¿The Dawn¿, believed that this is exactly why something like SAWM is needed. "We are living in tenuous times. This region has one of the worst records of women¿s rights in the world. That¿s why it is so important to raise our voices and strengthen our bonds," she said.

"In Afghanistan, women are fighting to survive," informed Gulalai Habib, Chief Editor, ¿Duniya-e-Zan¿. "The future is dark for women and we need to develop eyes and ears to participate in society with equality, both as women and as media professionals." Shahera Sharif, also from Afghanistan, observed that culturally Afghan society is still not comfortable with the idea of the female journalist, "Women media persons in our country cannot travel freely because of lack of security. We face threats from warlords, corrupt government officials and from our own families," she said.

Fortunately, many are quite prepared to fight the good fight for space in the public sphere and Male-based journalist, Irushaadha Abdul Sattar, counts herself among them. "Fundamentalism had gained tremendous ground in the Maldives after the tsunami and the insecurities it brought in its wake. This rising fundamentalism is encroaching upon our rights, both as women as professionals. But we intend to defy it and we have refused to wear veils," said Sattar.

If it is fundamentalism in Afghanistan and the Maldives, it is ethnic polarisation in Sri Lanka. Stated Sharmini Boyle, chief editor of the Colombo-based Young Asia Television, "Several women journalists in Sri Lanka have faced threats and one has even faced abduction. It is a difficult time for all of us with Sri Lanka being named as the second more difficult place in the world for journalists. An initiative like SAWM is extremely timely in times like these."

Rising violence in South Asia emerged as an important common concern, whether it while covering trouble spots in India, like Jammu & Kashmir or the Northeast, or the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan. Even as deliberations were taking place at Lahore, news kept trickling in of blasts at Peshawar or attacks on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi - reminders of the multi-layered realities of South Asia. Imitiaz Alam, president of the South Asian Free Media Association, the organisation that supported the SAWM initiative, even confessed at one point that he would be a "relieved man once every delegate got back to her country safely."

But the more important concern for the participants was whether women journalists can help articulate an alternative discourse for peace in the region. Farida Nekzad, general director of the Afghanistan-based, Wakht News Agency, who had travelled to Lahore with her baby, spoke for many when she said, "We have faced three decades of war. Now we need to join hands to put that legacy behind us."

The question, of course, was whether SAWM is a sustainable idea. Said Ammu Joseph, senior Bangalore-based journalist and media activist, "At one level, it¿s historic to have such a large number of women from across South Asia and with representation from all the countries come together. But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Among the more useful objectives of SAWM is this business of training. Media persons need to understand that there is a gender aspect to every story, and that could be another way of breaking down barriers in the region."

Lahore-based Farah Warraich, chief news editor of the ¿Daily Jang¿, believed the possibilities were many, "We are constantly using our power as media women to highlight other people¿s problems. Now it¿s time to highlight our own."