Reporting on the enemy

By B. Muralidhar Reddy,
Islamabad correspondent,
The Hindu

Dost Muhammad Yousufi,
Special Correspondent,
Associated Press of Pakistan,

There`s never a dull moment in Pakistan particularly for an Indian correspondent, notwithstanding all the functional restraints and constraints he faces. Since India-Pakistan share a unique love-hate relationship at the level of the establishment it gets rubbed off on `lucky` media persons.
For a scribe, Pakistan is a challenging assignment in more ways than one. Every word of you write and speak is under scrutiny on both sides of the borders. From my experience you are bound to antagonize one side or the other in every report and here are instances where you end up being a bad person with both the establishments.

There is lot of physical labour involved in being a Pakistan correspondent. Round the year and round the clock there are developments in the country which are of interest to readers` back home. There is no dearth of interesting reports to pick up from the local media in particular and the society in general. Believe me in the last 20 months there have been just six days when I did not file a report. Of these six days, my office was closed on five and there was no edition! On an average I file three reports every day.

Some persons have told me that I have been over-reporting some aspects of Indo-Pak relations. May be they are right. Getting the news is not difficult but you can imagine the sheer labour involved in typing and dispatching them.

My uninterrupted twenty month stay in Islamabad, with two visits thrown in between to Lahore the cultural capital of Pakistan, has given me no reason to believe that Pakistanis nurture any kind of hostility towards Indians. I have not come across any one looking at me as an Indian agent, not even during the past two-three months when tensions have been higher than normal.

My questions to those who have tried to convince me otherwise --mostly from the Indian High Commission and some of the distinguished visitors from India--is to ask them to give me concrete examples. No one has been able to substantiate their claim with examples from the attitude and behaviour of the Pakistani civil society. The biggest tragedy of India-Pakistan relations, in my view, is the cussedness on the part of the establishments on both the sides. Media could be the ideal bridge to overcome the obstacles created at the official level in improvement of relations.

But alas there are just two Indian correspondents in Pakistan and one representative from the Pakistani side in India. The Hindu and PTI (Press Trust of India) have their correspondents based in Islamabad. The state run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) has its presence in New Delhi. Every thing between India and Pakistan is on a reciprocal basis. The joke goes that if the telephone of the PTI correspondent in Pakistan goes dead, the APP correspondent in New Delhi will make the complaint to rectify it and vice-versa.

Like their Pakistani counterparts, the visa of the Indian correspondents in Islamabad is valid for a year and they can travel on 48 hours notice to the cities of Karachi and Lahore (they were the entry and exit points till New Delhi decided to snap all travel links and Islamabad followed suit). The visa of the Pakistani correspondent in India is valid for the cities of Kolkata and Mumbai exactly on the same terms. Authorities on both sides take exactly the same time to renew the visa. The principle of reciprocity is implemented in letter and spirit.

Getting a visa takes roughly five to six month`s time on both sides. Once you are appointed as a correspondent, the concerned agencies and ministries vet your application. There is an elaborate procedure of verification. For instance, the current PTI correspondent replaced a colleague who had to leave just after four months due to a health problem. PTI had to do without a correspondent virtually for the whole of 2000 thanks to the sudden departure of its scribe.

There is no dearth of media organisations in India keen on having their representatives in Pakistan. But alas the Pakistani media just can`t afford to post correspondents in India. Thanks to low readership and abysmal advertisement revenues, the Pakistani media is faced with a dire economic situation. The cheapest daily here is priced at Pakistani Rs. 7. Newspapers are almost a luxury. In a country of 140 million, with 33 per cent literacy rate, the total circulation of all the dailies put together (Urdu, English and other languages) is estimated at just over a million.

Very few can afford to even think of having a correspondent in Delhi. And when a paper does decide to go for it, the bureaucracy comes up with all sorts of excuses.I do know the case of one newspaper, `The News ` that decided to post one of its correspondents to India but the Indian government rejected his name. Their justification was that India bashing was the favourite pastime of the appointed correspondent, Javed Nusrat. One wonders why the Indian State feels so vulnerable.

As an Indian correspondent in Pakistan one can forget about `exclusive` reports. While there is no dearth of resources to get information, one can hardly talk about sources. Most of the time or all the time (`Hindu` readers would know better) you are either dependent on what is being put out through official channels (Press Information Department, Pakistan Television/Radio, spokesperson and press conferences) or leaning on second hand information.

My focus tends to be spot reports because frankly I hardly get time for features. In the last one-and-a-half years there has been so much politics and diplomacy between the two countries (beginning with declaration of cease-fire by Hizb in July 2000), that at times it becomes very difficult to keep pace. Although I have attempted few items on the economy of Pakistan.

As an Indian correspondent there is a strict vigil on my moments and I am followed on a regular basis but I have never been threatened or intimidated. For the first few days after I took over I used to get a telephone call from a chap claiming himself to be a representative of the Al-Qaueda. He used to dictate an item and tell me that he would expect to see it in the paper or on the net. It stopped after a while. The big outfits like Lashkar have never bothered about what I wrote.

Pakistan officials have no problem in meeting Indian scribes though they are very careful what they say. I can say without any hesitation that, along with the PTI correspondent, I got lot of information from the Pakistani side in the run up to the Agra Summit. You can just look at the papers prior to the event. Not a single story on the Summit, at least prior to the Summit, originated from New Delhi where there was a total clamp down in India. In contrast Pakistan was very transparent. Of course India promptly dismissed this `openess` as `propaganda`.

The constant complaint of my friends in Pakistani media is about the arrogance of the Indian Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister vis-à-vis them. There are at least over half-a-dozen major interviews by Gen. Musharraf to Indian media since he took over in October 1999 but few by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Of course on the eve of the Agra Summit Vajpayee did give three interviews. But the manner in which they were given was downright humiliating. It took a great deal of cajoling and coaxing by Islamabad for the interviews to materialise. Finally the PMO agreed for the interviews if Vajpayee was given written questions in advance. Ultimately all the three scribes were called together over a cup of tea and handed over the written answers with an additional five minutes of personal interaction! To the best of my knowledge Foreign Minister, Jaswant Singh has not given a single interview to a Pakistani reporter.

Officials here at various levels in fact go out of their way to help in obtaining all the information routed through the `proper channels`. You are informed of all the important briefings. On demand they promptly fax copies of the statements you want. I have not come across a single instance of an official being rude or deliberately sitting on information.

On the other hand, there is hardly any help from the Indian High Commission. The Commission officials won`t say a word, even off the course, without clearance from New Delhi. There are instances of New Delhi releasing incidents of harassment of the mission staff in Islamabad despite presence of two Indian correspondents in Islamabad.

As for what we write, yes there is monitoring. I suppose it is usual for every country to keep tabs on what foreign correspondents write. It must be said to the credit of the Musharraf government that it has not put any restrictions on what they write. Only twice I got a polite call from the External Publicity Division. Once it was an objection to the headline of a report and the second time a request to substantiate my comment with `fact`.

The secondary source of information in Pakistan is the print media. Though it is yet to acquire the status of a mass media in any sense of the term, it is fiercely independent. Print media is not a just a mine of information but also provides vast range of views on any given subject under the earth. It goes to the credit of the Pakistani print media it has not become subservient to the State. This is no mean achievement particularly considering the fact that military has been at the helm of affairs almost since the birth of Pakistan.

Pakistani journalists are fantastic. They are very hard working and much more conscious of the world around them than their Indian counterparts. They are paid a pittance and yet most of them take pride in their job. A number of senior journalists are not afraid to speak the truth and entertain no ill-will vis-à-vis the Indian scribes.

The political parties, religious and jehadi organisations and civil society of Pakistan conduct business with us as usual. Most of them have no hesitation in coming on the telephone line and answering your query. Luckily there is no bite journalism in Pakistan and print media is still courted by the netas though they themselves are sidelined at the moment.

I have the best of equations with the jehadi outfits like the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (now banned). They have not only been extremely polite and helpful but also gone out of their way to dispel the impression that they are talking to an `enemy`. No doubt they cannot be expected to share details of their functioning but within the possible space, they have always been accommodating.

I sincerely believe opening up the society and allowing greater people to people interaction between India and Pakistan would go a long way in lifting the relations to a more cordial level. The other day when I called the Press Information Department asking them to fax a particular statement, the chap at the other end offered instant help but wanted me to do something to end the tension between the two countries. What is needed is an era of liberalisation, not more and more curbs.

Mr Yousufi was invited to write, but preferred to be interviewed. He is the only Pakistani journalist based in India. He spoke to Mannika Chopra.

Q: How long have you been posted in Delhi? Are you the only Pakistani journalist here?

A: I have been in Delhi since January 1999. It`s normally a three year posting. I probably have another three to four months to go. At the moment I am the only Pakistani journalist based in India, although there should be two here since there are two Indian reporters, from `The Hindu` and the Press Trust of India, based in Islamabad.
There`s a reciprocal arrangement between India and Pakistan that came into existence in 1979/80 that stipulates that each country will have an equal number of reporters. Till a few years ago that there used to be about five correspondents in each country from the neighbouring country but there was a problem and the visas of three correspondents was not renewed. Now that number of reporters is limited to two.
Since `The Hindu` has a reporter based in Islamabad along with the PTI there should be another Pakistani journalist based here. A correspondent from the Jang group, specifically from `The News,` Nusrat Javed, was here about six months ago but he didn`t stay on. I think he will be back. As for the other papers they tend to use Indian stringers. Similarly other Indian publications use Pakistani stringers.

Q: How long have you been in the profession? And what is the procedure in your organization to get a foreign posting?

A: I have been in APP since 1975. APP has about seven to eight foreign bureaus. To get appointed as a foreign correspondent a five-member panel to ascertain your competence interviews you. The panel has representatives from the Ministry of Information, members of the Senate and Legislative Assembly equivalent to your Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, both from the opposition and the ruling party and the director general of the APP. Now the latest requirement is a written test, which is supposed to judge one`s competence for such a posting. This was introduced by Mushaid Hussain, information minister under former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In Pakistani journalistic circles an India posting is considered to be an important and a challenging one. So only experienced correspondents are sent here.

Q: given the current tensions between the two countries how hard is for a Pakistani reporter to function from here?

A: As a journalist reporting from an `enemy` country I have to say that there has been no real problem in covering India. I was here six months after Kargil and even then it was not a problem. Being from a wire service I routinely file about four to five stories a day which I would do anywhere.
If there is anything different it`s the fact that I think one has to change one`s persona a bit. You have to be half a journalist and half a diplomat. Perhaps you can`t be as aggressive as you would normally be in any other circumstance. You have to be careful so as not to give offence.

Q: Do sources from the Indian government meet you willingly?

A: Meeting officials is normally not a problem. I attend the daily Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) briefings. There was no tension when I met people I frequently go to Press Information Bureau and the various PROs give me the information I need. Initially I was not getting regular information from the EXP division but ever since their email has started I get their press releases daily.
I get a lot of help from the Foreign Correspondent`s Club. Its president Venkat Narayanan sends about four to five emails a day about various professional activities which is really useful. For instance, I got to know of a recent off-the-record meeting given by Union minister for External Affairs, Jaswant Singh, to beat correspondents recently from the FCC. The EXP didn`t inform me. So I went along but I could tell the MEA officials were uncomfortable.
Sometimes people have the wrong impression that my main source of information is the Pakistan embassy. But you know I haven`t even interviewed the Pakistani High Commissioner. When I tried to fix up an interview I was told that giving an interview to APP is not why the High Commissioner was here. Embassy officials told me that he didn`t want to communicate to the Pakistani people; his job was to communicate to India and Indians.

Q: Have you have met the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee?

A: Yes, I am the only Pakistani reporter in the past four to five years to have interviewed the Indian Prime Minister. Ever since I came I was requesting the PMO for an interview but I wasn`t getting one. Then before the Agra summit, I was asked by the external affairs ministry spokesperson, Nirupama Rao, to hand in a list of questions which I did. I had a half-an-hour meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee but at the end of that conversation I was told it was off the record and a written answers to the questions I sent were handed over to me. But I did work in the Prime Minister`s conversation into my copy as background. I felt cheated because I thought the written answers seemed like just another press statement and were not a genuine interview.

Q: What about travelling?

A: The real obstacle for me as a journalist is the limitations on travel. Under the visa conditions a Pakistani reporter has permission to travel only to three cities--Delhi, Mumbai and Agra. When I saw Agra on my list I asked the home ministry to change it to Calcutta because I thought then my visa would cover the three major cities of the country. After all Indian correspondents based in Pakistan can travel to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi which are the three major cities of Pakistan. But it wasn`t changed. Under the rules you or your family can`t move out of the municipal limits of these cities. Luckily I had Agra on my list otherwise I couldn`t have covered the summit!

Q: How do you send your stories?

A: I normally file by email. Calling up Pakistan is quite hard especially since optic fibres in telecommunications have been a late entry into India. It`s not easy to get through. You have to keep on trying. So email is the quickest way.

Q: What is your impression of the Indian media?

A: In my three-year`s experience here I have to say that there is no true press freedom especially in wire services like PTI. The government has a strong influence over it and whatever the government wants printed or stopped will happen. This has to because the PTI is running on government subsidies. This is true of Pakistan, too. That`s why I really dislike it when the PTI reporter in Islamabad labels the APP as, "Pakistan government`s official news agency.` If APP is the official news agency of Pakistan then I believe that PTI, too, is the official news agency of the Indian government.

Q: Is getting an Indian visa hard?

A: Yes there is a slight problem, which can affect efficient functioning. When you first come here you are given an entry permit for 90 days, which is then converted to a one-year visa. That visa has to be renewed by the home ministry every year. It doesn`t happen automatically. It can take up to 2-3 months. Sometimes you are staying in the country without a valid document which creates some uncertainty. The Ministry of External Affairs tries to help but basically it is the home ministry that handles this area.
Also entry and exit visas are given only from one point and that can`t be changed. So if I enter the country through Delhi I have to leave from Delhi. And I have to use this all the time I travel in and out of the country. Recently I went to Pakistan and I had to get special permission to leave from Amritsar via the Wagah border. It`s so much easier (and cheaper) for me to use that route to enter Lahore but it`s a complicated process to get permission.

Q: Have you ever been intimidated because you are a Pakistani or followed?

A: There hasn`t been any major incident. Once while I was staying in Greater Kailash the tyres of my car were deflated so I filed an FIR.
Then there was a recent incident sometime in last August concerning my son but it was not anything to do with his being a Pakistani. He was returning home after buying some books on computers in Nai Sarak and when he was taking an auto rickshaw back home he was hit on the head by a crow bar by the driver and his companion. My son`s money was stolen. Later some passers-by saw him injured and called us. I did send a small news story to APP but it wasn`t used.
As for officials following me. There is no obvious high surveillance but initially when I came I had somebody on a motorcycle parked close to my house but that stopped after a month or two.

Q: Besides spot reports do you write features?

A: I do some features besides routine reporting, usually from a different perspective. For instance, I have written on the Red Fort and how badly it has been maintained; how its engravings have been whitewashed and why the Indian Army barracks continue to be there. Or how the industrial pollution is spoiling the Taj Mahal.
I also have written stories on the medical point of view. I read a new item that over 50 per cent of the Indian population was suffering from TB so I wrote something on that. I have also written on the unhygienic conditions in Old Delhi.

Q: Have you written any positive stories on India? Would your agency accept those kinds of reports?

A: Why not? When I first came here it took some time getting my car and I traveled a lot on buses. I noted then how disciplined the crowds were while getting on to buses. There was no pushing and fighting and I wrote about that.