From The News, Pakistan, 9
November 2001
http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/index.html
SOMETHING MISSING
by Kavita Menon
The
large number of foreign journalists who have descended on this country so
uncomfortably close to the frontlines of the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is
simply not large enough. That may seem like a strange statement to make about a
place that has been dubbed Journalistan for its teeming masses of reporters,
photographers, and television crews, and all their high-tech paraphernalia.
However, the foreign press corps in Pakistan is missing something crucial:
there is no significant delegation of Indian journalists represented here.
Indian journalists, as well as citizens of Western countries who happen to be of Indian origin, are not getting visas to come to Pakistan. This discriminatory practice is being justified officially as a national security issue "guided by a bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan"--meaning that when tensions are high between the two countries, visa restrictions are correspondingly tightened in both.
However, a more honest explanation for the policy was expressed by this newspaper weeks ago when it reported that the "Pakistan government is not issuing visas to Indian journalists saying that they have nothing to report from here except anti-Pakistan stories.
" While it is true that the Indian press can be extremely nationalistic, it is far easier to write anti-Pakistan propaganda from New Delhi than it is to do so from Islamabad. Allowing Indian journalists to report on the ground realities in Pakistan, to talk to the people directly affected by this conflict, to hear the range of opinions held by Pakistanis is sure to lead to more accurate and nuanced reporting.
If the Pakistani government is unhappy with the coverage of the Indian media, it should consider letting more journalists in instead of shutting all of them out. Barring Indian journalists is not only a bad public relations move on the part of the Pakistani government, it is also a dangerous policy, because it contributes to the ignorance and mistrust and hatred that fuels the conflict on the subcontinent. With India and Pakistan perpetually poised on the brink of war over Kashmir, moves to improve communication and understanding between the two countries are essential.
Meanwhile, the visa issue has recently become an international embarrassment, with American and British reporters from major media including the Boston Globe and the BBC not getting visas because they are of Indian origin. Restricting journalists on the basis of their nationality or ethnicity is always wrong, but it is particularly egregious for the government to impede access to the media during this conflict of truly global proportions.
The writer is the Asia programme coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based press freedom organisation
e-mail: asia@cpj.org