Indian journalists visit: Unfazed optimism at the press club

A 22-member delegation from the Mumbai Press Club visited.

KARACHI: The most interesting aspect of meetings between Indian and Pakistani journalists is the amount of wishful thinking that goes into these events and the element of unfazed optimism, which is surprising given that these people are otherwise very realistic in their expectations on day-to-day matters. Tuesday’s marathon session at the Karachi Press Club, where a 22-member delegation from the Mumbai Press Club was visiting, was no exception.

Jatin Desai, a senior writer from Mumbai, said that ten Pakistani journalists should be posted in India and vice versa, there should be no restrictions on the movement of journalists in each other’s countries and an exchange of newspapers and a lax visa regime were the need of the hour. The same views were echoed by Mujahid Barelvi of CNBC in Pakistan who said that there was nothing more satisfying than being able to read the hard copy of a newspaper in the morning and Indian newspapers should be allowed into Pakistan and vice versa. Ghazi Salahuddin of the Jang Group added the demand for a free exchange of media and unfettered travel for journalists.

It was left to Meena Menon, deputy editor of The Hindu newspaper, to move away from idealism and point out that the real challenge for the media was to “dispel the myths surrounding India and Pakistan.” She said that after the 26/11 incident, the mainstream media was sucked into the hysteria. “There was a demand that Kasab be hanged publicly,” she said. This was supported by Shamimur Rehman from daily Dawn who said that mindsets have to change on both sides for things to move forward.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th,  2011.