Discussing limitations: Indian journalists feted by MQM

Two-journalist quota needs to go, they say.

KARACHI: The ability to use phones across the border, and swift visas, would make life a lot easier for journalists in Karachi and Mumbai, according to the heads of their respective press clubs.

A group of Indian journalists from the Mumbai Press Club, who have been touring the city for the past few days, were at the Lal Qila Ground on Friday for a reception hosted by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

“Our wish to see Karachi has come true,” said Mumbai Press Club chairperson Prakash Akolkar, reminding the audience that the city was once part of the Bombay Presidency. “Our politicians meet and talk but journalists rarely get to have their say,” he said, addressing MQM leaders and journalists at the event.

Tahir Hasan Khan, the head of the Karachi Press Club, discussed the various issues journalists face in travelling, and said that the limit of two journalists per country at a time needed to be removed. Khan also impressed upon the MQM that consulates should be opened in Karachi and Mumbai to issue visas.

The press clubs have signed a memorandum of understanding to not use derogatory words for each other’s country.

MQM leaders Dr Farooq Sattar and Wasay Jalil also spoke at the event. Sattar compared the Pakistan-India peace process to a game of snakes and ladders, saying that when one is reaching the target score of 100, a snake derails the entire game, and that snake in 2008 was the November attacks in Mumbai. He also conveyed party chief Hussain’s good wishes to the Indian delegation.

Hindustan Times special correspondent Naresh Kamath told The Express Tribune that he felt an “undercurrent of fear” in Karachi, prompted by the security provided to the Indian journalists as well as the concerns over Indo-Pak relations. That said, Kamath came to Karachi to find out if, as he had heard, Mumbai and Karachi were “counterparts”. He is leaving assured that they are.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th,  2011.