Spotlighting Kashmir issue: Video conference to be arranged for journalists on both sides of LoC

CUJ President says people-to-people contacts will help two countries sort out their differences on Kashmir amicably.

A video conference for journalists working on both sides of the Line of control (LoC) will be arranged shortly with help from the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government.

Speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club on Friday, Central Union of Journalists (CUJ) President Asif Raza Mir said that people-to-people contacts and other interactions would help the countries sort out their differences on Kashmir amicably.

He said that the conference will also help highlight poverty and other issues plaguing the people on both sides besides creating an environment for promoting mutual trust. Mir said that the divided families on both sides of the border would also get a chance to interact with their loved ones.

The speakers said if the Indian government did not give permission for the conference, they would march towards the LoC in protest. CUJ founder Shamim Chaudhry said that for the first time in history, journalists from both sides would get a chance to interact on the Kashmir issue. He said that the conference will also help in highlighting the Kashmir issue internationally.

CUJ Secretary General Aurangzaib Jaral alleged that western and Indian media had been running a propaganda campaign against the independence movement of the Kashmiris. The video conference will be a milestone in uniting journalists and intellectuals on both sides to give a befitting reply to the negative propaganda, he added.

CUJ and the National Press Club will arrange the conference.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2014.