Cross-border talks: ‘The bitterness of Partition is noticeably absent in Sindh’

Former Hindustan Times editor Prem Shankar Jha visits Karachi for the first time.

KARACHI: The first thing that former Hindustan Times editor Prem Shankar Jha notices about Karachi is the Muhajirs and their attitude towards the Partition.

"Sindh has a lot of Muhajirs and their attitude towards India-Pakistan relations is quite different from those in Punjab," Jha told The Express Tribune. "The bitterness that is associated with the Partition is noticeably absent in Sindh."

Jha, who is an analyst and a contributor to Financial Express, The Economist and Times of India, was visiting Karachi for the first time and felt the people here were more open to the idea of reconciliation. "In Karachi, there are problems of assimilation which is more of an internal problem and not an India-Pakistan issue," he said.

He felt that the difference of attitude is because the people of Punjab were mostly forced to evacuate, while those in Sindh came voluntarily. "People who came to Sindh had it rough too," he admitted. "But they had time to plan." Jha explained that the idea of Partition was not to make people disconnect from their roots. "That was a product of the mayhem and forced population exchange, mostly in Punjab, and [the animosity] can still be found in the generations today."

Despite the perceived animosity, Jha finds Lahore closer to home, Delhi. "Lahore has a cosmology and is, of course, political too. Karachi is more commercial."

Media collaborations between the two countries for peace-building will only be successful if journalists on both sides of the border have full access, he said. "If we are open to the variety of issues on each side, we can make the same choices as each other," he said. Jha felt that since the lives on both the sides are interlinked, we should allow people to travel back and forth and learn from each other, instead of relying on what is said on television.

For him, the key to improving India-Pakistan relations is free travel. "Open visas and allow people to travel freely. This is all you require."

Speaking on sensationalism and the culture of 'breaking news', Jha said there is a need for educated viewers on both the sides. Labelling the exaggeration on television channels on both sides well beyond the "competition of conflict", he said the medium now lacks the intention or concern for ultimate peace on which human life depends. "It's like killing the goose that lays the golden egg. If there is no conflict, what is there to report then?"

Once again tipping the scales on the viewer's side, he said the only way to deal with it is when the public recognises that what it is seeking is entertainment and not necessarily the truth. "Charlie Chaplin said that the only way to deal with a dictator is to laugh at him and he made the classic movie, The Great Dictator. If the public develops a sense of humour, for example, then you can deal with the damage," he said. "Be discriminatory in what you see. Watch serious channels," he advised.

Are television and online medium part of the same boat then? Jha had little hopes for the online world and felt it won't get too far. "Not just because the web is not as lucrative as television, but because people who go online for news are looking for information other than what they are getting on the television."

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2015.