Media Propagate 'Hope for Peace' in South Asia

After terrorists trained in Pakistan wreaked havoc in Mumbai during a three day assault in November 2008, the media in both countries took a far more hawkish stance than their governments, whipping up nationalist sentiment and emotions. The Indian government, for instance, slammed the media and even threatened to restrict press freedoms.

Now, however, a year on, the Times of India and Pakistan's Jang group have decided to take a different approach. Their initiative 'Aman ki Asha' or 'Hope for Peace' aims at spreading the message of peace by utilizing the strong common bonds of music, art and literature that both countries share. The groups' newspapers devoted their full first page to the topic on New Year's Day this year. Since then the initiative has been a regular feature of their electronic and print output. Videos show the things that people love and cherish on both sides of the border.

'Like brother and sister'

This has struck a chord with many people in the subcontinent. Sneh Maria Kovela is a Pakistani woman now married to an Indian man, but her visa for India was rejected on three occasions by the Indian government. "India and Pakistan are two different nations, but we are like brother and sister," she says. "Everybody fights in their home but nobody wants to prolong the fight. If we can't visit our neighbors, we are nothing."

The media campaign, which includes exchange programs in different fields, is targeted at common people. But, says Ranjan Roy, coordinator of the initiative from The Times of India, it will also put pressure on Delhi and Islamabad to get back to the negotiating table. He stresses that the initiative is not affecting the way his paper covers news on a daily basis: "This is not impinging on our news coverage. This is very different from the way we cover the day to day news."

He says there could be further initiatives in the future like building up a news pool to share content. At the moment, the state of diplomatic ties between the two countries does not allow either side to have full time correspondents on the other side of the mutual border.

A 'publicity blitz'?

But critics in India and Pakistan say the initiative is all just a big publicity campaign.

Seema Mustafa, a reputed commentator on political affairs from India, says it is hard to believe that the two media organisations, which have a record of jingoism, are now suddenly gearing up for a peace initiative:

"Obviously this hasn't come from the media houses. This has been delivered to them as part of what Washington, New Delhi and Islamabad hope will be a big publicity blitz, under which they can then promote peace or at least talk of peace, while America focuses on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border."

Thousands of Facebook followers

But Salima Hashmi, a renowned painter and peace activist from Lahore, is more upbeat. She says the time has come for both the governments to find ways to bring peace in the subcontinent.

"Both governments have been guilty in different parts of their respective countries of breeding people who use violence as a political weapon. I think there must be a realisation that this is a common enemy."

Despite the criticism regarding the media-led peace initiative 'Aman ki Asha', Facebook, the social networking site, records more than 8,000 followers on the project's page. This goes to show that a growing number of young people in India and Pakistan sincerely want the media to make a positive contribution towards achieving a relaxation of tensions between the two countries.

Author: Debarati Mukherjee
Editor: Grahame Lucas