Chandigarh, January 6
The two-day Panj Darya Media Conference hosted by the Chandigarh Press Club in collaboration with the Lahore Press Club started on a promising note with the participants hoping that the two-day deliberations would help the media promote people-to-people friendship that would in turn ease tensions and clear suspicion and distrust from the minds of the people in both countries.

At the same time journalists demanded lifting of restrictions on mediapersons, so that this objective could be achieved.

The 57-member delegation from Lahore Press Club comprises of senior journalists, editors, reporters and photographers from the Pakistani print and electronic media.

Indian and Pakistani journalists today deliberated upon issues of common interests and tried to work out strategies that would compel the media on both sides of the border to force policy makers into succumbing to the growing sentiment of improving the "people-to-people contact'.

In papers read out on the occasion, journalists pondered over issues such as the role media could play in this direction, its limitations and also discussed the scope of what could be achieved by the conference.

Delivering his address at the beginning of the first session, Mr H.K Dua, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune, cautioned mediapersons not to mistake the 'onset of change in relationship between the two countries' as 'restoration of peace'. "A fresh breeze, though not winds of change are evident. You have to be cautious if you think peace is around the corner. The people-to- people contact is having its impact, but it would be unreal if you just say 'balle balle' and feel that peace has been achieved. The process of peace is still fragile and the slightest of spark can smother it", he said.

He asked the mediapersons in both countries to maintain a strong pressure on the decision makers as "it is they who do not want people to know each other well. It is in their interest if lack of awareness about each other continues as this will continue to raise suspicion and mistrust between the people." How can you come together when you do not know each other well? When you do not know the people well, it generates a lot of suspicions and doubts.

The government across the borders are worried over the people-to-people contact; they want the suspicion and distrust between the people to continue.

The media is geared towards the peace process and it is no longer talking the language of the two government, he said.

Questioning the ban on the sale of each other's newspapers across the border since 1965, he said that journalists in both countries should press their government to ease visa restrictions, facilitate appointment of correspondents so that there is free flow of information across the border that will help the media alley fears.

He said that one-fifth of humanity lived in the subcontinent and if peace is established and the pain, anxiety and hopes of people are shared, it will abolish war and improve the future of the region.

There is need, he said, to look at the common problems on both sides like healthcare and unemployment. If heads on both sides come together to work out solutions to common problems, it will help reduce tension.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh called for a second push to the Indo-Pak relations while inaugurating the conference. He said that it was exactly a year ago that he had gone to Lahore for the World Punjabi Conference, that resulted in a flurry of cultural and sports activities. It is now time to strengthen the economic interests of the two countries while enhancing the people-to-people contact on both sides of the border.

The Haryana Governor, Mr A.R. Kidwai, highlighted the role of the media saying: "If the media of the two countries get together, nothing can stop the growing people-to-people contact. There is need that the artificial barriers be abolished in South Asia on the pattern of the European Union."

The President of the Lahore Press club, Mr. Arshad Ansari, said that Punjabi culture was a bonding factor between the Punjab on both sides of the border. He said that with the abolishing of "city specific visas for journalists", mediapersons on both sides of the border will be able to provide the bonding touch and further the people-to-people contact.

Taking a dig at the political leadership in both the countries, Mr. Sarbajit Pandher, former Chandigarh Press Club President, said that the people in India and Pakistan were very enthusiastic of improving ties, but it is the politicians who had failed to feel the sentiments of the people.

"While the borders could not be breached by the people, modern technology and e-mail communication has brought the people together and I hope that the contact between the people would further improve with the help of the media", he said.

Before Mr. Moin Ahmed Chaudhry from the Lahore Press Club and Mr Shameel, Editor of Parvasi Magazine, read out their papers on the media's role in promoting people-to-people contact, Chandigarh Press Club Secretary General Ramesh Vinayak said that it was a rare moment that journalists, who often had a ringside view of history were themselves part of this event.

He disclosed that unlike the officially sanitised trips of select journalists across the Radcliff Line, never before have so many mediapersons from the two sides come together to share their views in a free and frank manner.