On Thursday afternoon, I had to make a brief presentation on challenges and constraints to achieving the MDGs, along with Olga Tellis, resident editor of the Indian newspaper The Asian Age. I emphasised the importance of relations between India and Pakistan and how these generally irrational and often vicious relations impact upon the overall state of development in the region. While flying from Karachi to Mumbai, I had seen this report in a newspaper by the International Institute for Strategic Studies titled 'The Military Balance'. It certified rising fears in South Asia that increasing defence spending will exacerbate countries' internal and external disputes and further aggravate human security in the region. The report said that the military structure of India and Pakistan "is the most cumbersome and huge, both in terms of men and material".
By Ghazi Salahuddin
When the news finally arrived in the afternoon, I had dozed off. And as I heard the message that the telephone call had conveyed, all that feeling of being in a serene and enticingly unfamiliar place was instantly transformed into a sense of disbelief and emptiness. I hesitated before picking up the remote and the Indian news channels seemed to usher into my large and opulent bedroom the raw winds of my country. This was one time when you could not escape reality. But what will this heartbreak unfold for us in the near future?
I was in Islamabad on July 20 when another judgment of the Supreme Court had signaled the rebirth of our nation. On Friday, September 28, I am in a grand resort in Goa. 'The South Asia Editors' Roundtable' that I am attending concluded its proceedings after lunch and after two very hectic days and late nights, I uncharacteristically opted for a nap.
Initially, of course, one option was to switch off completely and not bother to catch up with news from Pakistan. After all, three nights in Goa, the 'jewel of India', could be a tranquilliser for the agitated mind of a Pakistani journalist. But getting away from the suspense of another crucial Supreme Court decision would obviously not be easy. So I decided to sit next to Rajesh Kalra. He is chief editor of Times Internet, the repository of all the websites of The Times of India group. On the table was his cell phone -- the mobile version of his websites and I kept looking at all the incoming headlines.
Waiting for the decision on President General Pervez Musharraf's candidature while holding two offices, I was certainly a little nervous. I told the Indian participants that my unease had nothing to do with Twenty20 World Cup. Ultimately, the news arrived when I was not waiting for it. After that phone call -- and a quick surfing of the news channels -- I got up and left my room. It had rained intermittently since morning. Through long corridors, I walked through the lush, manicured gardens and the golf course to the beach. It began to drizzle and there was almost nobody there. I did not wish to meet anyone -- and a number of participants had left in the afternoon.
I strolled around the sprawling resort and have come back to write these lines in the business centre. It is strange, not to have exchanged views with friends and colleagues. Nor did I make any phone calls. I could imagine the predictable reaction of the hardened cynics who are reconciled to the vagaries of our polity. They would just shrug their shoulders with that I-told-you-so expression on their faces. As far as I am concerned, I was not yet ready to accept that July 20 was an aberration. Am I in denial? Incidentally, this visit to Goa -- call it a paradox -- was meant to highlight some painful realities of South Asia. Sponsored by the United Nations and Oxfam GB, it was titled 'Realising South Asia's Full Potential' in the specific context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We had to discuss ways of setting a new agenda for the media's role as a key development partner.
Any contemplation of South Asia's potential is bound to present the sorry state of this region in areas such as poverty, literacy, education, public health and status of women. We had to bear in mind that South Asia is home to nearly half the world's poor people. The statistics tell us that 500 million of South Asia's 1.5 billion people live on less than one dollar a day. This is so because the gap between the rich and the poor is wider now than ever before. What can the media do to locate the MDGs and propose ways in which editors could build capacities and do a better reporting on links between politics, economic growth and development? For one day and a half, there were intense discussions on the given objectives of the roundtable and, unavoidably, many genuine concerns and shortcomings were underscored. It was interesting and educative to listen to different perspectives of participants from the other South Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Maldives.
On Thursday afternoon, I had to make a brief presentation on challenges and constraints to achieving the MDGs, along with Olga Tellis, resident editor of the Indian newspaper The Asian Age. I emphasised the importance of relations between India and Pakistan and how these generally irrational and often vicious relations impact upon the overall state of development in the region. While flying from Karachi to Mumbai, I had seen this report in a newspaper by the International Institute for Strategic Studies titled 'The Military Balance'. It certified rising fears in South Asia that increasing defence spending will exacerbate countries' internal and external disputes and further aggravate human security in the region. The report said that the military structure of India and Pakistan "is the most cumbersome and huge, both in terms of men and material".
I also emphasised the importance of democracy to raise the level of social development and social justice. And in my presentation, I talked about the hope that had been created in Pakistan by the movement of the lawyers and the increasing participation of civil society in this struggle, leading to the judgment of July 20. I wonder if I would identify this silver lining after Friday's judgment. This is not the occasion to summarise the proceedings of the roundtable. It provided a wonderful opportunity for meeting so many bright and intelligent professionals of the media. As always, the real value of such conferences lies in casual encounters that take place on the sidelines. I must specially mention two great individuals who were there. First, the keynote address was given by Aruna Roy -- a prominent social activist of India who should get the credit for the passage of the Right to Information Act.
Then, there was Rahul Bose, the well-known Bollywood actor. He is a global ambassador of Oxfam and his contribution to various causes is simply astounding. I had an opportunity to have a long conversation with him and I was rather surprised to find him so learned and articulate about political as well as literary affairs. In her speech, Aruna quoted a South African politician who had said that democracy was about talking truth to power, making truthful powerful and powerful truthful. This made me think about the state of affairs in Pakistan. After Friday's judgment, this regret has deepened that truth and morality are continuing to be trampled under the feet of power. And yet, there is some hope that the passions that were aroused by the judicial crisis may finally survive.
