Sushma concerned over ban on Indian channels
ISLAMABAD- Indian Information Minister Sushma Swaraj has expressed her extreme disappointment over the banning of Indian channels in Pakistan refuting at the same time the charge that her government had earlier banned PTV transmission throughout India.
In an interview she said Pakistan Television (PTV) transmissions were available to Indian viewers through cable operators throughout the country, “of course, after the riots in Gujarat the state government did ban these transmissions for the time being but this ban is confined only to Gujarat.”
When asked how the two countries could stop the propaganda war that they were waging through their respective media, she denied that the Indian media was indulging in any anti-Pakistan propaganda but stopped short of accusing Pakistani media of carrying out anti-India propaganda.
In answer to another question she said the negative images of India and Pakistan that were being beamed by CNN and BBC could be effectively countered by the Indian and Pakistani satellite channels (Doordarshan World and PTV world).
“Now the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Pakistanis thanks to DD World and PTV World know the truth about the happenings in their countries. Now they do not have to depend upon the one-sided and distorted pictures of their countries beamed by CNN and BBC,” she added.
She said not only India and Pakistan but all the developing countries were concerned about the way CNN and BBC covered the happenings in their respective countries.
“Development oriented news in developing countries is no news for BBC and CNN. They seem to be interested in projecting only riots, conflicts, political instability in these countries,” she added.
She was, however, not very happy with the domestic media as well as according to her now even the local media in developing countries seemed to have adopted the same attitude towards development oriented happenings in their own countries and started treating these as unimportant stories to be consigned to inside pages of newspapers.
Ms Swaraj appeared very proud of the fact that India had presented a paper spelling out guidelines for programme content in electronic media of member countries.
When asked if that was feasible, she said it was and referred to the appreciation she received from the other members of the organization for the effort India had put in preparing the paper.
The member countries are expected to send their comments to India within 45 days and India after incorporating these comments and suggestions would send the paper to SAARC secretariat immediately. In Pakistan the newly formed PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) will vet the paper, she said.
Earlier, while discussing the Agra summit she said when President Musharraf kept on insisting that Kashmir be treated as the core issue, the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in his one-on-one meeting told the Pakistani leader: “General Sahib! If you keep calling this as the core issue then we will have to go into the core of the core issue and the thread would lead us to the point when Kashmir was invaded by Pakistani tribesmen and part of Kashmir was converted into Pakistani occupied Kashmir. So now you tell me from where we should start?”
The Indian information minister, however, did not say what was the response of Gen Musharraf to Mr Vajpayee’s remarks.
Source: Dawn
Date:3/11/2002
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