SAFMA summit ends with promise for peace in South Asia

LAHORE: The fourth regional conference “Media and reconciliation in South Asia” arranged by South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) ended on Sunday night after a declaration to resolve inter and intra state conflicts and to launch confidence building measures. The declaration appealed to the South Asian media fraternity to join hands to push for a reconciliation process in the region, encourage open debate and to refrain from becoming an instrument in the hands of officialdom or a prisoner of rigid national standpoints. The meeting concluded that SAFMA was committed to a peaceful resolution of all conflicts in South Asia, including the Kashmir issue, through sustained and productive dialogue instead of the use of force. The participants decided that the only way forward was to cooperate in resolving political disputes and to expand all avenues of economic and cultural cooperation. They decided that greater interaction was needed among South Asian people, especially through the free movement of journalists and media people. SAFMA also frowned upon the pretext of using inter and intra sate conflicts or the war against terrorism to clip civil liberties, introduce oppressive laws, suppress the democratic aspirations of people, harass civilians, especially women and children, through violence. The conference participants welcomed the visit of Pakistani journalists across the Line of Control (LoC) and the reciprocal visit by Indian journalists and said that it had set a good precedence to open all ‘no-go areas’ for journalists. It also stated that South Asian states should collectively face the challenges such as low river-water discharges and global trade disparities in order to prevent a new individualistic era in which each state fends only for itself. staff report

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