Rehana Hakim, editor of Newsline, a well-known magazine from Pakistan, believes that lack of information and interaction have largely marred the relationship between the two neighbouring countries. In conversation with Ranjita Biswas

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Conflict is nothing new to Rehana Hakim, editor, Newsline of Pakistan. For, establishing the periodical itself was due to conflicting interests with the management; she and a group of women journalists had decided to strike it alone and dared to do something unheard of those days. She was in Kolkata recently to participate in seminar on “Media,War and Conflict” organized by the Bengal chapter of Network of Women in Media (NWMI), an informal organization of women journalists.
Hakim is also an active member of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) which strives to promote friendship between India and Pakistan through people-to-people contact.

The story of your magazine’s birth is often put up as an example of journalistic integrity. Comment.
Well, we were working in a magazine called Herald run of the big publishing house, the ‘Dawn’ group. Those were the days of Martial Law and General Ziaur ul-Haque was in power. One of the owners of the group was then the interior minister in the cabinet. It was election time. We ran a story with both Haque and Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader, on the cover. They wanted Benazir moved from the cover. Similarly, there were other subtle pressures. We were asked not to be critical, not to be ‘negative’ in the storyline. It came to a point when we all women journalists walked out with editor Razia Bhatti leading the pack. None of the male staff left though; they said they needed the pay packet to keep the home fire burning. After that, we decided that there was no point in working for any other organization because the situation would not change.

So you decided to go your own way?
Yes, we decided to launch our own magazine Newsline. People predicted that we wouldn’t survive even for three months but now we’ve been here for 17 years. We were working from one room in a hotel with an old typewriter and pieces of furniture brought from home. It was a wild dream. But we had a lot of goodwill; people knew our names from our work. For the very first issue we got 56 ads. As for finance, we pooled our own resources, drawing from our own savings but money was still short. We approached a few friends who were better off . But we made sure that their stake was not more than 49% and ours 51%, so that there wouldn’t be any editorial interference in future. It was hard work. Sometimes we stayed all night and left only when the milkmen arrived. People joked that we might as well move lock, stock and barrel to the hotel. We were not computer savvy and if the PC had a ‘hang’ there was a major crisis. But it was great fun too.

Is it a niche magazine for women?
No, it’s a general interest magazine, though we cover fashion, cookery, etc., in fact, a whole range of issues. But the main thrust is definitely political. We cover all issues, like we did a major story on ‘Karokari’ or honour killing which nobody had dared to touch then. It talked of how feudalism encourages this kind of thing. It was very daring to do it because nobody talked about it though it existed. Later, a BBC documentary on honour killing by immigrants in England was done on this thread. We broke many other stories like this and set a trend. It was pleasant to see that others followed suit. You see, people are often scared to write certain kinds of stories but if someone else does it, they take the cue. We did a sexual harassment story when nobody admitted that it existed. As we see it, if there’s a problem, you address it upfront.

But it’s possible more for the English press because of the readership. What about the more conservative Urdu press?
We would like to bring out an Urdu edition, if possible. In vernacular press more often than not, real issues are pushed to the background. They don’t think women issues are important. The evening tabloids do it more. Mainstream English press has changed a lot in recent times. It’s important to reach out to people who often miss out on the wide angle. We know that our articles are often translated and printed in the language press, without giving us credit, of course. But we don’t mind as long as people get the information.

An Indian magazine recently ran a story on Hindu girls from Sind being abducted and converted to be married off to Muslim boys. Your comment?
It’s true that these incidents happen. It’s unfortunate and we don’t condone it. We ourselves did a story on the abduction incidents sometime ago. But there’s another side to the story too. For Hindu girls in Pakistan, there’s a shortage of eligible grooms. They belong to the minority community, and like any minority group anywhere, they’re in double jeopardy. They don’t have good job opportunities or other privileges. Perhaps due to the frustration and all, many take to alcoholism, there’s a lot of physical violence at home too. So, many Hindu girls willingly choose to marry Muslim boys for a more settled life. My own maid Radha , who was a Hindu, had her two daughters marrying Muslim boys willingly. She was absolutely distraught. She didn’t have any problem with the guys because her daughters had a secure life, but was afraid of her community’s wrath and dared not keep in touch with them. This side of the story needs to be told too.

What difference do you see women in media in India- if at all- compared to Pakistan?
There’s many more women in the media here- reporters, especially in the electronic media, instead of just news readers. But even back home, there’s been a change. We have many women working in PTV; the appointment of Quartrina Hussain as current affairs director at PTV was a major step (though there’s some technical problem arising out of her appointment now). She even wore business suits during her telecast instead of salwar suits which was novel but nobody protested against it on grounds of dress code.

How can the two countries, often projected as two hostile nuclear powers, co-exist peacefully?
We need more exchanges between the people of the two countries. Stereo types need to be broken. There’s a lot of misinformation. Someone said in the Book Fair I attended here, that he didn’t know there’re women journalists in Pakistan. People come and ask me: do all Pakistani women burqas? Same way, people in Pakistan ask me: Do women follow a dress code imposed by some conservative groups? Do they talk with Pakistanis on visit? We are right next door but we don’t know each other though we know about countries far apart. Even the media has stereotypes, Pakistanis are all jehadis, all are zealots, etc. As you know, good news don’t make good news and there’s a lack of stories on real people of which we both countries are guilty of. People to people contact can bring a lot of changes. The other problem in Pakistan is that you can watch Indian movies, even popular TV soaps but news bulletins are not allowed. How will people know about life beyond the film scenarios?