“Pakistani journalists are far braver than Indian journalists for they brave guns and terrorists. I have never seen a more weak and timid media than today. I don’t think Indian journalists want to ask questions anymore,” Rajdeep Sardessai said on Friday. He was speaking at the Goa Arts and Literary Festival, held at the International Centre Goa and the session was on ‘Media 2014: Compromised Independence?’
With Sardessai was Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida and both were taking questions from journalist Samar Halarnkar.
Halarnkar began the session focusing on the threats to the Indian and Pakistani media. “As I see it there are two types of threats, the external threat which is from outside the media and the internal threat that is the proprietors,” Halarnkar said, only to be told that in Pakistan the threat is far more real.
Almeida, who has Goan roots and is with the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, said that his paper is relatively free from political interference but that the media faces a long running threat from militant groups. “There are a number of journalists, friends of mine, who are under threat from militant groups. The media is very vulnerable to these threats and it has been a tough year for the Pakistani media,” Almeida said.
Sardessai broke in to say, “Unlike in Pakistan, we don’t have death threats, even though many politicians would like to eliminate us.”
