The next speaker after Maung Thara was Mr. Chanchal Sarkar who is a senior journalist and columnist writing in Hindustan Times and Tribune in India. Speaking on “The Role of Independent Media in Democracy”, Mr. Sarkar said the right to freedom of information is limited and restricted by the governments even in the countries where democracy functions. “Media personnel have to keep fighting, have to keep going into investigation and have to go into the grassroots”, suggested Mr. Sarkar. He also said that India needs special newspapers covering on human rights.

Bharat Dogra who spoke in the afternoon session talked on his experiences on building an alternative media. After working some years as a freelance journalist in the mainstream media, Mr. Dogra started an article and feature service, namely News from Fields and Slums in India (NFS India) fourteen years ago. His talk on “Alternative Media and Challenges Ahead” emphasized the importance of alternative media in the current age of globalization where mainstream media is highly controlled by vested interests. He highlighted two facts: the importance of working with younger generation and the role of vernacular media and newspapers for social and political changes.

Ms. Nomita Unnikrishnan is currently a Guest faculty in Department of Journalism in Lady Shriram College, New Delhi. She talked about the television media in India and how it can be either or/ both dangerous and useful for the younger generation. Having co-authored and edited a book on “Impact of T.V. advertisement on children”, Ms. Nomita also talked the use of television as a tool for political awareness. The last speaker of the day was Mr. Don Pathan who is the assistant editor for the regional Desk of the Nation newspaper in Thailand. Having worked on Southeast Asia affairs for six years, Don Pathan had been closely monitoring and writing on Burma and Burma-related issues in The Nation. In the seminar, he talked about the Thailand’s policy towards Burma and fallout of Burmese Embassy Siege, in which five Burmese pro-democracy activists stormed the Burmese embassy in Bangkok in the first week of October 1999. Don also talked on the existence of relatively free press in Thailand. “Without free press in Thailand, exiled Burmese students and human rights groups would not be able to document the atrocities committed in Burma. Without freedom of speech, Burmese students would not be able to stage demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy in Bangkok. Nevertheless, there are a number of hard-liners in the Thai government who would love to see such freedom be limited”, said Don Pathan. His talk was followed by a wide questions and answers of the other participants on the comparison of Thailand and Indian press coverage on Burma issues. Some Burma pro-democracy activists who participated in the seminar pointed out that while Thailand media is giving much coverage on Burma issues, Indian media rarely covers on Burma and related issues. This argument occasionally came out in the following two days and the participants from India had to make responses on why the media and newspapers in Delhi are not covering enough even what is happening in other parts of the country.


The second day of the seminar started by Ms. Rajashri Dasgupta talking on “Working on Gender Issues in Mainstream Media”. Ms. Rajashri, who works as Themes Editor of The Telegraph newspaper in Calcutta, talked on her own experiences as a woman journalist in mainstream media. “The editor used to warn me not to use the paper as a FEMINIST platform and I was really angry”, said Rajashri. “When I joined the paper in 1993, I had before me the Old Notions of what constituted women’s issues such as cooking, fashion, beauty and New Ideas of rape, dowry, violence, oppression and subordination. When we started the women page, the colleagues reacted as ridiculous. Why a women’s page and not men’s? What can you do other than sob stories? And also pressure from some women colleagues even saying that whatever you do, please include fashion and beauty”, said Rajashri telling her challenging experiences. She also told the participants how one can learn to manipulate the system to put the people’s concerned issues in the media.


Another speaker in the morning session was Mr. Sidharth Bhatia who is working as Consulting Editor of The Pioneer newspaper in India. Mr. Bhatia talked on “Freedom of Expression & International Solidarity”. Mr. Bhatia spoke the need of regional and international solidarity amongst the media personnel based on universal and professional set of values. He urged the participants of the seminar to maintain regular communication each other at least. Mr. Ugen Norbu who works for the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (Tibetan Language Service) talked on the lack of freedom of expression in Tibet which is under the rule of China. His personal experiences working as a journalist in exile were much to learn for the other participants. “It is true that a person who has undergone persecution nurtures a special commitment to the cause of freedom of expression. In the last forty years since Communist China took over Tibet, a sizeable number of Tibetans who settled in India have acted as spokesmen for the thousands who live in a grip of fear. Thus they have contributed to the cause of freedom of expression”, said Ugen Norbu.

The afternoon session of the second day had two speakers. Dr. C.R Abrar who is teaching in International Relations at the University of Dhaka talked on the independent media in Bangladesh. Dr. Abrar regularly contributes articles to the newspapers in Bangladesh. He talked the limitations and restrictions of freedom of press in Bangladesh where a democratically elected governments rules. The government uses laws and ordinances such as Special powers Act and Printing & Publication Law to curtail the freedom of expression in the country.

Speaking on “Challenges faced by human rights journalist: My experience”, Ms. Madhu Kishwar talked her experiences working in an independent magazine for 21 years. Madhu Kishwar, the editor of Manushi, which is a magazine on women and society said: “To be an independent media, you have to risk a lot of unpopularity. Sometimes, the people in the movements themselves will not like you, as you don’t write their “propagandist reports. It is, on the other hand, equally important to have you a healthy distance from the government”. The second-day programme was ended with a film “A Season Outside” directed by Mr. Amar Kanwar. The film is on violence and non-violence.

A well-known cartoonist in India, Mr. Sudhir Dar talked on the “Role of cartoonist: My experience” in the third and last day of the seminar. “Unless you can express and you don’t express whatever you want to say, you have no freedom. A cartoonist is the one who expresses effectively what he or she sees. Cartoonist must not be a cynic but must be a critique and cartoonist must have a naïve idealism”, said Mr. Dar. His talk was followed by Mr. Praful Bidwai speaking on independent media in democracy. Mr. Bidwai, one of the five most published journalists in India, co-authored the book on nuclear politics and the future of global disarmament, namely “South Asia on a short fuse” after India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in May 1998. “Media in India is increasingly becoming partisan and independent media has to play the role of watch-dog. Sometimes, voluntary censorship was practiced by the mainstream media itself”, said Mr. Bidwai. Speaking on the present news coverage in the mainstream media, Mr. Bidwai said: “Three hundred people died in a plane crash and every papers covered the news. But 300 children are dying everyday but this news does not appear in the media”. Moreover, The assistant copy editor of the Outlook weekly newsmagazine Mr. Ramananda Sengupta talked on the freedom of press and his experience.

The last session of the seminar was moved to and held at Burmese Community Resource Centre in West Delhi where a diplomacy training course for the Burmese democracy activists was going on. The Burmese participants of the training joined the session and they sang songs of international solidarity in welcoming the journalists. Mr. Kanak Dixit from Nepal talked on his country’s experiences in maintaining democracy and challenges for a transitional democracy, which Burma will definitely face when its time comes. The last speaker of the seminar was Mr. Win Htein who is an exile journalist from Burma, now working as a reporter for Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). Mr. Htein talked on the role played by Burmese independent media in exile as the media in Burma is totally controlled by the military junta there.

Before the three-day seminar was ended, the organizers from Mizzima News Group thanked the participants and expressed their wish to be able to organize a similar seminar, a bigger in terms of participants and longer in duration period, in next year. Besides promising to keep in touch each other, the participants also put forward their suggestions and feedback to the organizers for the next seminar if there is any. Most of the participants suggested to add film shows on Burma and of course, Burmese food too in the next seminar or workshop of Mizzima News Group. Thus, three-day seminar on “The Role of Independent Media and Democracy” was successfully ended in the evening of November 2, 1999.

Speakers

The Role of Independent Media & Democracy

October 31 - November 2

October 31, 1999

Kuldip Nayar has been a journalist since 1964. He was the Chief Editor and General Manager of UNI in 1964-67 and Editor of the Statesman in 1967-1975. Then he worked as Editor of the Indian Express in 1975-1981 and has worked as Correspondent for Times, London for 25 years. He was jailed during the Emergency in India for his fearless critique of the Emergency Rule. He has lived his life fighting for the Independence of media with fearless struggle. He was one of the founders of the civil of liberty movement in India. He is also the author of several books expressing very highly political issues which few would have dared to touch such as imposition of emergency. He has been a columnist and political commentator since 1981. He was also Indian High Commissioner in United Kingdom in 1990. He is currently a Member of Parliament (Raja Sabha). He continues to be a friend of freedom and democracy struggles. That's why he is appropriate to inaugurate this function.

Maung Thara, a well-known writer in Burma, was born in Mandalay, the cultural and last kingdom city of Burma, was born in Mandalay, the cultural and last kingdom city of Burma. His real name is U Thein Lwin, but most of the people in Burma knew him by his penname Maung Thara.

Educated at Mandalay university (form 1948-1949) and at Rangoon University (from 1951-1953), but he was expelled for life to continue studies, because of leading the 1953 October Student Strike. At that time he was an acti8vist of the Student United Front and co-founder of the historic All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and the People's Youth of Burma organization. And he was detained inside the Mandalay prison form 1953 to 1955 without any trial.

He started his literacy career after his acquittal in 1955 and became one of the readers' favorites for his unique st7yle and poetic language. As he could not endure as merely a stylist, he changed his trend towards realism.

His novel, sketching the life of a taxi-driver; Standing on the Road, Sobbing" won the National Literary Award in 1970.

He edited and published in monthly literary magazine, named after his pseudonym THARA, but in July 1989, the military regime in Burma shut down by refusing to renew his publishing license, at the same time when Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi began her six years of house arrest.

Two months later, in September 1989 the military intelligence (M.I.S) 'invited' him to their office and 'requested' not to write any more, in front of the Press Scrutiny Board (Ministry of Home Affairs) authorities. Since then, all of his fresh writings and reprints were totally banned.

Now, the latest restriction on the press nation-wide is that even his name should not be mentioned in any printed periodicals in Burma.

R. Chanchal Sarkar is a senior journalist and columnist writing in Hindustan Times and Tribune in India.

Mr. Bharat Dogra has worked for 20 years as a freelance journalist. Since he felt that it was difficult to put people's concerned issues in the mainstream media after working for five years as freelance journalist, he started bringing out his own pamphlets and publications and also as of collaborating with other news agencies. He started an article and feature service, namely NFS India, News form Fields and Slums in India for small-scale newspapers. That was he started 14 years ago. This news service has been regularly bringing out news and articles without any interruption and also without any funding.

He is now planning to bring out a regular publication mainly on developmental issues. This is called "Hamara Sapna" in Hindi and "Our Dream" in English. So far, one hundred booklets have been already published. His wife "Madhu" has been working with Mr. Bharat Dogra together for these feature service and "Hamara Sapna" Publication.


Ms. Nomita Unnikrishnan is currently a Guest faculty in Lady Shriram College, Department of Journalism. She co-authored and edited the book on "Impact of T.V advertising on children", published by Sage. She has gone form being a journalist with Times of India to taking an interest in media education.

She continues to write for many publications and has also edited a few books.

Mr. Don Pathan is the assistant editor for the Regional Desk at The Nation newspaper in Bangkok, Thailand. Pathan, a former correspondent with the Associated Press and the previously served as the bureau chief for the Nation's Hanoi Bureau, has been reporting on Southeast Asia affairs for about six years.

November 1, 1999

Rajashri Dasupta is the Themes Editor of The Telegraph, a Calcutta based English daily. Her job is to conceptualise, plan assign and edit the weekly pages on Women, Family, Consumer, Law and Fitness. She is an active member of (1) Sachetana, a women's rights group (2) Maitri a federation of 30 women's groups and organizations in West Bengal and (3) Swayam a crisis center for women (4) Pakistan-India people's Forum for Peace and Democracy, a citizen based group."

Her sensitive writings and interviews of men and women testify to her passionate commitment to the struggle for democracy & Human rights. Her writing reflect her own firsthand experience of torture, imprisonment and political repression and she has chosen to show solidarity with all people who are victims of repression.

Mr. Sidharth Bhatia is currently the Consulting Editor of The Pioneer. He has been in journalism for nearly 24 years in various capacities, including as Resident Editor of The Observer of Business and Politics. Bombay and as a foreign correspondent in South Africa. He has been a media teacher for several years and has been involved in the Freedom of Expression issues. He recently attended and international colloquium on Freedom of Expression and the Law of Criminal Defamation in Sri Lanka organized by Article 19 and the Commonwealth Press Union.

Ms. Seema Mustafa has been a journalist for 20 years, working for major mainstream newspapers in India such as The Telegraph and Indian Express. She is currently a senior journalist and political editor for the Asian Age. She is also a social activist involving in various social issues. She has got many awards for her creative journalism. She has fought and continues to fight fearlessly against communalism.

Dr. Chowdhury R Abrar is Professor in International Relations at the University fo Dhaka. He is also the coordinator of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit. Dr. Abrar studies at the Universities of Dhaka, Sussex and Griffith (Australia). His doctoral dissertation was titled 'Dominant but Non-hegemonic: The Authoritarian State in Bangladesh'. He was a Commonwealth Scholar and a Fulbright Senior Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He specialises in refugees and migration issues issues. His current sesearch interests include Rohingya refugees, Chakma returnees and the Bihari stateless persons. Dr. Abrar co-authored a book on 'Aid, Development and Diplomacy: The Case for Aid Policy' (University Press Ltd, 1999). He contributed articles to volumes published by Westview Press, Earthscan, Blackwell and Macmillan, India. He has been involved in civil rights movement in Bangladesh since student days and was the General Secretary of the progressive writer forum, the Bangladesh Lekhok Shibir. He is a member of the human ritghts group, Odhikar (Rights).

Madhu Kishwar was in the student movement in the 1970s. She started "Manushi" magazine about women and society in 1978. It is the policy of Manushi not to take any advertisement form cosmetic companies where women are treated as object. For 21 years itself of survival as an outstanding magazine is a major success. She has established a network inside and outside the country. She has been taking up the causes of civil liberty movements including Burmese democracy movement. She has a very good academic studies authoring many books on issues ranging from study of medieval women poets to a study on Gandhian women. She has lectured widely at home and abroad on issues relating to women, civil liberty and society. She is currently teaching at Satya Wati College in Delhi University.


Mr. Ugen Norbu was born in Tibet, educated in India, and was active in the Tibet independence movement form his college days in Delhi. He was one of the founders of Tibeto-Burmese Solidarity Forum, which was formed to work closely between Tibetan and Burmese democracy activists in India. He has been a roving correspondent for Tibetan Review, New Delhi at the same time. After completing his PG diploma in mass communication in 1995, he helped establish MAONGPA communications, an independent Tibetan media group and worked as it's Chief Editor. They produced monthly Tibetan language newsmagazine on audio tape. This was primarily targeted for inside Tibet. In 1996, he started to report for Radio Free Asia's Tibetan Service and currently he is doing the same, living in Dharamsala.

November 2, 1999

Sudhir Dar hails from the holy city of Prayag (batter known as Allahabad) which he feels might explain his 'holier-than thou' look. He took a Master's degree in Geography from Allahabad University and went into broadcasting! Two years of All India Radio slipped by. Then he flew into Air India, where he was 'grounded' for a year doing sales promotion work.

For the nest few years he tried his hand at various jobs, never being able to find his feet. Finally in 1960, he entered the world of cartooning. For seven years he worked with THE STATESMAN doing a zany, wordless pocket cartoon called 'Out of My Mind' which appeared daily on page one. In 1967 he 'crossed the floor' and joined The HINDUSTAN TIMES where he spent 22 years drawing political cartoons and a daily pocket cartoon called 'This is it!' Then, with THE PIONEER OF Delhi and Lacknow for seven years – and is currently with THE TIMES OF INDIA in Delhi.
Dar's cartoons have appeared in some of the world's leading publications, viz, The New Youk Times, The Washington Post, MAD Magazine, Saturday Review, Die Welt, Neue Zurcher Zeitung and several US, European and Asian newspapers and magazines. MAD Magazine called him a 'Tasty Indian Nut'. Dar represented India at the first International Cartoonists' Conference in London in 1970.


Sudhir Dar has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards. In 1970, he was chosen the 'Most Outstanding Young Mang of the Year' by the Delhi Junior Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 1974, he won the Durga Ratan award for 'the best cartoonist of the year'. In 1981, he won a 'Superior Works' Prize in the Yomuiri International Cartoon Contest organized by Yomuiri Shinbum, one of Japan's leading newspapers and in 1983, a premier award in the 7th International Biennale of Sports Cartoons held in Italy.

In the field of advertising, Dar has designed posters, booklets, calendars, advertisements, etc. His cartoon book jacket design won the first prize in India's Annual Exhibition of Design and Printing and his poster calendar for Air-India in 1980 won a finalist certificate of the International Clio awards in the USA, considered to be the highest competition for advertising in the world. His cartoons for KLM's direct mail advertising campaign in India in 1986 won a Casper award in Holland.

Many of his original cartoons are now in the personal possession of some of the world's leading personalities, viz Queen Elizabeth II of England, Sir Richard Attenborough, Henry Kissinger, Yehudi Menuhin, etc.

Mr. Ramananda Sengupta joined the Telegraph newspaper in Calcutta as trainee in 1987. And he became the foreign desk chief of the paper. He left The Telegraph to join international section of OUTLOOK magazine in 1995. He has been writing exclusively on human rights, democracy and regional events.

Mr. Kanak Mani Dixit studies up to his Bachelors in Kathmandu, and completed his LLB at Delhi University in 1975, and followed through with a Masters in International Affairs and a Masters in Journalism at Columbia University, New York. He has been in Journalism since 1971, and worked for the United Nations Secretariat as information officer between 1982 and 1990. For the last decade, he has edited Himal magazine, which was first a Himalayan journal and since March 1996 a South Asian magazine. Presently, Kanak Mani Dixit also edits a vernacular newsweekly, Himal Khabarpatricka.


Praful Bidwai is a senior journalist, columnist and one of the five most published journalists in India. He is working as regular columnist for many publications and papers like Times of India, Frontline, Economic Times, etc.

He is a scholar and activist in addition to being a journalist working on the issues like secularism, nuclear-disarmament, human rights, etc. He has been a fellow of Nehru Memorial Museum & Library. He co-authored the book on "South Asia on Short Views".

Deepak Dewan has been covering the North-East region for about 20 years. In fact, it was the AASU (All Assam's Students Union) agitation which took him to Assam, way back in 1979. His very first trip to Assam, the Gateway to the North East region, fascinated him and he began to visit the other north-eastern states like Manipur, Nagaland. Maghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal and Tripura. He was working as Staff Correspondent for SUN magazine, then a weekly. As Mr. Dewan says, "My each story brought more interaction with the people of North-East and it developed into a commitment."

In 1987, SUN magazine started a 16-page fortnightly pull-out – The North East SUN. This pull-out, circulated only in north-eastern states, became the voice of North-East as it provided a platform for the people of North-East to voice their opinions. A bureau was set-up with all the contributors from North-East. All the reportage of the North-East was by the people of North-East. In 1994, North-East SUN pull-out became a full-fledged separate North East SUN magazine. Mr. Dewan, who has traveled extensively in every nook and corner of the region, has many unforgettable scoops to his credit. The Muivah, General Secretary, NSCN, gave his first ever media interview to Mr. Deepak Dewan who later also visited the secret headquarters of the NSCN.

Mr. Win Htein was born in a village of Tavoy, southern Burma in 1964. He was studied in Tavoy Collage and Molumein University before 8888 uprising by Burmese major as dream for a journalist or a writer.

When begin 8888, he was final year in Moulmein and he joined. Also he was a leader of Tavoy Students Union in the 8888 uprising. After coup in 18 Sept, he moved to the KNU controlled-area opposite Tavoy with other thousand students.

He was worked in the ABSDF for 10 years as a member, a chairman of Minthamee Camp and later a member of central committee.

Now, he works full time for Democratic Voice of Burma which is based in Norway and he occasionally writes for The Nation and The Irrawaddy.

Mr. Tsering Tashi completed his Master in Journalism in United States in 1988. He worked from January 1991 to September 1991 to September 1991 at Office of Tibet in London and Zurich, Geneva. Then, he worked as Editor of Tibetan Bulletin, which is bi-monthly journal of Tibetan Government-in-exile till November 1991. From 1992 to 1999, he worked as Press Officer at Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dharamsala. Since March 1999, he has been working as Secretary of Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi.

Thin Thin Aung participated in the 8888 democratic people's uprising in Burma and left the country for India to continue the Burma democratic struggle. She has been living in exile in India for the last eleven years. She is now working as General Secretary of the Women Rights & Welfare Association of Burma (WRWAB). She is also the Director of the MIZZIMA News Group. She works for the BBC (Burmese Service) as an India-based stringer.

Soe Myint actively participated in the 1988 nation-wide people's uprising, demanding for the restoration of democracy in Burma and worked as a reporter/photographer for the "Mainstream" journal of a student union during the uprising. After the military coup, he left Burma for the border area and arrived India in 1990. He worked as Editor of FIST News Bulletin published by the All Burma Students League (ABSL) from 1994-96. He worked as the General Secretary of the student organization from 1996-1997. He has been writing articles on Burma and Burma-related issues for magazines in India and abroad since 1992 as a freelance journalist. He also worked as India-based reporter for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Radio Free Asia (Burmese Language Service. He is currently working as an Inda-based stringer for Voice of America (Burmese Service) and Editor of the MIZZIMA News Group.