We the media-persons belonging to various organizations and media fields from the member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), having held a most frank and fruitful exchange of views at the Second South Asian Free Media Conference at Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 1-2, 2002;
Recalling the principles inspiring the Joint Statement issued by the First South Asian Free Media Conference, in Islamabad, on July 1-2, 2000, and the commitments made therein;
Reaffirming our faith in peace, democracy, justice and the wellbeing of the family of the South Asian peoples and drawing upon the ideals of truth, integrity and humanism of our calling;



Taking serious note of the most dangerous situation prevailing between and within some of the states that threatens the very existence of the peoples of the region,
Concerned about a recourse to violence and terrorism in the countries of South Asia posing serious threat to civil society, democratic institutions, peace and stability of the region;
Alarmed at the ongoing inter-state and intra-state conflicts that have the potential to unleash wars and civil strife, including nuclear war, which could cause a tremendous loss of life, devastation of environment, destruction of precious resources, infinite misery to the peoples, including denial of human and social rights.
Have reached a broad-based consensus on the following understanding that reflects our deep concern about the impending dangers, the true democratic spirit of our humane commitment to the cause of peace and wellbeing of our peoples in South Asia and our professional calling:
Rejecting the tendency to prefer violence to negotiations, bellicosity to understanding, conflict to confidence building, arms race to management and stabilization, evading the causes of tensions to possibilities of resolution, annexation to addressing the aspirations of the suppressed indigenous people, repression to respect for human rights, including women rights, terrorism to respect for human life and disregard for good neighborly relations to peaceful co-existence;
Apprehending that such an aggressive, uncivilized, undemocratic, self-serving, rigid, irrational and repressive path in inter-state and intra-state matters relating to social and ethnic contradictions and historically-rooted conflicts will breed further violence, on the one hand, and create a social soil for nationalist jingoism, religious and ethnic extremism, fascism, authoritarianism and terrorism, on the other;
Realizing that in such a poisonous environment not only the people at large but also the intelligentsia and the media are likely to be swayed by one-sided, prejudiced, hateful and chauvinistic notions of incorrigible jingoism and intolerance for the other side of the divide, resulting in derogation of professional integrity, impartiality, understanding, rationality and every consideration for amity, reconciliation, accommodation, plurality, mutually beneficial co-existence, equity, freedom, democracy and human rights;
Acknowledging that many media practitioners, reporters of conflicts, opinion makers, broadcasters, film-makers, writers, editors, moderators, strategic and socio-political analysts generally tend to be overwhelmed by the false consciousness and illusions of ‘national pride’, ‘national interest’, ‘ones own greatness’, ‘ones own war’, ‘foreign danger’, ‘foreign hand’, ‘infallibility of national consensus’, ‘popular opinion’ and aggressive national chauvinism and, in turn, take lead and compete in reinforcing these “necessary illusions” bordering jingoism, hate, irrationality, exclusion and extremism that facilitate self-serving ‘national consensus’ against the demonized ‘enemy’ and the other ‘hate-able’ de-humanized side of the divide that is self-conveniently dubbed as ‘all-wrong’ as opposed to the erroneous ‘all-right’ on one’s own side;
Accepting media-person’s enormous responsibility at the present most critical juncture in region’s history and most crucial role in nation-building and history-making, we recognize our pivotal responsibility to the collective survival, interdependence, mutually beneficial co-existence, expose one-sided vested interests, report and appreciate the other-side of the half-truth, not-becoming instrumental in distorting facts or providing cover-up to one’s own aggression or demonizing the ‘enemy’ or facilitating the subversion in other country, appreciation of the diversity of the unity of opposites, oppose jingoism and chauvinism, defend the fundamental human rights and equality of all our peoples, promote equality for minorities and fullest affirmative support for the deprived and disenfranchised indigenous peoples, diversion of our resources from military and nuclear buildups to human and socially sustainable development and work for greater South Asian collective identity and unity-in-diversity, non-discriminatory progress and cooperation without the hegemony of the stronger over the weaker and the bigger over the smaller;
Noting with serious concern that the media-persons daring to oppose or deviate from the official standpoints of powerful establishments are discouraged, harassed, accused, abused, victimized emotionally, physically and materially damaged and, in some cases, even prosecuted for being ‘enemy agents’ while those who project and reinforce the false, dangerous and aggressive brinkmanship of the powers that be and violate all occupational ethics and standards of scholarship and objectivity are praised, rewarded and given unmerited prominence;
Have agreed to pursue, as far as possible in our peculiar circumstances, the following path while keeping our professional integrity, independence, truthfulness, self-critical introspection, overall responsibility to our South Asian region, its various peoples and an unflinching belief in the universal democratic and humane values:

1. That the participants of the Second South Asian Free Media Conference affirm their firm commitment and support to peaceful means over all forms of violent behavior, negotiations over military brinkmanship, understanding over bellicosity, amicable resolution of social conflicts within the states and historically-rooted disputes between the states over perpetuation of conflicts, recognition of the free will and satisfaction of the aspirations of the peoples over repression, reconciliation over incompatibility, confidence-building over aggravation of tensions, management over intensification of conflicts, stabilization of nuclear regime over unpredictable standoffs, disarmament over unbridled arms race, mutuality of interests over exclusivity, peaceful co-existence over animosity, upholding of peoples rights over repression, democratic governance over unrepresentative rule, safety of people over state oppression and cooperation over confrontation;

2. That we resolve to distance from, and expose, as for as possible in our particular circumstances and within our relative room to maneuver, all such policies/acts that are meant to promote confrontation, war, terrorism, repression, destruction, loss of innocent lives, jingoism, chauvinism, religious and ethnic extremism, expansionism, hegemonism, aggression, exclusion of people, demonization of the other side of the divide, de-humanization of inter-state and intra-state ‘adversaries’, external interference, militarization, occupation and marginalization of peoples and curtailment of human rights and dislocation of people on any pretext whatsoever;

3. That we call upon the South Asian states, that are at loggerheads with one another and those involved in conflicts with sections of their own populace, to enter into meaningful and purposeful dialogue with the parties concerned, take confidence-building measures to stabilize and improve the situations and, in the meanwhile, find some amicable solutions that satisfy the democratic and social aspirations of the peoples, remove causes of the conflicts and take into account the mutuality of legitimate interests of the concerned states, without making the peoples and South Asia’s future hostage to one conflict or the other;

4. That we also call upon all governments of South Asia to take effective measures against terrorism and terrorist outfits;

5. That we as practitioners of media, to the best of our ability and, in the given situation, pledge to uphold the whole truth, not only about ourselves but also about the others, regardless of the views of establishments, responsibility, and avoid becoming instrumental in fomenting war phobia, nationalist hysteria, jingoism, hate against others, extremism, distorting the facts, misleading nomenclatures, insulting other peoples, injuring sacred feelings, desecrating sacred places, ridiculing the traits and traditions of other peoples and nations, and promote better understanding, amity, realism, free flow of unbiased information, respect for human rights, empowerment of the disadvantaged peoples, strengthening of democratic institutions and peaceful resolution of all conflicts and disputes to the satisfaction, above all, of the concerned peoples, while addressing the legitimate interests of states and non-state parties;

6. That we will spare no efforts in creating a peaceful, friendly, democratic, and interactive atmosphere for the resolution of social, political and ethnic conflicts in our own countries in the interests of our own peoples and amicable, peaceful and just settlement of all disputes between states and do our best in promoting informed debates, free exchange of views, exposing falsehoods, distortions, accusations, extremism, jingoism and aggressive nationalist phobia and war hysteria, encouraging dissent, defending everyone’s right to disagreement and expose the beast within;

7. That we will strive to promote a media for peace, instead of a media for war, and find ways and means and use our influence in facilitating peace, reconciliation, stabilization, confidence-building and solution-seeking processes and evolving multiple mechanisms and alternative approaches in place of current fixated national consensus on various strategic, socio-political issues and disputes and inflexible bureaucratic setups that thrive on confrontation and protracted stalemate;

8. That all of us vow to defend any citizen, in general, and a media-person, or a media organization, in particular, against harassment or punishment for dissent or truthful reporting or honest comment, and to struggle in solidarity with the victim till the grievance is redressed and due damages secured.