The state of media in South Asian in 2005 was as varied as diverse the countries of the region are. But most dramatic developments, such as suppression of media and journalists' resistance in Nepal, and an unprecedented growth of electronic media, in most countries of the region, dominated the media scene. With almost 100 TV channels in India, dozens in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, South Asia has entered the electronic and digital multimedia stage in an unprecedented way. Never has in history been the growth in media mismatched with the archaic and obstructive legal, traditional and administrative structures at such a scale and with such an intensity. At a nerve breaking speed information revolution is demolishing all hurdles and restrictions that come in its way. Yet, South Asia is unique, in a negative sense, in taking leaps into the digital age and being still so resistant to free flow of information across borders. The bureaucracies are simply not willing to relax their control on information, even if the things are getting out of their hands with every passing moment.

Over all, both print and electronic media in South Asian countries remained state-centric and divided in terms of content and policy across sub-regional, ethnic and linguistic divides. No doubt it reflects tremendous diversity and plurality of situations and cultures, it also explains the captivity of media to local markets and audiences. However, increasingly and quite encouragingly, a section of media is trying to rise above various divides and distancing from the official line on inter and intra state conflicts and regional cooperation. Media in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are aggressively competing for markets under the tutelage of corporate and business interests. Cross media monopolies are fast emerging using most modern techniques and changing layouts and formats altogether. Expansion of electronic media is forcing the print media to reinvent itself to stay in the business.

The corporate interests dictating both content and form of print and electronic media are gradually shifting the focus and substance. As the professional editors are being sidelined, business managers and tycoons are taking over the editorial policy and sacrificing content for illusionary riffraff. Sensual pleasure is displacing serious contemplation of the hard world around. The issue of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has generated a good debate in India, Pakistan and elsewhere as foreign capital enters into the domestic markets, which are no more autonomous of globalization. Coupled with information revolution, globalization is binging in most modern technologies, international standards and prices, but not comparable wages. Multinationals are now entering into the advertising and the multimedia businesses. The difference between other commodities and media products is fast eroding and what sells is the best, no matter if it is the worse.

As the governments, with their large stock of advertisements and various other tools, continue to manipulate media, plant stories and hold information, media refuse to become an appendage of the ministries of information (control). But it doesn't mean that media don't succumb to official briefs. Political divisions, ethnic conflicts and social tensions also influence media and in many places they are divided on the lines of divisions in society. Yet media are getting mature and in many instances playing a positive role in defending public interest. Given the crisis of governance in the countries of South Asia, the media are playing ever increasing role to promote transparency and accountability. In a latest exposure, through a sting operation in India, a TV channel has exposed bribe-for-question scam that has led to the expulsion of 12 MPs from the Indian Parliament.

The efforts of the media community, their representative media bodies and South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) with regard to removing hurdles in the way of free movement of journalists and access to and free flow of information have still not borne fruit. In a first positive development, the Council of Ministers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), in its meeting held on November 11, 2005, at Dhaka, decided to include accredited journalists in the category of those already exempted from visa. The Chairman of Council of Ministers of SAARC, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, M. Morshed Khan, along with Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, and Minister of State for External Affairs of India, Shri E. Ahamed, made unequivocal announcement to exempt accredited media-persons from visa while addressing the concluding session of SAFMA's SAARC Journalists Summit in Dhaka on November 11, 2005.

The questions, however, remain who will evolve what mechanism and when to implement this decision? We hope that the next meeting of the Standing Committee of SAARC or/and SAARC Information Ministers' Meeting will implement the decision of the SAARC Council of Ministers and finally decide about the exact mechanism of visa-free regime for journalists. The other, no less important, issue that has still not attracted the attention of most governments and the SAARC Secretariat is that of access to and free flow of information across the borders in South Asia. The print and electronic media products from either country are practically banned in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh whose visa regimes are also the most prohibitive in the region. Not more than two journalists each are allowed by India and Pakistan to operate from their capitals (Sic!).

SAFMA has been tirelessly lobbying with the governments of member countries to consider its Protocol on 'Free movement of journalists and access to and free flow of information across the South Asian region', but it has not so far been included even on the agenda of SAARC for the last three SAARC summits. Nor has any response from any government come up on SAFMA's Protocol on Information that provides for a model information law to be considered by the national legislatures or adopted as a protocol by the SAARC. The new Information Act passed by the Indian Parliament, although a step forward, doesn't help much in accessing information and all that is necessary for the citizens to know.

During the year, the journalists throughout the region, especially in the peripheral regions, continued to remain at the mercy of local mafias, extremist groups and the local officials. With the increasing criminalization of politics, harassment, kidnaping and killing of journalists continued unabated. Worst cases of torture and casualties have been reported from conflict-ridden or crime-ridden regions, such as tribal areas of Pakistan, continuing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh where the districts like Khulna are a nightmare for the journalists. Twelve journalists were brutally killed in South Asia during the year. Four journalists in Pakistan (Allah Noor Khyber TV, Wana, Amir Nawab, AP Television News, Mohammed Iqbal, Balochistan Times, Ubaidullah Azhar, district correspondent of Online), three in Bangladesh (Sheikh Belaluddin Ahmed, Sangram, Gautam Das, Dainik Shamokal, Muhammad Golam Mahfuz, 'Comilla Mukta Khabar'), two from Sri Lanka (Dharameratnam Sivaram, editor TamilNet. Relangi Selvarajah, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation) two in Nepal (Maheshwar Pahari, Rashtriya Swabhimen) one in India (Bhooma Goud, Karimnagar, Khagendra Shreshtha, Dharan Today) and one in Afghanistan (Shaima Rezayee, Tolo TV) were killed.

Most glaring regression on the media scene was witnessed in Nepal after February 1, 2005 Palace coup that imposed draconian restrictions on the media. Emergency was imposed, blanket censorship was introduced, constitutional provisions and laws pertaining to press freedom, right to speech and right to know were suspended as democracy became a victim of feudal-monarchist dictatorship. And most encouraging side of the situation was, and is, that the valiant journalists of Nepal wrote a glorious chapter of struggle for press freedom and the fundamental human rights in the history of this region. Under the leadership of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) they broke all barricades, defied censorship, evolved innovative ways to perform their professional duties and fought, and are fighting, for the restoration of their democratic rights and constitutional democracy. The journalists' community in South Asia and the world at large rallied behind their colleagues to repulse attack on press freedom. As the struggle continues and the situation remains unchanged, the regional and international media community must remain vigilant and stand steadfastly behind their counterparts in Nepal until the Nepalese media get their freedom back.

Maldives continued to be a prison for journalists. While Minivan newspaper was banned, 50 per cent of staff members of this newspaper were awaiting prosecution. They included editor Aminath Najeeb, reporters Abdulla Saeed (Fahala), Hussain Nazeer, Ahmd Abbas, Nazim Sattar and Hidayatulla and columnist Nasheed. A political weekly magazine Adduvas, is also under fire and its editor Ibrahim Rasheed was arrested on having democratic views. Leading journalists Mohammad Zaki, and Fatimath Nisreen were released this year after facing extreme physical and mental torture for a long time. Three journalists, Mohammad Zaki, Aminath Didi, Abrahim Lutfee -- editor and senior staff of internet newsletter Sandhaanu with their assistant Fatimath Nisreen were arrested. Zaki, Didi, Lutfee founded this newsletter from Malaysia to avoid censorship and intimidation at home. They were charged with defamation, incitement to violence and treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Their assistant Nisreen received a 10-year imprisonment and one-year banishment sentence, which was later halved in November 2002. Lutfee, the editor of Sandhaanu, fled the country in May 2002. There is no let-up in the persecution of journalists in Maldives and there are no signs of relaxation in the autocratic stranglehold of President Gayoom.

In Bangladesh, the media continued to be divided along the sharp political polarization in the country. Still worse, rise of religious extremism and criminal gangs have made the life of journalists too difficult, in rural districts in particular. In Pakistan, the media remained quite vibrant and critical, but they gradually being entrapped in an elaborate system of self-censorship. This is not as much due to the pressure from the authorities as it is due to the weaknesses of the owner-editors who want to keep the authorities happy. Investigative journalism is now dying out because of the pressures and lack of support from the owners of media organisation to the working journalists. In the October earthquake in Pakistan, eleven journalists were killed and 69 family members of their families have lost their lives, besides those 242 media-persons who lost almost everything. SAFMA has constituted a 'Journalists Rehabilitation Fund' to rehabilitate journalists and their families. It has appealed to the media fraternity to support their colleagues in this hour of trial.

In India, media scene is becoming almost chaotic and increasingly varied with corporate interests now setting the nature of content and direction of policy. Yet the expansion and diversity of huge Indian media is so dynamic that no one can stop their march. Another weakness of the Indian media, in general, is that they continue to be embedded to South Block on India's relationship with its neighbors and policy on interstate conflicts in the region.

As the New Year begins, the media community in South Asia should continue to demand free movement of journalists and access to and free flow of information in the region. We must continue to express full solidarity with our fraternal Nepalese journalists, who are continuing their struggle for press freedom and their democratic rights, and demand an end to the atrocities being committed against journalists in Maldives and other backyards of South Asia. Moreover, let us contribute to the 'Journalists Rehabilitation Fund' to support the victims of earthquake tragedy from among our own community.

Lastly, a serious issue has been raised at the level of SAARC whether any Recognized Body of SAARC can work for the promotion of its profession? The Royal Nepalese government, perhaps, got irritated over SAFMA's role in Nepal and the solidarity it showed with the Nepalese journalists. While the issue of recognizing SAFMA as an Apex Body of SAARC was being discussed in the 31st Session of the Standing Committee of SAARC, its representative opposed the proposal and, instead, tried to get SAFMA de-associated with the SAARC as its Recognized Body. SAFMA has been 'cautioned' to 'observe the Guidelines and Obligations pertaining to SAARC Recognized Bodies'.

SAFMA has reassured SAARC that it has been supporting the SAARC objectives, while fulfilling its obligations to regional cooperation and pursuing its Memorandum of Association and objectives that uphold press freedom. As under SAARC, all member states are fully eligible to pursue their own policies in their respective countries, SAFMA Nepal is also independent in taking its decisions making it obligatory for the SAFMA in the region to back up its national chapter. As all member states of SAARC, including Nepal, are signatory to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, SAFMA also upholds the sanctity of fundamental rights.

The question that arises is that: Whether in order to remain associated with the SAARC and promote regional cooperation, you have to abandon your faith in the universality of fundamental human rights? SAFMA can't be a party to the betrayal of press freedom, denial of fundamental human rights to know, speech and association. If SAFMA can't fight for the rights of its own community and defend the sanctity of journalistic profession, then what's the use of being a media organization? We reiterate our commitment to a free press in the region and firmly stand by our colleagues in every nook and corner of South Asia for their personal security, professional independence and fundamental rights.