Aman ki Asha (a desire for peace): a case study of a people-to-people contacts peacebuilding initiative between India and Pakistan

Abstract

ABSTRACTAman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Times of India and the Jang Group of publications, which uses media cooperation for promoting people-to-people contacts and building peace. This is a unique initiative because in the history of peacebuilding, never before the mainstream media houses of conflicting communities are involved in such a peace initiative. Generally local media is seen inflaming the fires of conflict by following the nationalistic lines and portraying one sided picture of the conflict. After its launch in 2010, within few years Aman ki Asha emerged as one of the most successful peace initiatives between India and Pakistan but then suddenly in 2014 it became dormant when Jang group came under attack from the Pakistani military establishment and bilateral India-Pakistan relations worsened under Modi government in India. In this paper an attempt is made to provide a holistic story of Aman ki Asha covering its rise and decline. Moreover, the role played by Aman ki Asha in building peace between India and Pakistan at the top level, the middle range level and the grassroots levels is studied, and its current status is determined.