Event Kick-off

"Yeh Facebook or Twitter walay mera bahaut mazak uratay hain," said the Prime Minister's Adviser  for Interior Rehman Malik said to Sabeen Mahmud– one of the organizers of the India Pakistan Social Media Mela – after helping her out with acquiring visas for the Indian participants for the event.It all started three days before the delegation was meant to arrive in Pakistan and their visas had not even arrived.

To sum it up, Sabeen Mahmud found herself meeting Rehman Malik, a frenzied fax, a few phone calls, and the Indian delegation got two-month visas to Pakistan.

“He was accessible,” said Mahmud about Malik, thus kicking off SOCMM12 with this story.

Indian journalist Barkha Dutt, who could not make it because her visa did not arrive on time, joined the event via Skype.

“Technology has collapsed barriers…people to people contact used to involved logistic nitpicks...Online has done away with all that.”