PESHAWAR, April 27: Speakers at a workshop urged the mass media to play their role in strengthening the civil society and promoting democratic culture in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Alternative, a Canadian NGO, had organized the two-day workshop entitled “Mass media and peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan” from Saturday.

Speaking at the workshop, HRCP Chairperson Afrasiab Khattak said the more than two-decade long civil war had shattered every sector of the Afghan society and the mass media would have to play a major role in state and nation building.

He said the fundamental role of the print and electronic media was to create political and social awareness and to raise issues related to society. He argued that civil society formatted itself automatically, not by any state or government body, and only an organized society could establish an independent media.

Mr Khattak said the mass media’s role could not be ignored in the rehabilitation of Afghan society.

He said the media could play a dynamic role in the mobilization of society, which could put positive impact on different components of the civil society in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Omar Bickle, the representative of Alternative, said the electronic media had made remarkable progress during the last decade. He said new technology had revolutionized the communication world, which had been proved during the Iraq crises.

He said the Afghan Peace and Democracy Act network had been set up to improve technical capacity of Afghan NGOs and develop local knowledge  and expertise,  particularly in management, administration and financial sustainability.

HRCP Seminars and Workshops Director Hussain Naqi said the state of human rights in Pakistan and Afghanistan was not satisfactory and media was not playing its due role.

He said the government allocated Rs5 billion in the annual budget to spread disinformation to keep people in dark and distort facts and figures.

He said the mass media should highlight basic problems and work in an organized way to consolidate foundations of the civil society.