Features
Poor-quality and counterfeit medicines and unnecessary drugs
by Saman Gunatilake
Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Neurologist
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Key facts
* Substandard and counterfeit medical products affect people all around the world.
* At least 1 in 10 medicines in low- and middle-income countries are substandard or falsified.
* Countries spend an estimated US$ 30.5 billion per year on substandard and falsified medical products.
* Substandard and falsified medical products are often sold online or in informal markets.
The circulation of substandard medicines in the developing world is a serious clinical and public health concern. Studies have revealed that in low-and-middle income countries, more than 13 percent of the essential medicines that are considered as priority for basic healthcare are of poor quality and falsified. In Asia and Africa, the prevalence of poor-quality medicines was ranging from 11 to 48 percent. In low- and middle-income countries, 19 percent of antimalarial drugs and 12 percent of antibiotics are substandard or counterfeit. Sri Lanka is also not immune from these problems. A research paper published in the journal BMC Health Services Research in 2023 titled “Quality of medicines in Sri Lanka: a retrospective review of safety alerts” revealed that over a period of three years, in 2018 to 2021, contamination was the most frequent cause of defective medicines, while stability defects, packaging and labelling defects and active ingredient defects were other causes. In addition, the findings showed that some manufacturers were accountable for repetitive withholdings and recalls of medicines from use, which reflects the ignorance of quality control measures and weak regulatory inspections, violating Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). These measures have been enhanced and enforced strictly following changes in regulatory bodies, such as the National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA), and it is likely that the situation is much better today. Recently, a newspaper reported that 13 batches of different types of medicines have been withheld, or recalled, due to poor quality.
There are two main categories of poor-quality medicines: Substandard and counterfeit. WHO defines ‘substandard medicines’ as authorized medical products that fail to meet either their quality standards or their specifications, or both, and ‘falsified or counterfeit medicines’ as “medicines that are deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity composition or source”. Counterfeits may include products with correct or incorrect ingredients, without active ingredients, with insufficient active ingredients, or with fake packaging’’. For example, some time back one-third to one-half of the vital anti-malarial agent artesunate bought in mainland South-East Asia was counterfeit, containing no or sub-therapeutic active ingredient. We all are familiar with the fake immunoglobulin scam which happened in our country. These products are often created and distributed with the intent to deceive consumers for financial gain.
Substandard and counterfeit medical products pose significant threats to public health globally. They can be ineffective at treating the illness, as they may contain incorrect ingredients or incorrect dosages. They can even be directly harmful to patients if they contain contaminants or toxic substances. In Sri Lanka, a few years ago, the contamination of eye drops with fungi was reported causing blindness, and contaminated injections causing severe infections such as meningitis. Both substandard and counterfeit medical products put patients’ health at risk, undermine the effectiveness of health systems, and erode trust in health and care providers. Most of the patients we see are aware of the problems we have had with poor quality drugs and some insist that the doctors dispense good quality medicines and some go to the extent of even bringing the medicines that they have bought or got from hospitals to be double checked.
There is a substantial economic burden, too, with the country’s finances wasted due to ineffective treatments, increased healthcare costs and loss of productivity. For patients, the consequences are serious: ineffective or harmful products can exacerbate illnesses, lead to complications and prolonged suffering and even death. Patients may unknowingly consume medications that contain toxic substances or incorrect dosages, resulting in poisoning, treatment failure, and exacerbation of diseases. Trust in healthcare providers and systems erodes, leaving communities vulnerable and fearful. With the global spread of this issue, no region is spared, with both developed and developing countries having to grapple with this man-made danger to our health.
Sophisticated networks manufacture these products, exploiting the demand for affordable medical treatments. The increase in online sales, through unauthorized sites, has further worsened the issue, allowing counterfeit products to reach consumers more easily. To tackle this problem, robust legal frameworks, regional and international cooperation, heightened public awareness and stronger enforcement measures are required. These steps are crucial to safeguarding the integrity of health systems and ensuring the availability of safe and effective medical products.
In this background, everyone is at risk of encountering substandard and falsified medical products. The following are more at risk – vulnerable populations, countries lacking social protection and with weaker health systems, individuals buying medical products from unauthorized sources (including online), countries with a poor supply chain and countries with an increased demand of specific and urgent supply of medical products requiring bypass of standard regulatory measures.
Tackling substandard and counterfeit medical products is challenging due to limited resources and infrastructure in many regions, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Counterfeiters are using sophisticated methods that make detection difficult. The rise of online purchases and informal markets makes it hard to monitor and control the distribution of these products. Additionally, the vast number of medical products in circulation, worldwide, makes comprehensive regulation and monitoring a significant challenge.
Combating the problem
Strengthening medicine regulatory authorities and in our country the NMRA, improving quality of production, and facilitating the availability of relatively inexpensive, good quality medicines are key to combating the problem. Sustained political will and financial support for coordinated action from health officials, police, custom officials and MRAs is vital. Poorer countries will find it difficult to implement quality assurance measures. WHO has estimated that around 30% of countries have no good drug regulation capacity that functions effectively. The lack of financial and human resources, trained personnel in MRAs make investigation and control of poor-quality drugs impossible. Increased provision of essential drugs free or at subsidized costs for major diseases would undercut the counterfeiters.
Preventing, detecting and responding to substandard and falsified medical products require robust regulatory systems which enforce the highest possible quality standards for medical products. Measures are required to prevent the manufacture, sale and consumption of substandard and falsified medical products by implementing systems to detect any substandard and falsified medical products already in the supply chain. Responding quickly and proportionately to any incident detected, in ways that safeguard patients, and the supply chain, are important, taking appropriate action, whilst not causing unnecessary shortages. Governments must ensure that regulations and legal frameworks keep pace with technological developments and the regulatory standards are upheld and enforced in a consistent and transparent manner.
Public awareness campaigns are crucial to educate people about the risks of buying medical products from unauthorized sources. It is crucial to support local healthcare providers and ensure they have access to safe, affordable medical products. This involves strengthening healthcare infrastructure, providing training and resources and implementing policies that guarantee the availability of genuine, cost-effective medicines for all communities.
WHO response
WHO addresses the issue of substandard and falsified medical products through coordinated political and technical responses. The Member State mechanism was established to facilitate global collaboration among WHO Member States. It aims to promote and reinforce national and international efforts to prevent, detect and respond to substandard and falsified medical products. This mechanism allows member states to share information, experiences and best practices, ensuring a unified and effective global response. It also supports the development of regulatory frameworks, capacity building and the promotion of legal measures to combat these threats to public health.
The WHO Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS) is a comprehensive initiative launched in 2013 to enhance the detection, reporting and response to substandard and falsified medical products. By providing national regulatory authorities with a robust information portal, the GSMS facilitates the sharing of data on suspect products, enabling timely alerts and coordinated actions across borders. This system is vital to improve the accuracy and speed of identifying these products, supporting evidence-based policymaking, and strengthening regulatory capacities globally. Its collaborative approach ensures that health systems are better equipped to protect public health and maintain the integrity of medical supplies.
Together, the Member State mechanism and GSMS provide a comprehensive framework for addressing the complex challenge of substandard and falsified medical products, enhancing global public health safety.
Unnecessary drugs
Recently our Minister of Health has stated that there are many unnecessary drugs in the market and that steps will be taken to curb this menace. This is very true and as prescribing doctors we see many unnecessary drugs in the market. What are unnecessary drugs? There are two main categories 1) An approved drug being used as treatment when it is really not necessary for the patient 2) Products marketed as medicines where their clinical value is not proven.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) in USA define an Unnecessary Drug as any drug used in excessive dosage (including duplicate drug therapy); for excessive duration; without adequate monitoring; without adequate indications for its use; in the presence of adverse consequences which indicate the dose should be reduced or discontinued. The term Unnecessary Drug is often misunderstood, incorrectly used and poorly applied. A recent survey published by the chief pharmaceutical officer for England, concludes that up to 110 million medicines handed to patients each year may be unnecessary and even potentially harmful. In England, 15 percent of people now take five or more medicines a day, while seven percent are on eight drugs or more. Sometimes two or three painkillers are given when one would suffice. This applies to antibiotics, too, and haphazard use can lead to unwanted drug interactions, side effects and drug resistance. Vitamin supplements also are widely used, a single patient being on many vitamins when there is no real indication. Some vitamins in excess can be harmful and as routine supplements vitamins really serve no purpose.
Factors contributing to the misuse of medication include health system and regulatory failures, poor prescribing practices on the part of physicians, ease of access to medications from pharmacists without requiring a prescription as well as a lack of education among patients about their medications. Increasingly, healthcare providers around the world are seeing “deprescribing” as a solution. This process, led by pharmacists and doctors, involves systematically discontinuing medicines that are inappropriate, duplicative or unnecessary.
Use of drugs without proven clinical benefit
These are drugs available in the market that have not been subjected to proper clinical evaluation. Accepted practice is for new drugs to undergo various stages of evaluation before use in humans. Once the laboratory, animal and human safety studies are done, a new drug is subjected to a clinical trial. If the product is proven to be of benefit in a clinical trial, then the regulatory body of the country (The United States Food and Drug Administration FDA in the USA, The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK, NMRA in Sri Lanka). However, in our country what are assumed to be herbal products and Ayurveda products don’t need to go through these stringent checks. As a result, they are in the market and advertised in newspapers and electronic media, these products, misleading the public. It is also of concern that even universities of ours are marketing drugs of no proven clinical value using this loophole in the regulatory process.
Substandard medicines are a problem in Sri Lanka similar to that of other low- and middle-income countries. The challenges posed by poor quality medicines are increasingly becoming global, requiring international cooperation at all levels. To ensure quality medicines reach the market and the public, strong country plans, regulators with power to act, technical assistance to genuine manufacturers, awareness among healthcare workers and the public are important areas that must be strengthened. Governments in rich countries should not tolerate the export of substandard pharmaceutical products to poor countries, while developing country governments should improve their ability to detect substandard medicines.
Spread of counterfeit drugs is a modern-day menace which is seen internationally, especially so in developing countries. The problem assumes added significance in view of rapid globalization. The market of spurious and counterfeit drugs is a well-organized crime. Poverty, high cost of medicines, lack of an official supply chain, legislative weaknesses, easy accessibility to printing technology, ineffective law enforcement machinery, and light penalties provide the counterfeiters with an enormous economic incentive without much risk. The consequences of the use of such medicines may vary from treatment failure, serious adverse events and even death. Proper drug quality monitoring, enforcement of laws and legislation, an effective and efficient regulatory environment, and awareness and vigilance, on part of all stakeholders are required to tackle this problem.
In one of India’s coldest and most remote regions, a group of women have taken on an unlikely role: protecting one of Asia’s most elusive predators, the snow leopard.
Snow leopards are found in just 12 countries across Central and South Asia. India is home to one of the world’s largest populations, with a nationwide survey in 2023 – the first comprehensive count ever carried out in the country – estimating more than 700 animals, .
One of the places they roam is around Kibber village in Himachal Pradesh state’s Spiti Valley, a stark, high-altitude cold desert along the Himalayan belt. Here, snow leopards are often called the “ghosts of the mountains”, slipping silently across rocky slopes and rarely revealing themselves.
For generations, the animals were seen largely as a threat, for attacking livestock. But attitudes in Kibber and neighbouring villages are beginning to shift, as people increasingly recognise the snow leopard’s role as a top predator in the food chain and its importance in maintaining the region’s fragile mountain ecosystem.
Nearly a dozen local women are now working alongside the Himachal Pradesh forest department and conservationists to track and protect the species, playing a growing role in conservation efforts.
Locally, the snow leopard is known as Shen and the women call their group “Shenmo”. Trained to install and monitor camera traps, they handle devices fitted with unique IDs and memory cards that automatically photograph snow leopards as they pass.
“Earlier, men used to go and install the cameras and we kept wondering why couldn’t we do it too,” says Lobzang Yangchen, a local coordinator working with a small group supported by the non-profit Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) in collaboration with the forest department.
Yangchen was among the women who helped collect data for Himachal Pradesh’s snow leopard survey in 2024, which found that the state was home to 83 snow leopards – up from 51 in 2021.
The survey documented snow leopards and 43 other species using camera traps spread across an area of nearly 26,000sq km (10,000sq miles). Individual leopards were identified by the unique rosette patterns on their fur, a standard technique used for spotted big cats. The findings are now feeding into wider conservation and habitat-management plans.
“Their contribution was critical to identifying individual animals,” says Goldy Chhabra, deputy conservator of forests with the Spiti Wildlife Division.
Collecting the data is demanding work. Most of it takes place in winter, when heavy snowfall pushes snow leopards and their prey to lower altitudes, making their routes easier to track.
On survey days, the women wake up early, finish household chores and gather at a base camp before travelling by vehicle as far as the terrain allows. From there, they trek several kilometres to reach camera sites, often at altitudes above 14,000ft (4,300m), where the thin air makes even simple movement exhausting.
The BBC accompanied the group on one such trek in December. After hours of walking in biting cold, the women suddenly stopped on a narrow trail.
Yangchen points to pugmarks in the dust: “This shows the snow leopard has been here recently. These pugmarks are fresh.”
Along with pugmarks, the team looks for other signs, including scrapes and scent‑marking spots, before carefully fixing a camera to a rock along the trail.
One woman then carries out a “walk test”, crawling along the path to check whether the camera’s height and angle will capture a clear image.
The group then moves on to older sites, retrieving memory cards and replacing batteries installed weeks earlier.
By mid-afternoon, they return to camp to log and analyse the images using specialised software – tools many had never encountered before.
“I studied only until grade five,” says Chhering Lanzom. “At first, I was scared to use the computer. But slowly, we learned how to use the keyboard and mouse.”
The women joined the camera-trapping programme in 2023. Initially, conservation was not their motivation. But winters in the Spiti Valley are long and quiet, with little agricultural work to fall back on.
“At first, this work on snow leopards didn’t interest us,” Lobzang says. “We joined because we were curious and we could earn a small income.”
The women earn between 500 ($5.46; £4) and 700 rupees a day.
But beyond the money, the work has helped transform how the community views the animal.
“Earlier, we thought the snow leopard was our enemy,” says Dolma Zangmo, a local resident. “Now we think their conservation is important.”
Alongside survey work, the women help villagers access government insurance schemes for their livestock and promote the use of predator‑proof corrals – stone or mesh enclosures that protect animals at night.
Their efforts come at a time of growing recognition for the region. Spiti Valley has recently been included in the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve, a Unesco-recognised network aimed at conserving fragile ecosystems while supporting local livelihoods.
As climate change reshapes the fragile trans-Himalayan landscape, conservationists say such community participation will be crucial to safeguarding species like the snow leopard.
“Once communities are involved, conservation becomes more sustainable,” says Deepshikha Sharma, programme manager with NCF’s High Altitudes initiative.
“These women are not just assisting, they are becoming practitioners of wildlife conservation and monitoring,” she adds.
As for the women, their work makes them feel closer to their home, the village and the mountains that raised them, they say.
“We were born here, this is all we know,” Lobzang says. “Sometimes we feel afraid because these snow leopards are after all predatory animals, but this is where we belong.”
[BBC]
If elephants are truly to be given “freedom” in Udawalawe, the solution is not simply to open gates or redraw park boundaries. The map itself tells the real story — a story of shrinking habitats, broken corridors, and more than a decade of silent but relentless ecological destruction.
“Look at Udawalawe today and compare it with satellite maps from ten years ago,” says Sameera Weerathunga, one of Sri Lanka’s most consistent and vocal elephant conservation activists. “You don’t need complicated science. You can literally see what we have done to them.”
What we commonly describe as the human–elephant conflict (HEC) is, in reality, a land-use conflict driven by development policies that ignore ecological realities. Elephants are not invading villages; villages, farms, highways and megaprojects have steadily invaded elephant landscapes.
Udawalawe: From Landscape to Island
Udawalawe National Park was once part of a vast ecological network connecting the southern dry zone to the central highlands and eastern forests. Elephants moved freely between Udawalawe, Lunugamvehera, Bundala, Gal Oya and even parts of the Walawe river basin, following seasonal water and food availability.
Today, Udawalawe appears on the map as a shrinking green island surrounded by human settlements, monoculture plantations, reservoirs, electric fences and asphalt.
“For elephants, Udawalawe is like a prison surrounded by invisible walls,” Sameera explains. “We expect animals that evolved to roam hundreds of square nationakilometres to survive inside a box created by humans.”
Elephants are ecosystem engineers. They shape forests by dispersing seeds, opening pathways, and regulating vegetation. Their survival depends on movement — not containment. But in Udawalawa, movement is precisely what has been taken away.
Over the past decade, ancient elephant corridors have been blocked or erased by:
Irrigation and agricultural expansion
Tourism resorts and safari infrastructure
New roads, highways and power lines
Human settlements inside former forest reserves
Sameera
“The destruction didn’t happen overnight,” Sameera says. “It happened project by project, fence by fence, without anyone looking at the cumulative impact.”
The Illusion of Protection
Sri Lanka prides itself on its protected area network. Yet most national parks function as ecological islands rather than connected systems.
“We think declaring land as a ‘national park’ is enough,” Sameera argues. “But protection without connectivity is just slow extinction.”
Udawalawe currently holds far more elephants than it can sustainably support. The result is habitat degradation inside the park, increased competition for resources, and escalating conflict along the boundaries.
“When elephants cannot move naturally, they turn to crops, tanks and villages,” Sameera says. “And then we blame the elephant for being a problem.”
The Other Side of the Map: Wanni and Hambantota
Sameera often points to the irony visible on the very same map. While elephants are squeezed into overcrowded parks in the south, large landscapes remain in the Wanni, parts of Hambantota and the eastern dry zone where elephant density is naturally lower and ecological space still exists.
“We keep talking about Udawalawe as if it’s the only place elephants exist,” he says. “But the real question is why we are not restoring and reconnecting landscapes elsewhere.”
The Hambantota MER (Managed Elephant Reserve), for instance, was originally designed as a landscape-level solution. The idea was not to trap elephants inside fences, but to manage land use so that people and elephants could coexist through zoning, seasonal access, and corridor protection.
“But what happened?” Sameera asks. “Instead of managing land, we managed elephants. We translocated them, fenced them, chased them, tranquilised them. And the conflict only got worse.”
The Failure of Translocation
For decades, Sri Lanka relied heavily on elephant translocation as a conflict management tool. Hundreds of elephants were captured from conflict zones and released into national parks like Udawalawa, Yala and Wilpattu.
Elephant deaths
The logic was simple: remove the elephant, remove the problem.
The reality was tragic.
“Most translocated elephants try to return home,” Sameera explains. “They walk hundreds of kilometres, crossing highways, railway lines and villages. Many die from exhaustion, accidents or gunshots. Others become even more aggressive.”
Scientific studies now confirm what conservationists warned from the beginning: translocation increases stress, mortality, and conflict. Displaced elephants often lose social structures, familiar landscapes, and access to traditional water sources.
“You cannot solve a spatial problem with a transport solution,” Sameera says bluntly.
In many cases, the same elephant is captured and moved multiple times — a process that only deepens trauma and behavioural change.
Freedom Is Not About Removing Fences
The popular slogan “give elephants freedom” has become emotionally powerful but scientifically misleading. Elephants do not need symbolic freedom; they need functional landscapes.
Real solutions lie in:
Restoring elephant corridors
Preventing development in key migratory routes
Creating buffer zones with elephant-friendly crops
Community-based land-use planning
Landscape-level conservation instead of park-based thinking
“We must stop treating national parks like wildlife prisons and villages like war zones,” Sameera insists. “The real battlefield is land policy.”
Electric fences, for instance, are often promoted as a solution. But fences merely shift conflict from one village to another.
“A fence does not create peace,” Sameera says. “It just moves the problem down the line.”
A Crisis Created by Humans
Sri Lanka loses more than 400 elephants and nearly 100 humans every year due to HEC — one of the highest rates globally.
Yet Sameera refuses to call it a wildlife problem.
“This is a human-created crisis,” he says. “Elephants are only responding to what we’ve done to their world.”
From expressways cutting through forests to solar farms replacing scrublands, development continues without ecological memory or long-term planning.
“We plan five-year political cycles,” Sameera notes. “Elephants plan in centuries.”
The tragedy is not just ecological. It is moral.
“We are destroying a species that is central to our culture, religion, tourism and identity,” Sameera says. “And then we act surprised when they fight back.”
The Question We Avoid Asking
If Udawalawe is overcrowded, if Yala is saturated, if Wilpattu is bursting — then the real question is not where to put elephants.
The real question is: Where have we left space for wildness in Sri Lanka?
Sameera believes the future lies not in more fences or more parks, but in reimagining land itself.
“Conservation cannot survive as an island inside a development ocean,” he says. “Either we redesign Sri Lanka to include elephants, or one day we’ll only see them in logos, statues and children’s books.”
And the map will show nothing but empty green patches — places where giants once walked, and humans chose. roads instead.
By Ifham Nizam
SAARC or the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has been declared ‘dead’ by some sections in South Asia and the idea seems to be catching on. Over the years the evidence seems to have been building that this is so, but a matter that requires thorough probing is whether the media in South Asia, given the vital part it could play in fostering regional amity, has had a role too in bringing about SAARC’s apparent demise.
That South Asian governments have had a hand in the ‘SAARC debacle’ is plain to see. For example, it is beyond doubt that the India-Pakistan rivalry has invariably got in the way, particularly over the past 15 years or thereabouts, of the Indian and Pakistani governments sitting at the negotiating table and in a spirit of reconciliation resolving the vexatious issues growing out of the SAARC exercise. The inaction had a paralyzing effect on the organization.
Unfortunately the rest of South Asian governments too have not seen it to be in the collective interest of the region to explore ways of jump-starting the SAARC process and sustaining it. That is, a lack of statesmanship on the part of the SAARC Eight is clearly in evidence. Narrow national interests have been allowed to hijack and derail the cooperative process that ought to be at the heart of the SAARC initiative.
However, a dimension that has hitherto gone comparatively unaddressed is the largely negative role sections of the media in the SAARC region could play in debilitating regional cooperation and amity. We had some thought-provoking ‘takes’ on this question recently from Roman Gautam, the editor of ‘Himal Southasian’.
Gautam was delivering the third of talks on February 2nd in the RCSS Strategic Dialogue Series under the aegis of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo, at the latter’s conference hall. The forum was ably presided over by RCSS Executive Director and Ambassador (Retd.) Ravinatha Aryasinha who, among other things, ensured lively participation on the part of the attendees at the Q&A which followed the main presentation. The talk was titled, ‘Where does the media stand in connecting (or dividing) Southasia?’.
Gautam singled out those sections of the Indian media that are tamely subservient to Indian governments, including those that are professedly independent, for the glaring lack of, among other things, regionalism or collective amity within South Asia. These sections of the media, it was pointed out, pander easily to the narratives framed by the Indian centre on developments in the region and fall easy prey, as it were, to the nationalist forces that are supportive of the latter. Consequently, divisive forces within the region receive a boost which is hugely detrimental to regional cooperation.
Two cases in point, Gautam pointed out, were the recent political upheavals in Nepal and Bangladesh. In each of these cases stray opinions favorable to India voiced by a few participants in the relevant protests were clung on to by sections of the Indian media covering these trouble spots. In the case of Nepal, to consider one example, a young protester’s single comment to the effect that Nepal too needed a firm leader like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seized upon by the Indian media and fed to audiences at home in a sensational, exaggerated fashion. No effort was made by the Indian media to canvass more opinions on this matter or to extensively research the issue.
In the case of Bangladesh, widely held rumours that the Hindus in the country were being hunted and killed, pogrom fashion, and that the crisis was all about this was propagated by the relevant sections of the Indian media. This was a clear pandering to religious extremist sentiment in India. Once again, essentially hearsay stories were given prominence with hardly any effort at understanding what the crisis was really all about. There is no doubt that anti-Muslim sentiment in India would have been further fueled.
Gautam was of the view that, in the main, it is fear of victimization of the relevant sections of the media by the Indian centre and anxiety over financial reprisals and like punitive measures by the latter that prompted the media to frame their narratives in these terms. It is important to keep in mind these ‘structures’ within which the Indian media works, we were told. The issue in other words, is a question of the media completely subjugating themselves to the ruling powers.
Basically, the need for financial survival on the part of the Indian media, it was pointed out, prompted it to subscribe to the prejudices and partialities of the Indian centre. A failure to abide by the official line could spell financial ruin for the media.
A principal question that occurred to this columnist was whether the ‘Indian media’ referred to by Gautam referred to the totality of the Indian media or whether he had in mind some divisive, chauvinistic and narrow-based elements within it. If the latter is the case it would not be fair to generalize one’s comments to cover the entirety of the Indian media. Nevertheless, it is a matter for further research.
However, an overall point made by the speaker that as a result of the above referred to negative media practices South Asian regionalism has suffered badly needs to be taken. Certainly, as matters stand currently, there is a very real information gap about South Asian realities among South Asian publics and harmful media practices account considerably for such ignorance which gets in the way of South Asian cooperation and amity.
Moreover, divisive, chauvinistic media are widespread and active in South Asia. Sri Lanka has a fair share of this species of media and the latter are not doing the country any good, leave alone the region. All in all, the democratic spirit has gone well into decline all over the region.
The above is a huge problem that needs to be managed reflectively by democratic rulers and their allied publics in South Asia and the region’s more enlightened media could play a constructive role in taking up this challenge. The latter need to take the initiative to come together and deliberate on the questions at hand. To succeed in such efforts they do not need the backing of governments. What is of paramount importance is the vision and grit to go the extra mile.
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