3 December

Year 1971: The Indo-Pak war began

 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the liberation war in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 to the fall of Dacca (Dhaka) on 16 December 1971. The war began with preemptive aerial strikes on 11 Indian air stations, which led to the commencement of hostilities with Pakistan and Indian entry into the war of independence in East Pakistan on the side of Bengali nationalist forces. Lasting just 13 days, it is one of the shortest wars in history.

 In 2009, the issue of establishing the International Crimes Tribunal began to take public support. The tribunal was formally established in 2010 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

 Abstract

This study aimed to explore the news framing of Indo-Pak Conflicts with regard to war and Peace Journalism by

Times of India and The News, Pakistan. The foremost objective of this research was to measure the stance of the

Pakistani and Indian prestigious newspaper towards the treatment of Indo-Pak Conflicts especially the issues relating to

Kashmir and Terrorism. This research study utilized the content analysis in which the unit of analysis was the entire news

story published in above said newspapers for the period of one year. The news slant was categorized into favorable,

unfavorable, and neutral. It was found that Daily the News published 364 while 435 news stories were published on

Indo-Pak Conflict with special reference to Kashmir and Terrorism conflicts throughout the period of study. The peace

frame in the News, Pakistan was more likely to be slanted as compared to Times of India. Furthermore, it was also

hypothesized that war frame would be used greater by the Times of India and the data confirmed this prediction

made by the researcher and it was found that the level of war frame especially on the issue of Kashmir, Times of

India utilized the hatred language and such words of war frame were measured in the Times of India coverage

which clear cut depicted the picture of promotion of war between India and Pakistan. It can be safely concluded that

peace frame in the News, Pakistan while War frame in Times of India was measured as more than their neutral

coverage on war and peace. Moreover, the findings revealed that on the issues related to mutual cooperation and

Indo Pak relations the favorable portrayal was observed in The News, Pakistan but there was a significant number of

unfavorable coverage in Times of India with regard to Indo Pak conflicts. War frames on Kashmir Issue and Terrorism

disputes were also found greater in Times of India as compared to The News, Pakistan who promoted peace culture

particularly on the issues relating to terrorism and Kashmir.

 Introduction

Keeping in mind the geographical importance, Pakistan and India are nuclear states having very strong armed forces and abundant natural resources. It can clearly be imagined that any conflict, disability, or hostility could result in the infirmity of the whole region. Pakistan’s role and significance in the war against terrorism have made it a more reliable country in the world as most of the actions taken against terrorists are from or with the help of Pakistan. In these circumstances, the conflicts between India and Pakistan have gotten the attention of the world especially the issues relating to Kashmir and terrorism. These conflicts would bring havoc to the world. The trend of peace and war journalism is a worldwide phenomenon and no one can deny its importance regarding peace and conflicts. The reporters cover the news stories in such a way that change the whole scenario of the event. This study will provide the whole understanding of the inclination of peace and war journalism on Indo-Pak conflicts. Media is considered a tool for the resolution of conflicts. It can escalate and de-escalate the issue. This study provides new horizons to both media groups in the peace process between Pakistan and India. It will also explore the role of both newspapers and how they are reducing the differences and enhancing the peace process on Indo-Pak conflicts. The news media is an important source of information about current events and can play a vital role in influencing public opinion. Ross pointed out that media can play a critical role in international dealings and conflicts because citizens are heavily dependent on media to provide timely, trustworthy information of remote events. This dependency on news arises because citizens do have not any other source of information or the capability to attain first-hand information about remote events and conflicts; they have to rely on media coverage. While the accurate information on news media can provide the help to reduce the tension of conflict. However, the news media have to face many challenges during the coverage of disputes, including dependence on government and military sources. Both sources are very careful about how they manipulate the news stream and mold public opinion through the news media. Every person has to rely on the media’s information; they do not know what could have actually been done behind the information. They see the picture of conflicts through the media’s eye. With reference to India and Pakistan’s relations, media from both sides is trying to minimize the heat and want to enter the relations of the two countries into a new arena. Two big media groups Jang group of Pakistan and The Times Group of India have started a peace campaign. This study will focus to explore the news coverage of The News (Pakistan). In other words, the research will try to open new angles that how both the newspapers cover and frame the clashes of both rivals in peace and war journalism.

 Media and conflict

Media can play an important role in the solution of conflicts. It can adjust the whole scenario and create harmony between the two conflicting nations. Media has played a key role in creating awareness among the people and justifies its role as a thought-provoking instrument. Mass media have some elements (News media) which are focusing on the Dissemination of information among the masses. The News media has the worth to make a sketch of peace on the minds of the public. It can involve in opinion-making of the people either directly or indirectly. Geelen argues that media has the power to reach a large number of audiences in any part of the world, mainly in poor countries where most of the conflicts take place, it can be a fruitful instrument in resolving disputes. According to him, it can raise the tension between conflicts in shaping war journalism. Hieber argues that “media can be a double-edged sword. It can be a frightful weapon of violence when it propagates messages of intolerance or misinformation that manipulate public sentiment”.

 Kashmir issue

Kashmir is the flashpoint between Indo-Pak conflicts. The issue was started after the birth of India and Pakistan when Maharaja Hari Sing annexed its state with India and bypassed the desire of Muslims. They wanted to accede with Pakistan but Maharaja Hari Sing signed an agreement with India. In response, India offered military aid to Maharaja Hari Sing. Kashmir's dispute between them has become an intractable one. They fought three wars on the Kashmir issue in 1947, 1965, and 1999, but were unable to resolve it. The Indians and Pakistanis claimed that Kashmir is their own territory. Husain describes that “India and Pakistan are the world’s most populous countries, with both having nuclear capability, the Kashmir issue has the ominous potential of escalating into a nuclear war”. Alam explains that the only way to normalize the relationship between India and Pakistan is to resolve the issue of Kashmir according to the will of the natives. If we want peace in this region then it is necessary to resolve the issue. The writer feared that this issue may stop the progress of the peace process between India and Pakistan. The relations of India and Pakistan are being spoiled due to the tension of the Kashmir issue, as the Kashmir issue is the key hurdle in the progress of both countries as well as the peace process. The people of Jammu and Kashmir also want to resolve this conflict in a peaceful manner between India and Pakistan. They want complete termination of the dispute

 Terrorism  

Terrorism is an activity that can blow a flame of fire between the two peaceful nations. Pakistan and India tried many times to come closer to each other but every time some kind of hindrances would occur between peace processes. Mumbai attacks were the event that created a gap between India and Pakistan Peace Bridge. After the Mumbai attacks, the situation was very nasty on both sides and they were ready to come in front of each other on the battlefield. Pakistan has asked for the continuation of dialogue to restart the peace process but India refused. According to wade, Pakistani officials claimed that 5366 civilians have been killed and 13000 seriously injured in terrorist incidents in Pakistan. Pakistan had clear evidence of the connection of India in terrorist activities in Pakistan, though furnish or funds and artillery to the militant groups

 Statement of problem

This study aims to find out the coverage of newspapers, The News (Pakistan) and The Times of India (India) on Indo-Pak conflicts regarding Peace and war journalism perspective. The basic purpose of the study is to investigate the news framing regarding peace and war journalism between Pakistan and India. In other words, the study will focus on the role of both the newspapers in peace and war framing on Indo-Pak conflicts. Hopefully, the result of this study will provide a new horizon in peace and war journalism between Pakistan and India. In this study, the researcher explores the framing used in both newspapers while covering the stories regarding the conflicts of Kashmir and Terrorism between India and Pakistan. This could help in better understanding the current direction of the Pakistani and Indian press towards conflict and peace. The study would also testify to some of the mindsets regarding the inclination of journalism in both countries. This study would also help in understanding the overall situation of journalism regarding peace-making.

 Objectives of the study

In this research, the foremost objective was to investigate the crisis and confrontation between India and Pakistan with reference to Kashmir and terrorism. Furthermore, this study dealt with the media of Indo Pak, the News from Pakistan, and The Times of India to analyze the war and peace journalism with regard to Kashmir and terrorism. This study will examine the slant of war and peace journalism as portrayed by both countries' print media.

 Literature Review Khan analyzes the War and Peace framing in his article a comparative Study of Editorial Treatment on Indo-Pak Conflicts in Daily Dawn and the Nation: War and peace journalism perspective. This study was based on the Galtung peace and war model. By using content analysis, he evaluated 326 paragraphs, 117 from daily Dawn and 209 from daily The Nation. They are moving towards war and not promoting peace journalism. Siraj explores the war and peace journalism framing in his article “War or Peace Journalism in Elite US Newspapers: Exploring News Framing in Pakistan-India Conflict” on Pakistan-India conflict over Kashmir in the New York Times and Washington. This study is theoretically linked with Galtung Model. The content analysis revealed that the dominant frame was war journalism. However, when news articles included more peace journalism framing, Pakistan was portrayed more favorably. Conversely, more stories favored India when using war journalism frames, and less favored India when using the peace journalism frames. Siraj and Hussain investigated the framing of war and peace journalism in their article “War Media Galore in Pakistan: A Perspective on Taliban Conflict “in the two English newspapers The Dawn and The News and the two Urdu newspapers The Jang and The Express. Theoretically linked with war and peace model. The Content analysis of the study expressed that Urdu Newspapers persists the war journalism and English newspaper covered more conflicts. Kim describes in their article Asian regional conflicts and the war in Iraq. Content analysis of 1,558 stories was conducted to examine the coverage of the War in Iraq and the Asian conflicts involving Pakistan and India’s tussle over Kashmir, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the Muslim separatist movement in the southern Philippine province of Mindanao, and the Aceh and Maluku civil wars in Indonesia The reporters work towards conflicts linked to the elite class. Youngblood and Harvit determined the framing of war and peace journalism in their article “The New York Times and The Associated Press framed Iraq”. The researchers used content analysis and collected all the Iraqi-dateline stories produced by The Associated Press and The New York Times for a stratified random sample of 28 days in 2006 four randomly selected Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and so forth. Theoretically associated with Galtung Model. The War frame focuses on the elite class as the source. Mostly, news on visible effects of war, as clash and fatalities; and uses distress language, such as “terrorist,” “extremist” or “radical.” Fahmy and Neumann illustrated the photographs towards war and peace journalism in their article “Shooting War and Peace in Photographs “they tried to test the model by using content analysis. The study revealed a critical role in constructing and publicizing visual news worldwide. The results of the study specified that the newswires provide a better understanding of the role of gatekeeping in war reporting. They investigated the degree to which the photographs in these three wires services highlighted war vs. peace journalism. The findings demonstrated that both promoted the war figures as compared to peace. Chung and Lessman studied the news framing in the context of war and peace journalism in their article “War and Peace Journalism Frames in Cross-National News Coverage of North Korea’s Nuclear Test”. They explored the differences in news coverage of North Korea’s 2006 nuclear test by newspapers from the United States, China, and South Korea. The study findings are based on a content analysis of 290 articles from the highest-circulation native-language newspaper in each country. The unit of analysis was the individual article. The U.S. coverage confirmed the strongest war journalism framing, the Chinese coverage the strongest peace journalism framing, and the South Korean coverage the strongest neutral framing. Workneh Tewodros evaluated the framing of news in the war and peace perspective in their article A Case Study of U.S. and British Newspapers Coverage of the Somali Conflict. The study is theoretically linked with framing war and peace context. The Results revealed all American and British newspapers analyzed a higher degree of war journalism framing. They indicated that the journalists and particularly international journalists rely on ritual and elite sources. They don’t bother with the importance of peace journalism. Yang investigates the extent of coverage in the context of war and peace frames in their article “Framing Analysis of a Conflict:” Theoretically, this study is associated with the war and peace journalism model. The content analysis was used of news stories in Sin Chew Daily, the Chinese daily newspaper with the biggest circulation in Malaysia. The unit of analysis was the news stories. The leading frame used in the coverage of keris wielding was war journalism. According to the researcher, that newspapers can a play critical role in shaping social and political reality because most editors and publishers belong to the elite class. Lance and Youngblood inspected the coverage of news in their article “Covering a world in conflicts”. This study is based on the categorization system established by Johan Galtung. A content analysis was used randomly selected stories of conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia-Ethiopia, and Chad-Sudan in 2006. The results of the study originated that The New York Times produced more peace frames. The findings of the study provide significant evidence that the west media promote peace journalism.

 Patel investigates The Galtung’s claim regarding news coverage of the conflict that media normally follow the low road and a win-lose affect the news coverage in his M.phil thesis “News Coverage and Conflict Resolution”. He argued that media generally cover violence-oriented events and ignore the peaceful treatment of the events. The researcher describes that news coverage can be a fertile weapon of violence in the shaping of war journalism. In this study content analysis was used and analyzed 906 news stories from the front page of four publications, Tine Hindu, The Times of India, The Telegraph, and The Indian Express. The study verified the Galtung claim that the news media cover the most hostile aspects of the dispute and close their eyes to the peaceful aspect of the conflict.

Theoretical framework

This study is theoretically linked with Galtung’s Model of war/ peace journalism and Framing theory. According to the Model by John Galtung, the philosophy of peace journalism is that Such kind of journalism always gives a message to the people that how to save from the tyranny of war days. It also provides an opportunity to both opponents to come to the table for a solution. Galtung argues that peace journalism makes the conflict transparent and gives the right to hear the voices of everybody who are involved in the conflict and diminishing conflict between two opposing parties. In this research, the researcher tried to explore the news coverage regarding peace journalism and how both the newspapers frame the disputes between Pakistan and India. The aim of the elite class is to create a clash between the two opponents to achieve their own interests. Elite class launches a propaganda technique to fail one party and triumph over the other. The researcher will try to investigate that how media cover the news regarding war journalism.

 Framing theory The concept of framing theory is that the media focuses attention on certain issues and then sets them within a field of meaning. Media framing theory is related to the seminal work of sociologist Erving Goffman. He describes frames as a “scheme of interpretation that allocates individuals to trace, identify, perceive and label” issues, events, and topics. Robert Entman modernized this definition by specifying that “to frame a communicating text or message is to promote certain facts of a perceived reality”.

Hypotheses

H1: The Peace frame in The News (Pakistan) would be greater than the Times of India.

H2: The Times of India would use a war frame on terrorism as compared to The News (Pakistan).

H3: The News (Pakistan) would use a peace frame on the Kashmir conflict as compared to The Times of India.

H4: It is more likely that the proportion of peace and war coverage would be greater in the Times of India as compared to The News (Pakistan).

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