FRAMING ANALYSIS OF INDIAN CLAIM ON SURGICAL STRIKES AGAINST TERRORISTS IN PAKISTAN THROUGH THE LENS OF PAKINDIA PRESS

Abstract

This study is framing analysis of four leading Pakistani and Indian English language newspapers to explore the coverage and framing of the Indian claim of surgical strikes onthe hiding terrorists in Pakistani territory. The universe for the present study constitutes one-month front-page news of Dawn, The News, The Hindu and The Times of India from 30 September 2016 to 30 October 2016. The purpose of selecting this period was because the Pak-India press covered this issue exclusively and repetitively during the period of this research. In this study, online editions of The Times of India, The Hindu,The News, and Dawn were selected and front-page news as a sample was taken from their online editions. The findings reveal that Pakistani government, military and media straightaway overruled the Indian claim asserting that their army nevercrossed the international border but had only clashed with Pakistani soldiers on the border. Afterward this claim from the Indian side, a heated war of words started amongst the media of both countries. This paper explores the various dimensions and magnitudes of this issue framed differently in the Pak-India press and their implications and effects on the foreign policy and bilateral relations. The results of this study also show that the Indian pressreinforced theIndian government’s claim of surgical strikes against the terrorists. Thisincident was framed as a massivemoral and military victory against the militants in Pakistan. On the contrary, Pakistani newspaperscategoricallyoverruled and rejected this claim. It wasobserved that this incident was framed as an illusion, political stunt and propaganda against the civil and military establishment of Pakistan.