A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE IDEOLOGICAL REPRESENTATIONS IN THE INDIAN AND PAKISTANI NEWSPAPER’S EDITORIALS: A CASE STUDY OF ARTICLE 370

Received: 24.08.2021; Revised: 30.09.2021, Accepted: 06.11.2021, Published Online: 29.11.2021

Farhad Safi

PhD Scholar, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, North Cyprus, farhadsafi@awkum.edu.pk

Prof. Dr. Bahire EfeÖzad

EasternMediterraneanUniversity, 99628,Famagusta,NorthCyprus, via Mersin 10, Turkey, bahire.ozad@emu.edu.tr

Abstract

Press pays critical role in the construction of ideologies and in the dissemination of peace and war. After the abrogation of article 370 of the Indian constitution which gave special status to the Indian Kashmir, has changed the demography of the region. Both India and Pakistan, the nuclear assets bearers claim their affiliations with Kashmir. This change in status of the Kashmir in the Indian constitution brought both the rivals countries again on the verge of war. In such a situation the role of media become more important. This paper aims at understanding the role of media and the construction of ‘self’ and ‘other’ in the Pakistani press. For such purpose five mainstream largely circulated English newspaper’s editorial are analyzed, using Teun van Dijk (1989) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). We found thatextremely nationalistic and ideological words and phrases have been used to represent ‘Us’ and ‘Them’. Pakistan is represented as innocent, powerful in defense and with many powerful friends while its rivals as weak, isolated, hypocrite and terrorist or their facilitators.

Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), nationalism, objectivity, ideology, editorials, Kashmir, India, Pakistan