Media Discourse on the Kashmir Conflict after Abrogation of Article 370

Abstract

The study tries to unfold how the Kashmir conflict is constructed in the Pakistani media after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. To understand the media discourse a Critical discourse analysis of the news stories published about Indian held Kashmir (i.e. that part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir occupied by India post the 1947 partition, notably the valley of Kashmir) in the e-paper of Dawn was carried out. The findings reveal a distinctive narrative strategy employed by Pakistani media in response to the abrogation of Article 370. This strategy accentuates the negative aspects of the Indian government's actions in Kashmir while simultaneously highlighting the voices of Kashmiris advocating for their right of self-determination. The findings also indicated that media discourse revolved around challenging the legitimacy of the Indian Parliament’s act of abrogating Article 370 and also focused on the casualties and losses which took place as a result of clashes between the Indian security forces and the Kashmiri separatist fighters. The media also gave significance to social media trends about Indian held Kashmir and also to posts of Kashmiri and Pakistani politicians. Negative actor description was used to highlight Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s propaganda regarding the return of normalcy in the Indian held Kashmir whereas positive actor description was used for the Kashmiri separatist fighters.