Pak–India relations: A comparative analysis of political cartoons.

A picture is worth than a thousand words. Political cartoons are an important genre in media content and can be used as a tool for propaganda in peace and war times. Permanent hostilities and rising media outlets in the region between India and Pakistan increased the importance of media to cool down hostilities. This study attempts to explore the role of political cartoons in escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, due to the Uri base and Pathankot terrorist attacks in 2016. Therefore, two daily newspapers – DAWN from Pakistan and Times of India from India – published from 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2016 were selected for frame analysis. Findings revealed that both newspapers published 82 cartoons relevant to the study, 29 in DAWN and 53 in Times of India. Analysis of the data reveals that five themes are present in the cartoon content: blame game, Kashmir conflict, role of international actors, peace efforts and dialogue, and water dispute. Blaming the other is dominant in the Times of India and peace efforts and dialogue in DAWN. The Times of India mostly supported Indian government and DAWN rejected the Pakistani stance in cartoon coverage regarding Pak–India relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]