Abstract

As Pak-Indian relations were on high alert throughout the 2019–2020 study period due to the Pulwama assault and other terrorist activity in Occupied Kashmir, this research was conducted to examine blogs for peace and conflict journalism. A content analysis procedure was utilized for data collection. Through the use of a coding sheet, data was gathered between December 2019 and 2020 to look into the potential influence of blogs on the war and peace reporting between Pakistan and India. According to the study's findings, bloggers primarily pushed war journalism rather than peace journalism. Both publications framed discussions of Pakistan-Indian ties in terms of trade, security, propaganda, border conditions, and issues related to nuclear war and Kashmir. This Study is important for media organizations, editors and reporters to develop a strategy for peace journalism instead of war and violence journalism. Blogs are a plying substantial role in opinion building and changing.

Key Words

Pak-India Relations, Bloggers, Peace and War Journalism, Newspapers Blogs

Introduction

This study is being conducted to analyze newspaper blogs for peace and conflict contents regarding Pak-India relations in 2019-2020 as in the years the relations were at very high alert due to firing on the Line of Control (LOC) and different terrorist activities in Occupied Kashmir. The researcher evaluated the stances of both countries' prominent journalists' blogs regarding peace and conflict treatment. The researcher is going to investigate blog because nowadays it is a very significant source of information and eminent media professionals are using them for information to the public, for the education of perpetrators and aware the policymakers to change the internal and external policy of the country.

Blogs are a new tool of journalism with an emphasis on personalization. They also emphasize interaction with the audiences while creating the content. These characteristics of blogs suggest that traditional approaches to journalism are going to change and a new form of journalism, which has modern and postmodern features, is going to come into being.

There is evidence on how user-generated content, of which blog is one type, can be useful for peace practitioners in conflict prevention and early warning. By promoting alternative and progressive voices, blogs have the ability to shift the power away from the usual sources in the news reporting of political conflict and make the media a greater constraining factor for governments than even before. (Wright, 2009).

Literature Review

Messner, & Garrison, (2011) stated in their work that blogs have got so much importance that traditional media uses them as a source of information. But at certain times the traditional media don't use to refer the blog. The researcher's aim was to find out whether the traditional media uses the blog as a factual source of information or just used their information as their opinion.

The researchers analyzed the contents of the study's inter-media agenda setting. The researcher selected quantitative analysis. To analyze that traditional media uses blogs as a source of information, they selected national newspapers, (The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and The Christian Science Monitor) while the television networks that researchers used for the study were Fox News, CNN, CBS News, ABC News and NBC News. 10 political blogs as samples were also selected that were appropriate for the study.

 The researcher study result was that both traditional mediums either it was newspapers or television, of them, uses blogs more as a source but more as showing their information as opinion rather than showing it as facts, but television networks as compared to newspapers do more, while there is some that have been used as factual rather than showing it as opinions.

Westcott, (2008) did research on, "Digital Diplomacy: The Impact of Internet on International Relations". The researcher worked on the topic that how technology, the digital age and the internet have impacted diplomatic international relations. The researcher stated that technology always affected the international relation profoundly. Westcott stated in his work that there are three major effects on international relations. The first one is that the internet increases and multiplies the amount of interest and number of voices involved in making international policy, and it also makes international decision-making complicated. Internet releases and accelerates information's dissemination, accurate or not, regarding an event or an issue which can affect its handling and consequences. The Internet enables fast delivery of traditional diplomatic services and is more profitable for both to own government and citizens and to other countries as well.

Adesina, (2017) worked on, "Foreign policy in an era of digital diplomacy", in which he stated that Diplomacy in the modern era is profoundly affected by the transformation in communication and information technologies. Information and communication technologies have revolutionized the exchange of information and way of communication, changing social, economic and political views across the globe. The researcher stated that the revolution in technology and the internet arose digital diplomacy, for the conduction of diplomacy the traditional mode is also crucial but digital diplomacy is also a need of the day. Many of the countries around the globe are grabbing the moment and they are practicing actively the objectives of their foreign policy via the creation of blogs, websites, and through the use of social media.

Sharan, (2020), wrote a blog on, "State of Indo-Pak relations", in which he stated that since the happening of Balakot, there fall breaches in the relationship between Pakistan and India. He also stated that the happening of Balakot aided in the reelecting of Prime Minister Modi. The blogger wrote about how happy was India by taking revenge on Pakistan. He stated that after Balakot, the Prime Minister of Pakistan abused Prime Minister Modi but he acted as a world leader and didn't react to the PM of Pakistan. Sharan in his blog accused Pakistan of wrongdoings and the worst relation between Pakistan and India.

Mittal, (2019), penned a blog named, "Pakistan Felt Like Home Away From Home. Why Can't We Be Friends?" in this blog the blogger stated that Pakistan and India have a relationship in which there is conflict as well cooperation, mistrust and trust. They share a dichotomous relationship. The blogger visited Pakistan from India and experienced the visit here and shared her opinion. The blogger shared the hospitality of Pakistanis and the warm welcome. There is love and friendship across the border. The blogger expressed that due to harsh visa regimes and stereotypes narration the interaction and the movement across the border is slight and minimal. The blogger conveyed that common people can play a vital role in bringing peace between both nations. People should understand how conflicts are tearing both of the states apart and affecting them. People of Pakistan and India share their languages, culture and love for coke studio and Bollywood as well. We should make pressure on our states for peace talks instead of creating hurdles for each other.

Al-Ani, Mark, Chung & Jones (2012, February). Their paper examined the job websites played inside the setting of the Egyptian insurgency of mid-2011 utilizing blog information composed between, 2004-2011. We led theme demonstrating investigation to acquire a longitudinal perspective on the cooperation of cultural, individual and progressive blog points over this period. Moreover, a subjective examination of blog entries during the period that organized the political uprising uncovered Egyptian bloggers' interests. Announcing occasions and providing critique furnished bloggers with a way to voice contradiction against standardized force spoken to, by the public authority-controlled media. To put it plainly, sites uncover a counter-account to the public authority provided a form of occasions in Egypt during the 18-day uprising. These accounts offer rich documentation of how writes, and maybe web-based media all the more, by and large, these can be used by people working under severe conditions.




Importance of the Study

This study examined the eminent journalists of Pakistan and India to find out the stances of both media workers regarding the relations as well as how they treated the issues. The research investigated why they are promoting peace or war from the perspective of Peace journalism. This study contributed to relation studies, journalism studies, blog studies, international relations, foreign policy, peace and war studies etc.




Rational of the Study

Blogs are an emerging technique to inform the public about their surroundings and to educate and aware them of the situation. Just like columns in newspapers, the writers are presenting their opinion about an issue, problems and relations etc. This study has been conducted to explore the relationship between Pakistan & India from the perspective of the Peace and war approach of John Galtung.




Statement of the problem

Nowadays social media is playing a vital role in creating and solving peace and conflict in the world. This study is being conducted to evaluate this context in Pak-India relations, and why prominent media professionals are promoting peace or war among both nations through their opinion in blogs. This study would be done through quantitative content analysis to find out the relationship between blogs and Pak-India relations in 2019-2020. This time period has been selected because a few incidents had done i.e. Pulwama incident, the clash between Pak-India. Data will be collected through coding sheets from the prominent bloggers of Pakistan and India in the Peace and war theoretical framework.

Research Objectives

• To evaluate both sides of journalists' blogs' perspectives regarding peace and war.

• To investigate the contents of the blogs for peace-promoting.

• To examine the contents of the blog for war treatment

• To search out the external policy of each country about their relations.

• To dig out both side perspective towards terrorism issues.




Research Questions

RQ1: What the bloggers promoted peace or 

war?

RQ2: How they presented the situation in blogs to promote peace and war?

RQ3: Why the bloggers presented any solution for the relation settlement?

Theoretical Framework

The peace and war journalism perspective was used for the current study. The established coding parameters would be used to evaluate the phenomenon.  Galtung (2003) stated that War journalism is related to exposing the war as propaganda and peace journalism is to overcoming the conflict. Both are opposite to each other; one is promoting truth then the other is falseness. If one is presenting facts to bring peace, while the other insisting lies to mislead the audience. The following table is differentiating both peace and war journalism;




 

Table 1

“Peace/conflict Journalism	War/violence Journalism
I. Peace/Conflict-oriented • Explore conflict formation; x parties, y goals, z issues; general “win-win” orientation • Open space, open time; causes and outcomes anywhere, also in history/culture • Making conflicts transparent • Giving voice to all parties; empathy, understanding • See conflict/war as a problem, focus on conflict creativity • Humanization of all sides; more so the worse the weapons • Proactive: prevention before any violence/war occurs • Focus on invisible effects of violence (trauma and glory, damage to structure/culture)	I. War/Violence-oriented • Focus on conflict arena, two parties, one goal (win), war general zero-sum orientation • Closed space, closed time; causes and exits in arena, who threw the first stone • Making wars opaque/secret • “Us-them” journalism, propaganda, voice, for “us” • See “them” as the problem, focus on who prevails in war • Dehumanization of “them”; more so the worse the weapon • Reactive: waiting for violence before reporting • Focus only on the visible effect of violence (killed, wounded and material damage)
II. Truth-oriented • Expose untruths on all sides • Uncover all cover-ups	II. Propaganda-oriented • Expose “their” untruths • Help “our” cover-ups/lies
III. People-oriented • Focus on suffering all over; on women, aged, children, giving voice to the voiceless • Give a name to all evil-doers • Focus on people peacemakers	III. Elite-oriented • Focus on “our” suffering; on able-bodied elite males, being their mouth-piece • Give the name of their evil-doer • Focus on elite peacemakers
IV. Solution-oriented • Peace = non-violence + creativity • Highlight peace initiatives, also to prevent more war • Focus on structure, culture, the peaceful society • Aftermath: resolution, re-construction, reconciliation	IV. Victory-oriented • Peace = victory + ceasefire • Conceal peace initiative, before victory is at hand • Focus on treaties, the institution of the controlled society • Leaving for another war, return if the old flares up”

Sources: Johan Galtung (2003) Peace Journalism, Media Asia,

 




John Galtang established peace journalism in 1965, as Lee (2010) investigated. Despite being goal-oriented to promote peace rather than violence, peace journalism is nevertheless contentious owing to impartiality and one-sided framing, according to Allan & Zelizer (2004).

Galtung (1998) classified war-peace reporting; McGoldrick and Lynch (2000) and Lynch and McGoldrick (2006) developed this into 17 best practices for reporting on the war. Focusing on solutions rather than differences, reporting on long-term or intangible impacts rather than the short-term and tangible, orienting the news on common people rather than elites, reporting on both sides and using exact terminology was among the journalistic tips given.

The following research question is provided in accordance with Galtung's (1986, 1998) categorisation of war=peace journalism: What traits distinguish war-and-peace journalism reporting on the wars in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Kashmir? The research question establishes the theoretical foundation for additional study of the connections between the framing of the war-peace debate in journalism and two categories of relevant factors.

Research Methodology

The research methodology is the direction that 

researchers have to pursue. It demonstrates how these researchers express their conundrum, their aim, and their findings are drawn from the information gathered throughout the analysis. The research approach seeks to provide a suitable environment for analysis. The decision to be made about the research strategy is crucial since it determines how suitable knowledge is acquired for a study (Aaker, Kumar, & Day, 2008). However, numerous interconnected decisions are involved in the research design process. In this study, a qualitative content analysis methodology was used. This approach was used since Trammell, Tarkowski, Hofmokl, & Sapp (2006) and other researchers have already done so. According to Trammell (2004), substance inquiry is a crucial step in comprehending blogs. The researcher adopted a coding sheet for data collection. The War and Peace Journalism Model developed by Johan Galtung applies in this research to find out the Pak-Ind relations from the perspective of war and peace journalism in blogs. The researcher has also qualitative analysis of the data as per John Galtang's peace and conflict structuring method parameter. Data is assessed and provided by descriptive statistics in a frequency distribution.

The universe of this analysis is all the bloggers of influential media professionals of print media organizations, but data from all the blog posts cannot be obtained. Therefore, to objectively examine the posts on Pak-Ind relationships, a sampling technique was adopted. Blogs posted on The Nation and Express Tribune by various bloggers were the sampling frame of this report. These two were chosen because they both have a blog icon on the website, while the other newspapers lack details.  

The researcher analyzed the blogs through the purposive sampling method of Daily The Nation and Daily Express Tribune. The principle behind this collection was to achieve a more diverse national media sample in Pakistan. Data from December-2019 to December-2020, one year's blogs were selected. Both newspapers are publishing blogs of various bloggers on daily bases. The researcher analyzed the selected blogs. The unit of analysis for this study was the blogs regarding the relationship between Pakistan and India from the viewpoint of peace and conflict journalism. in the national newspapers.  

Research Methodology

The research methodology is the direction that

researchers have to pursue. It demonstrates how these researchers express their conundrum, their aim, and their findings are drawn from the information gathered throughout the analysis. The research approach seeks to provide a suitable environment for analysis. The decision to be made about the research strategy is crucial since it determines how suitable knowledge is acquired for a study (Aaker, Kumar, & Day, 2008). However, numerous interconnected decisions are involved in the research design process. In this study, a qualitative content analysis methodology was used. This approach was used since Trammell, Tarkowski, Hofmokl, & Sapp (2006) and other researchers have already done so. According to Trammell (2004), substance inquiry is a crucial step in comprehending blogs. The researcher adopted a coding sheet for data collection. The War and Peace Journalism Model developed by Johan Galtung applies in this research to find out the Pak-Ind relations from the perspective of war and peace journalism in blogs. The researcher has also qualitative analysis of the data as per John Galtang's peace and conflict structuring method parameter. Data is assessed and provided by descriptive statistics in a frequency distribution.

The universe of this analysis is all the bloggers of influential media professionals of print media organizations, but data from all the blog posts cannot be obtained. Therefore, to objectively examine the posts on Pak-Ind relationships, a sampling technique was adopted. Blogs posted on The Nation and Express Tribune by various bloggers were the sampling frame of this report. These two were chosen because they both have a blog icon on the website, while the other newspapers lack details. 

The researcher analyzed the blogs through the purposive sampling method of Daily The Nation and Daily Express Tribune. The principle behind this collection was to achieve a more diverse national media sample in Pakistan. Data from December-2019 to December-2020, one year's blogs were selected. Both newspapers are publishing blogs of various bloggers on daily bases. The researcher analyzed the selected blogs. The unit of analysis for this study was the blogs regarding the relationship between Pakistan and India from the viewpoint of peace and conflict journalism. in the national newspapers. 




 

Data Analysis

Table 2

Comparative Analysis of Both Newspapers.

Newspapers	Total Blogs	Country	Relations	Peace/ Conflict Oriented	War/ Violence Oriented	Comparative Analysis
The Nation	24	Pakistan	Pakistan has always tried to establish regional peace while contributing towards economic & bilateral trade with China, Russia and other countries, whereas India has sponsored terrorism while engaging in terror activities to destabilize Pakistan	Peace & Conflict Oriented	War and Violence Oriented	The blogs published in the Nation have focused on war, peace, violence, economic, trade and commercial issues to establish regional peace
Express Tribune	05	Pakistan	India is always trying to destabilize Pakistan while infiltrating Baluchistan, Gilgit Baltistan and other areas	Conflict-Oriented	Violence-Oriented	India’s aggression in Kashmir, GB and Baluchistan is disrupting peace inside Pak while endangering regional security
Express Tribune	03	Russia	India has tried its best to enhance its weaponry capability while engaging trade interests in Russia and sidelining Pakistan through economic development. However, Russia has shown interest in partnering with Pakistan and Pak moved well diplomatically	Conflict-Oriented	Economic-Oriented	India’s moves are always for its own interest but against Pakistan even at the cost of developing diplomatic and economic ties with Russia. However, Russia is showing developing ties with China and Pak.

 

Table 3

Qualitative Analysis of Blogs published in The Nation  [January-April].

Peace/conflict Journalism	War/violence Journalism
I. Peace/Conflict-oriented • The blogs of January-April published in The Nation focused on the powerful Sikh Army in British India which resisted to a great extent against the invasion of British rulers in India. The same Sikh regiment was being projected as a powerful force in India and Pakistan. India believes to be in a position powerful against Pakistan's armed forces. • The history of armed in India is deeply rooted in religious fervour and brave spirits under great Kings in the Sub-Continent • The blogs in The Nation also focused on the 'military-power show-off of India against Pakistan, while creating a situation of war and conflict. • Indian side is producing bombs and missiles which are a threat to human life on both sides.  • Indian side has adopted an aggressive approach towards regional peace whereas the Pakistani side is proactive while adopting policies ensuring stability on both sides thus building an atmosphere of peace • Pakistan has achieved the position of a strong defence of the country while ensuring never indulging in any anti-human policies while threatening any community residing in India, whereas India is a serious threat to peace in Pakistan and to the lives of Kashmiris.	I. War/Violence-oriented • Kashmir is the main bone of contention between India and Kashmir, between two arch rivals having the capacity for nuclear war • Indian borders have been sealed on the Kashmir side as well as the entire boundary with Pakistan starting from Kashmir to Karachi-Sindh, whereas Pakistan is a country which always offers dialogue for a peaceful atmosphere on both sides • Indian mood is always waging wars against Pakistan as is evident from the boasting of 'Surgical Strike'. • There is a vivid bifurcation in Pakistani blogs published in The Nation which use the words 'Indian side' and 'Pakistani side' which ultimately fall under "Us-them" journalism, and it can be propaganda in favour of both sides • The blogs show the Indian side or ‘them” were creating problems like sponsoring terrorism and creating propaganda against Pakistan. • Although, there were no words like 'Dehumanization' but definitely the text focuses on 'them', as showcasing weaponry power to threaten Pakistan • India is always proactive in propaganda, while creating violence and unrest inside Pakistan whereas the Pakistani side is always reactive and approaches the UN to ensure a peaceful atmosphere
II. Truth-oriented • The blogs seemed truth-based in the sense that every move by the Indian side led to wards religious as well as practical terror activities and Kulbhushan Jhadav is the undeniable reality. • The blogs also uncovered nefarious designs of India for isolating Pakistan on the global stage	II. Propaganda-oriented • Indian side finances terror activities to destabilize Pakistan besides enhancing propaganda activities across the border. The blogs also un-shielded untruths of India • However, there were no words or sentences which may advocate for covering "our" cover-ups/lies
III. People-oriented • The blogs revealed that India has strongly occupied all rights of Kashmiri people while killing, injuring, raping women and abducting and torturing the youngsters in Kashmir • The BJP, RSS and allied sections were killing Kashmiri people in Kashmir while killing Muslims in India	III. Elite-oriented • The blogs, however, also shed light on "our" suffering; which means 'Muslims in India and Kashmiri people". • The infamous leaders of RSS including Narendar Modi were among the wrongdoers against the Muslim community in India • The blogs carried names of famous activists including Arundhati Roy and others who were advocating for regional peace
IV. Solution-oriented • The blogs published in the first four months in The Nation also focused on organizing bilateral dialogues while stopping violence on the soil of Pakistan • Pakistan side also offered multiple times to India to sit at a table and hold dialogues for restoring long-term peace while resolving all burning disputes including Kashmir to prevent more war • Indian movies were portraying negative Muslim characters thus creating hatred on the Pakistani side, therefore, India should undermine such productions rather than focus on movies portraying brotherhood and peace on both sides of the border.	IV. Victory-oriented • The blogs shared that India was always in a mood to boast up its claims to victory through surgical strikes, whereas Pakistan was focusing rather demanding a ceasefire • India was always concealing peace initiatives taken by Pakistan while blaming it at world forums • The blogs mentioned one treaty signed by India and Pakistan in the former USSR

 

 

Table 4

Qualitative Analysis of Blogs published in The Nation [May-August].

Peace/conflict Journalism	War/violence Journalism
I. Peace/Conflict-oriented • The blogs in The Nation published from May-August revealed that India is trying to portray its 'developmental projects' in Indian Occupied Kashmir as 'satisfying' the people of Kashmir. In other words, Indian media is projecting a 'win-win' position in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.  • Indian media have portrayed that Baluchi people are protesting against Pakistan and demanding their rights whereas on the other side, India is sending terrorists like Kulbhushan Yadav to Baluchistan to destabilize Pakistan. • The blogs reveal that Indian media, diplomatic efforts and even the political parties of India always propagate that the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, GB, and Baluchistan are against the state of Pakistan. The Indian movies also project that there is an uprising inside Pakistan by the people whose rights are being discriminated against. • Although India is trying to convince world bodies that Pakistan is depriving classes on its soil, India has never confessed to its war crimes committed in East Pakistan.  • India adopted proactive measures inside East Pakistan and played a negative role in the uprising and which was a huge war crime • India has propelled violence, killing, raping and injuring men, women and even children while portraying their native culture as inferior to 'glorious' Indian culture through its movies contrary to Turkish movies which are showing brave Muslim Characters	I. War/Violence-oriented • Indian government played a negative role in creating conflicts between East and West Pakistan by developing differences between political parties and other organizations and India projected its 'victory' against Pakistan. • The state of India never took a lead role in developing an atmosphere for peace, but it was seen at the forefront of creating conflicts in East Pakistan. However, despite all Odds, Pakistan was the country which always took the lead in restoring peace in the region especially in 1974 when Pakistan organized Islamic Summit in Lahore and before that formally admitted that East Pakistan was now Bangladesh  • Indian state always adopted a negative approach towards the state of Pakistan by waging cold, hot and on-ground wards • The blogs for four months (May-Aug) used the same previous terms of 'Pakistan' for "Us" and 'India' for "them" while using the terms "Indian propaganda" against Pakistan and voicing for the rights of Kashmiri people • The blogs absolutely portrayed the problem as being created by "them" or broadly said by India and Pakistan were taking efforts to prevent further wars • The blogs showed that Pakistan released an Indian pilot who crossed the border of Pakistan purely on 'humanitarian' grounds despite the massive efforts of India to the dehumanization of Kashmiri people. The blogs showed that Indian atrocities in Kashmir were eye-opening for the world community to prevent India from further violence
II. Truth-oriented • The blogs exposed that Indian movies were creating negative rather barbarian characters of Muslim rulers in India. As the Indian media and film industry was lying against the historical facts, while the Turkish (ours) film industry was portraying the true picture of Muslim character	II. Propaganda-oriented • The blogs' un-shielded 'lies' and propaganda of Indian media and the government regarding Muslim character. India was hiding the trust regarding its atrocities being committed in Kashmir and Baluchistan while using the Afghan border, whereas Pakistani media and the government were exposing those lies at international forums
III. People-oriented • The blogs shared that the Pakistani government was focusing on the production of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and for the welfare of the people of Pakistan while working for the betterment of the common man, while India was increasing miseries inside Pakistan and even inside its own country where tens of millions of people are protesting and demanding for their rights • The blogs however did not mention any names of the evil-doers as mentioned in the first four months when Modi and RSS were named as evil-doers  • Pakistani media was collectively working for the establishment of regional peace, without naming any big name	III. Elite-oriented • The blogs openly shared that the people inside Baluchistan were suffering just because of Indian terror activities inside Pakistani areas by sending terrorists. Even Indian terrorists were behind APS Attach. So, Pakistani media, as blogs revealed, was the virtual mouth-piece of Pakistan • There was no such prominent name as evil-doers on both sides except for some hints towards RSS  • Overall, the government of Pakistan and peacekeeping activists were working as peacemakers to restore wide-ranging peace on both sides of the border
IV. Solution-oriented • The blogs urged adopting strategies to restore peace and working for prosperity instead of waging war or creating terror and violence. • The blogs shared that the Pakistani government was working on various projects for prosperity and for alleviation of poverty and the Indian government should adopt the same to prevent more war • The blogs also revealed that Indian media and Bollywood should adopt the approach of the Indian movie 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' which spread a spirit of brotherhood and love instead of creating violence and waging war	IV. Victory-oriented • The blogs urged repeatedly for a ceasefire and ending the negative rhetoric of 'victory' at the cost of the sufferings, and killings of the neighbour • Indian government was always boasting about working for the alleviation of poverty but never mentioned which projects were being launched to alleviate poverty, it was just fooling its own people based on the pack of lies • The blogs did not mention any treaty or pact but urged for holding bilateral dialogues • The blogs however narrated Pakistani efforts for restoring peace and working for the betterment of the people of Pakistan through utilizing nuclear energy and other welfare projects

 

 Table 5

Qualitative Analysis of Blogs published in The Nation [September-December].

Peace/conflict Journalism	War/violence Journalism
I. Peace/Conflict-oriented • There are a total of 13 blogs published in the last 4 months of 2020 including 11 in Pakistan and one published in India. The blogs revealed that the Indian government withdrew its forces from military exercises with Russia and that was a 'win-win' position for Pakistan as it enhanced its weaponry and trade ties with Russia • The blog published in India also shed light on the 'China-India' standoff in Ladakh where the Chinese army was advancing in Indian territories thus supporting Pakistan to cut down the areas widely claimed by Pakistan as its border in Indian-occupied Kashmir • These blogs also made it clear that Pakistan's stance on the Kashmir dispute was quite rightful, as per the constitution and in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. These claims were supported by Kashmiri people as well • Pakistani media provided channels to empower the voices of Kashmiri leaders to further strengthen its stance on Kashmir. All leaders of Kashmir were heartily welcomed by Pakistani media, academic institutes and other organizations  • The blogs revealed that 'war was always a problem' and Indian government and media both were creating conflicts between Pakistan and India to pave the way for waging war • Already India was part of nefarious designs in Kashmir and Baluchistan, through sending its terrorists and pumping money to lure Baluchi leaders to take against the state of Pakistan, now it was working in Kashmir on the same footprints  • The blogs revealed that India was always proactive in starting the violence or showing intention to wage war instead of working for peace • Bollywood always focused on negative aspects of Muslim rulers except for Akbar The Great, thus posing a serious threat to Muslim culture and glorious history in the Sub-Continent	I. War/Violence-oriented • Pakistan's government showcased its military capability to ensure peace in the region, whereas Indian media claimed to have supremacy in Naval forces during the war of 1965-1971 • The blogs shared that Indian media were inclined to project their 'war heroes' as smashing down the entire naval capacity of Pakistan, whereas the Pakistani government showcased its naval capabilities in Karachi where it pledged to have the capacity to knock down the Indian supremacy claims over Pakistan. On this subject, none of the sides seemed to step ahead for pelting stones for peace • From the front of the military, both sides never shared their secret plans with each other. • The blogs openly discussed the approach of "Us-them" journalism, and propaganda seemed the most dangerous technique used to boast each other military capacity • Both military sides paid rich tributes to its ‘war veterans’ and both blamed each other for prevailing The threat of war • None of the sides, in the last four-month blogs, dehumanized each other except boasting for about military supremacy • According to the blogs, the Indian government was proactive in spreading violence and promoting extremism and sectorial killings in Pakistan to disrupt peace • The blogs revealed that tens of thousands of Kashmiri people and even Baluchi and Pashtun were suffering owing to nefarious terror activities of India. The Indian government was supporting Pashtun Movement to destabilize Pakistan while organizing terror activities in KPK and Baluchistan
II. Truth-oriented • The blogs shared that the Indian government was supporting BLA and PTM on one side and on the other side, it was claiming that India was working for regional peace. However, the Pakistani government has provided all the proofs and dossiers to world forums that the Indian government was sponsoring terrorism inside Pakistan	II. Propaganda-oriented • The blogs revealed that the Pakistan government successfully countered Indian propaganda and hushed up Indian lies while showcasing Pakistan's sincere efforts for peaceful activities
III. People-oriented • The last four-month blogs did not focus on specific miseries and sufferings of the people rather the entire focus seemed on boasting of a military superiority complex on the part of India, whereas Pakistan focused on 'war veterans' who laid down their lives during the wars with India • The blogs blamed the Indian government and the Indian military for wrongdoings inside Pakistan. India was directly involved in the internal affairs of Pakistan • The last blog published in the Nation focused on 'together to work for peace'.	III. Elite-oriented • As discussed above, the last blogs specifically did not focus on ‘sufferings’ rather the chief area which these blogs discussed was enhancing military capacity. • Indian diplomacy failed to attract Russia towards its side against Pakistan, but the Pakistani government seemed more impressive in taking diplomatic leas as Russian titled down towards Pakistan instead of India • The blogs suggested holding peace dialogues instead of waging wars against each other
IV. Solution-oriented • 11 out of 12 blogs totally focused on 'boast up' claims by both sides, especially Pakistan was seeming on the upper hand in enhancing its naval and military capacity, besides paying tribute to war veterans • The blogs also highlighted peace initiatives adopted by Pakistan to prevent more war, however, such initiatives were also with claims of having the upper hand on India • The last blog was powerful in the sense that India and Pakistan should collectively step ahead for regional peace and prosperity	IV. Victory-oriented • The last part of the blog purely focused on this aspect that a ceasefire on the line of control can lead to wide-ranging peace on both sides of the bothers and this will be the ultimate victory of both countries • Instead of concealing peace initiative, the blogs suggested solutions for bringing peace and 'collective measures' were suggested for a 'win-win' solution for both nations • Admittedly, the blog focused on having a strong treaty or a pact for working together for prosperity through enhancing trade and economic development

 

Table 6

Qualitative Analysis of Blogs published in Express Tribune [January-December].

Peace/conflict Journalism	War/violence Journalism
I. Peace/Conflict-oriented • India has portrayed the 'swage character of Muslims' in its movies, especially in Padmavat, where Jallalu-din-Khilji has been shown as savage Muslim Ruler contrary to the reality • Historically, the territorial jurisdiction of Gilgit Baltistan falls in Pakistan's area, however, India has always projected it as an Indian area even contrary to their religion and Muslim culture • India tried to voice for the people of Baluchistan and Gilgit Baltistan, whereas the writer never speaks about the sufferings of Kashmiri people  • Baluchistan and Gilgit Baltistan are the 'conflicting' areas where the rights of the citizens are being violated, as per Indian claims, on the other side, India never talks about the miseries of Kashmiri people, thus India creates conflict but rather interprets conflicts in its own way • Indian side has never been seen as adopting a proactive approach to avoiding conflict or war rather India always tries to wage war	I. War/Violence-oriented • India has created massive violence in Kashmir just to make 'Maha-Bharat' while claiming Kashmir as its 'integral territorial part' • Indian diplomacy always propagates at global forums that India was stepping ahead to establish 'peace' with Pakistan whereas, on grounds, the writer tries to destabilize Pakistan through terror activities  • Cold War between Pakistan and India has always existed despite peace dialogues between both states • Blogs in Express Tribune also used the terms 'India' and 'Pakistan' which can be termed "Us" for Pakistan and "them" for India • Tribune, however, did not mention – India – as the main problem created, rather the main focus was on the historical explanation of the wars between India and Pakistan • The blogs, however, mentioned the phenomenon of dehumanization of Kashmiri people suffering at the hands of Indian forces • The blogs also did not shed light on 'violence leading to killing' or wounding Kashmiri people
II. Truth-oriented • Indian media propagated against Pakistan on the bases of the Pulwama Attack and before that Mumbai Attacks labelling it 26/11 of India. However, Pakistan denied the allegations of India, wherein Pakistani media propagated against India based on the Indian Naval Commander-cum-terrorist Kulbhushan Jhadav	II. Propaganda-oriented • There was no such theme which just propagated 'their' untruths and "our" cover-ups/lies, rather both media propagated as being told the 'truth' thus defending their own countries. The blogs of Tribune however remained moderate in discussing the issues
III. People-oriented • Tribune’s blogs did not discuss in detail the human sufferings even in Kashmir rather these focused on discussion of bilateral issues, trade and economic moves. • Except for Modi, Tribune blogs did not mention any name under the umbrella of 'evil-doers' • The blogs however stressed upon the dialogues the only solution for peacemaking	III. Elite-oriented • Tribune blogs discussed general issues regarding wars and conflict, besides elaborating on the conflicts in Baluchistan and Gilgit Baltistan • Modi was the evil-doer against Pakistan by using Russia's shoulder to lure them for the 'weaponry trade' which was negated by the Russian President. • Russia and China were establishing a block comprising China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran to 'restore' peace
IV. Solution-oriented • The blogs suggested adopting the course of peace and avoiding terror activities • The blogs highlighted peace initiatives i.e., One-Belt – One-Road and ensure economic development and trade areas to prevent more wars between Pakistan and India • The blogs showed a positive tendency rather than a moderate way to discuss issues while suggesting the solution of enhancing trade and economic activities between the new emerging blocs	IV. Victory-oriented • Historical course, definitely, shed light on Pakistan's victory against India, but the word 'ceasefire' was not mentioned in Tribune's blogs. • There were no words regarding ‘concealing peace-initiative’ rather the words ‘back-door diplomacy’ was used between foreign ministries to restore peace • The blogs in Tribune also did not mention the words ‘treaty’ rather economic development and prosperity were used to bring progress in society • The blogs however asked to take measures to avoid future wars between both states

Discussions and Conclusions

The result of the study found a total of 32 blogs related to the study of which 24 blogs were found in Daily the Nation and 8 blogs in the daily express tribune. It shows that daily nation has given more significance to the blogs as compared to the daily express tribune. The result of the study revealed that 23 blogs had been published in Pakistan and 1 from India, while in the Daily express tribune, 5 blogs had been published from Pakistan and 3 from Russia. Results of the study also found that in the Nation newspaper, most blogs had been published in the month of December which are five in number. Four blogs had been published in the nation in the month of June and September. In the month of January, May and October a total of 6 blogs had been published which means that 2 blogs had been published in all three months. 5 blogs had been published in the month of February, March, July, August and November. No blog had been published in the month of April in the nation during the time frame of the study.

The study's findings also showed that Syed Zain Jaffery, who wrote four of the most popular blogs in the country, and Andrew Korybko, a Russian, wrote three of the most popular blogs for the Express Tribune. 

The study's findings also revealed that 5 blogs, most of which are published in December, make up the Express Tribune. Only one blog had been posted in the months of January, September, and October. No blogs were discovered in the Express Tribune in the months of February, March, April, May, June, July, August, or November throughout the study's time range.   

Results of the study revealed that the first blog published in the nation written by Lt. Col. Muhammad Arsalan Qadeer (Rtd.) was conflict and war-oriented and the second blog in the nation written by Naghmana Shahid was progress and development-oriented. The blog published in the month of February is democratic and economic oriented which had written by Muhammad Rizwan. The only blog published in the nation written by Usman Ali Khan is peace and development-oriented. In the month of May, Usman Javed Chaudhary the writer of the blog focused on war and ware for peace-oriented and another blog written by power and development-oriented. In the month of June, the blog was under conflict and Indian role in conflict written by Lt. Col. Muhammad. Arsalan Qadeer (Rtd.). In the same month, Hassan Azam wrote a blog which is cultural invasion oriented and cultural invasion of India. Another blog which is history and education oriented written by Wali Ejaz Nekokara. Syed Zain Jaffery the blogger 

of the blog was war and propaganda oriented.

Results of the study found that in the month of July and August, the blogs were war and conflict-oriented and both had written by Syed Zain Jaffery. In the month of September, Pervaiz Asghar and Mahwash Aijaz the writers of the blogs which are war and war-oriented. Faisal Nadeem had written a blog which is war and war and conflict-oriented. In the same month, the writer of the blog was Jawad Falak which is power and military power oriented.  Adnan Naqvi wrote a blog which is published in the nation is war and military power oriented in the month of October. Another blog published in the nation written by Syed Zain Jaffery is war and war-oriented. In the month of November Sohail Khan had written a blog which is conflict and war-oriented. Raashid Wali Janjua wrote a blog in the month of December which was war and conflict war-oriented.  In the same month, three bloggers had written blogs named Babar Ali Bhatti, Hassan Zaib and Akash S. Muhammed which all are war and war-oriented.  The last blog written by Muhammad Asim which was published in the nation is peace and peace-oriented.

Results of the study explored that the first blog published in the express tribune which is written by Raza Habib Raja is propaganda and propaganda oriented. Bilal Lakhani had written a blog which was published in the month of September and the blog was war and conflict and war-oriented. In the month of October, Raza Naeem the blogger wrote a blog which was published in the express tribune is conflict and conflict-oriented. Rafeey Andrabi and Andrew Korybko's blogs were published in the express tribune in the month of December and both of them were conflict-oriented as well as conflict and peace-oriented. In the same month, Sana Murad's blog was also published and it was conflict and conflict-terror oriented. Andrew Korybko another blog is also published in the express tribune and the blog was economic and economic oriented. The last blog had been written by Andrew Korybko and published in the express tribune and it was war and trade-oriented and economic trade-oriented.




Conclusions 

This study was conducted to find out more about Pak-Ind relations in the context of peace and conflict media since newspaper bloggers are seen as opinion leaders and subject experts. The basis of this study was a content analysis of the selected blogs, and information was acquired using a coding sheet. The Nation and Daily Express contributed the information for this study. The data was shown using tabulation. 

The results of the study supported the research questions of the study that the majority of the blogs were about war journalism than peace journalism, while the bloggers selected those issues that were related to security and terrorism. It has been concluded that war journalism was framed instead of peace in the relations between Pakistan and India. It is inferred that if peace journalism would be promoted then war journalism it would bring change in the relationship between two countries like Pakistan and India but the results are vice-vice.   

It is concluded that in light of the peace process and conflict journalism, the two newspapers covered Pak-India affairs, while Daily Nation wrote more blogs than Daily Express. The Daily Nation is more country-oriented than express.  It has also been found that most blogs in national newspapers were in December.  The reasoning behind this month, as analysts and bloggers in particular, covers the subject of past months and incidents to demonstrate their opinions on the government's optimistic and negative policies. It has also been concluded that most of the authors are defence and former military officers, who may present a security view, but lack a social, technological, educational, political and other viewpoint. Several blogs were written in the light of misinformation, hybrid warfare and psychological perspectives rather than human devastation.  Ties between Pakistan and India dropped further in 2020, a year of frequent verbal duels, diplomats and rhetoric. Ties have proceeded with a reversal of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in August 2019. However, Pakistan has taken worsening steps by increasing cease-fire violations along the control line, where the two-side armies frequently attack each other and result in deaths. In 2020, Pakistan and India had a very tumultuous friendship. Trade and diplomatic relations were slowed down by the end of the year. Perhaps the toughest situation in this decade has been bilateral ties. Relations between Pakistan and India haven't ended high. As shown in the accompanying recap, the overall sound is consistent with the year. 

Over the past seven decades, multiple summits and efforts have sought to forge good bilateral diplomatic relations. But military wars and militant attacks, such as the attacks by the Indian Parliament in 2001, the bombings by Samjauta Express in 2007, the attacks in 2008 by Mumbai and more recently by the Kashmir Control Line, from 2016 to 2018, outweigh this inability to construct bridges between India and Pakistan. The matter of peace is there. The combined population of India and Pakistan is equal to 1.5 billion. Both nuclear powers have powerful armed forces. The worst case is, ties are weakening and heading to conflict. If that were to exist, there would be no true winners and countless losers.

The question is: what are the consequences for 2021? This is a case of guessing how changing circumstances could radically alter these ties in a second. However, an analysis of the past of the relations between India and Pakistan and an evaluation of the current situation make for an informed decision. In short in the light of aforesaid discussion, we can say that the relations between Pakistan and India in the year 2020 act as a precursor to 2021. The whole situation is obvious and is based on today's reality.

Limitations and Study Forward

Only a few blogs from The Nation and Express

 Tribune posts by different bloggers may be investigated. The researchers may turn to look at blogs on other topics because there is still a lot of potential for a thorough analysis. For the purpose of exposing ideological constructions, the study uses content analysis. However, several additional Kashmir-specific factors can be examined using a whole different methodology. 

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