How the Pakistani media sees Narendra Modi.
In December 2015, when the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, made a surprise visit to attend the wedding of the granddaughter of the Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani media and analysts were delighted. It was seen as a positive development, building on the bonhomie that had been established when Sharif attended Modi’s swearing-in, in 2014. Much of the media coverage, including by television channels such as Geo TV and Dunya News, focussed on the possibilities of peace between the two countries. The columnist Mosharraf Zaidi tweeted optimistically to discourage commentators’ negative remarks—of which there were few, in any case. “Setting a major breakthrough as a benchmark for PM Modi’s Lahore visit is ridiculous,” he wrote. “Process itself is the breakthrough. Worth celebrating.”
The year since has been markedly tense. Militants from Pakistan have conducted two attacks on Indian soil in 2016—in Pathankot and Uri. Diplomatic ties have been strained, particularly after Pakistan’s foreign secretary met representatives of the Kashmiri separatist All-Parties Hurriyat Conference in October. Consequently, the media narrative on both sides of the border has grown increasingly aggressive, with talk of violence and war regularly bandied about in television studios. Visceral reactions from Pakistani media have since dominated the country’s airwaves, and defined the conversation about India and Modi. In November, when I spoke to Rehman Azhar, of the channel Aaj TV, one of the few Pakistani journalists who went to India to cover Modi’s election campaign, he said, “Hatred for India sells in Pakistan just as well as hatred for Pakistan sells in India.”
Denne historien er fra December 2016-utgaven av The Caravan.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2016-utgaven av The Caravan.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Mob Mentality
How the Modi government fuels a dangerous vigilantism
RIP TIDES
Shahidul Alam’s exploration of Bangladeshi photography and activism
Trickle-down Effect
Nepal–India tensions have advanced from the diplomatic level to the public sphere
Editor's Pick
ON 23 SEPTEMBER 1950, the diplomat Ralph Bunche, seen here addressing the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The first black Nobel laureate, Bunche was awarded the prize for his efforts in ending the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Shades of The Grey
A Pune bakery rejects the rigid binaries of everyday life / Gender
Scorched Hearths
A photographer-nurse recalls the Delhi violence
Licence to Kill
A photojournalist’s account of documenting the Delhi violence
CRIME AND PREJUDICE
The BJP and Delhi Police’s hand in the Delhi violence
Bled Dry
How India exploits health workers
The Bookshelf: The Man Who Learnt To Fly But Could Not Land
This 2013 novel, newly translated, follows the trajectory of its protagonist, KTN Kottoor.