Drawing the Foreign Rivalry: Depiction of Indo-Pak Relations in Political Cartoons of Mainstream Pakistani and Indian English Newspapers (2014-2017)

Abstract

Political cartoons play a significant role in the image construction of nations on the basis of foreign policies and relationships. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to examine the treatment of English newspapers of Pakistan and India to portray the Indo-Pak relationship in their political cartoons. This paper also analyzes the signs and symbols used to construct images during conflicts. Political cartoons of Dawn, Express Tribune from Pakistan and Times of India and The Hindu from India published June 2014 to July 2017 are selected. The methods of quantitative content analysis and semiotics are applied under the umbrella of framing theory. It concludes that political cartoons follow national interests in both countries with reference to rivalry between India and Pakistan and constructed the image as “we are the best” and “they are the worst”. It also highlights that terrorism is the most depicted issue by the cartoonists of both sides.