How do English Newspapers Represent the Anti-canal Movement in Sindh?

Abstract

This research examines the way English-language sources around the world and in Pakistan cover the resistance by people in Sindh against the proposed construction of six new canals to benefit Punjab and Cholistan, a proposal by the federal government’s Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) that aims to draw water away from the Indus River. The research uses Fairclough’s approach (2012) to analyze the news from national sources (DAWN, The Nation) and those from Al Jazeera to identify how power in federal-provincial water politics is reflected and reinforced through language and the ways reporters state their opinions.

According to the findings, Pakistan’s media tends to use depoliticized and technical terms and says the project is meant for development, reducing attention to possible damage to people or the environment. Information from the government is privileged, but opinions from Sindhi farmers, fisherfolk and experts are generally ignored or do not make it into the news. Unlike domestic media, international news centers on local activism, gives faces to those who move and links the crisis to global issues of climate justice and post-colonial natural resource use.

The study determines that the media in each country upholds certain inequalities through how it frames its stories, what it leaves out and its sources of information. It guides critical media studies by emphasizing how authority and opposition work between the government and the general population in the Global South. The findings point out that journalism should value marginalized groups and care deeply about their environment.

Keywords: Green Pakistan Initiative, Lower Riparian, Media Outlets, Anti-canal movement, Indus Delta