The Pakistani boat that blew up in flames in the Arabian Sea after being chased by the Indian Coast Guard made headlines in both India and Pakistan.
The trawler in question, the Indian defence ministry said, was carrying explosives and was intercepted by the coast guard around 365 kms from Porbandar off the Gujarat coast. When it was asked to stop for inspection, the boat started speeding away. After an hour-long chase, the boat allegedly stopped when the coast guard fired a few shots at it. The four crew members of the boat then set it on fire, leading to explosions.
The news was covered prominently in all major media publications on both sides of the border. There were, however, subtle differences.
The Pakistani press, for instance, took care to specify that the claims about the boat blowing itself up came from the Indian defense ministry. The news reports also placed greater emphasis on the fact that four people died in the incident.
Here is a sample of the reaction to the incident from some of Pakistan’s leading newspapers:
Dawn
While most of the details in Dawn’s report come from international news agency AFP, the report mentions, “Indian media has played up the event, alleging that a terror threat was imminent from what Times of India has termed the 'Pak Terror Boat'. However, links to terrorism have not been established or claimed.”
The paper did try to verify the news from the Indian sources, but mentions in the report that the Indian Coast Guard spokesperson “declined to comment”.
Reader's comment: “They could be drug dealers, arms traders or terrorists. All we know at this point is that the ship was from Pakistan and blew itself up when intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard.”
The Nation
The Nation emphasises, right in the headline, that the boat in question was an ordinary fishing boat.
Express Tribune
The Express Tribune also takes the details of the report from AFP.
Readers' comments: “Shame on Indians for shooting a boat with 4 men inside and then saying it exploded itself.”
“As per the picture provided by the Indian defence ministry, does this even look like a boat that can evade capture in a high speed chase that lasted ONE HOUR against Indian ships and aircrafts?”
The News International
This paper, too, makes it clear right away that the incident is a claim by India.
Many of the Pakistani readers' comments bring up the violence that has been taking place along the Indo-Pak border in Kashmir for the past few months, in which soldiers and civilians have lost lives on both sides. While the Indian media portrays this violence as instigated by the Pakistani army, comments from Pakistan reveal that they have evidently view the Indian army as the aggressor.
“Does anyone believe the Indian version?” said a comment in the Express Tribune. "I personally do not. Having murdered our soldiers in cold blood, it now seems they are murdering our civilian fishermen."
Added a reader of Dawn, "Yes, we believe India! Bizarre attempt to cover up their cowardly act of calling Pakistani soldiers for a flag meeting and then killing them in cold blood!”
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The trawler in question, the Indian defence ministry said, was carrying explosives and was intercepted by the coast guard around 365 kms from Porbandar off the Gujarat coast. When it was asked to stop for inspection, the boat started speeding away. After an hour-long chase, the boat allegedly stopped when the coast guard fired a few shots at it. The four crew members of the boat then set it on fire, leading to explosions.
The news was covered prominently in all major media publications on both sides of the border. There were, however, subtle differences.
The Pakistani press, for instance, took care to specify that the claims about the boat blowing itself up came from the Indian defense ministry. The news reports also placed greater emphasis on the fact that four people died in the incident.
Here is a sample of the reaction to the incident from some of Pakistan’s leading newspapers:
Dawn
While most of the details in Dawn’s report come from international news agency AFP, the report mentions, “Indian media has played up the event, alleging that a terror threat was imminent from what Times of India has termed the 'Pak Terror Boat'. However, links to terrorism have not been established or claimed.”
The paper did try to verify the news from the Indian sources, but mentions in the report that the Indian Coast Guard spokesperson “declined to comment”.
Reader's comment: “They could be drug dealers, arms traders or terrorists. All we know at this point is that the ship was from Pakistan and blew itself up when intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard.”
The Nation
The Nation emphasises, right in the headline, that the boat in question was an ordinary fishing boat.
Express Tribune
The Express Tribune also takes the details of the report from AFP.
Readers' comments: “Shame on Indians for shooting a boat with 4 men inside and then saying it exploded itself.”
“As per the picture provided by the Indian defence ministry, does this even look like a boat that can evade capture in a high speed chase that lasted ONE HOUR against Indian ships and aircrafts?”
The News International
This paper, too, makes it clear right away that the incident is a claim by India.
Many of the Pakistani readers' comments bring up the violence that has been taking place along the Indo-Pak border in Kashmir for the past few months, in which soldiers and civilians have lost lives on both sides. While the Indian media portrays this violence as instigated by the Pakistani army, comments from Pakistan reveal that they have evidently view the Indian army as the aggressor.
“Does anyone believe the Indian version?” said a comment in the Express Tribune. "I personally do not. Having murdered our soldiers in cold blood, it now seems they are murdering our civilian fishermen."
Added a reader of Dawn, "Yes, we believe India! Bizarre attempt to cover up their cowardly act of calling Pakistani soldiers for a flag meeting and then killing them in cold blood!”