Newspaper Editorials With English Vocab 17/3/2016

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THE DNA: New whine in old battles

In Assam, the more things change the more they remain the same. In 1671 Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb invaded Assam. The legendary general Lachit Barphukon repulsed the attack in the battle of Seraighat. Metaphorically speaking, that battle has been fought many times over ever since.

The current round is rooted in the 1970s following a huge influx of immigrants from Bangladesh before and after Liberation.

The 1970s’ “anti-foreigner” sentiment gave rise to a movement, spearheaded by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leading to an Accord with the Centre in 1985. AASU formed a political party, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). This was followed by several elections and the AGP even ran two governments in 1985 and 1996 but the issue hasn’t disappeared. A number of AASU leaders found their way into other parties. The BJP’s current chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal is one of them. His junior in the student movement, Himanta Biswa Sarma, moved to the Congress and has now joined Sonowal in the BJP. And so has what’s left of the AGP as a junior electoral partner of the BJP in the current Assembly election.

The “anti-foreigner” movement in Assam is multi-dimensional. Bengalis and the Bengali language were the focus in the 1960s and 1970s. Bangladeshi immigrants became the target in the 1980s. This has inevitably taken on anti-Muslim overtones since the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi migrants are Muslims. The issue of Hindu migrants from there has been debated with some tending to regard them as refugees persecuted for their faith in that country.

While the native Assamese feel swamped by Bengalis, Bangladeshis, Muslims and what have you, others have felt threatened by the Assamese themselves. The Khasis, Garos and some Hill tribes successfully pushed for Meghalaya and Mizoram. Both were carved out of Assam in 1972. Then the Bodos launched their demand for a separate Bodoland. A Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) was created, run by a Council with limited powers. There is a demand for Scheduled Tribe(ST) status for Tai Ahoms, Koch Rajbongshis, Moran, Motok, Sootea and 36 tea tribes. Meanwhile Assamese speakers account for less than 50 per cent of the population.

The forthcoming assembly election is likely to perpetuate identity politics as they have ever since polls were first held. The two main rivals, the ruling Congress and a resurgent BJP, are tying up alliances with various ethnic groups.

A significant change in Assam’s age-old identity politics is the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) floated in 2005 by the perfume king, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. It won 3 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 despite the Modi wave. With 18 seats it is the second largest party in the outgoing Assembly. Muslims who constitute 34.22% of Assam’s population and hold the majority in 9 of the state’s 32 districts are its core base. Ajmal has asked his followers to support the Congress wherever the AIUDF isn’t fielding candidates. He could well end up playing the kingmaker of a Congress government if neither of the two blocs gets a majority. Some calculations suggest that the AIUDF may well get as many as 30 seats.

The AIUDF’s rise has deprived the Congress of much of its traditional Muslim vote base. It’s in a dilemma since openly seeking an alliance with Ajmal could polarize Hindu votes to the advantage of the BJP. The best it can look forward to is the Muslims voting Congress wherever the AIUDF isn’t contesting. Meanwhile, the Congress best exemplifies the fact that nothing much changes in Assam. Its Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi seems to be an ageless constant factor bidding fair to win a record-breaking 4th term. Gogoi, who turns 80 next month, hasn’t too much to recommend for himself but he hasn’t done anything spectacularly wrong. He runs the risk of anti-incumbency, the result of 15 years of Congress rule: the failure to tackle perennial issues like illegal immigration, corruption and the status of various tribes. However, Gogoi has steered the state through a modest rate of growth and focused on infrastructure building. Ultimately Gogoi could pull it off if because he is a known figure among a lot of squabbling unknown entities.

Squabbles have beset the BJP that won 7 of Assam’s 14 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, leading in 69 of the 126 assembly segments. In 2014 the party announced “Mission 84” to win a two-thirds majority in the next state assembly elections. It stands 5th with just 5 seats in the outgoing Assembly. But the fact that it won 340 of 746 wards in last year’s local elections added to its confidence. However, most of its top leadership has come from the AGP and Congress and cannot be depended upon. The defection of Himanta Biswas Sarma and some MLAs from the Congress to the BJP initially created a buzz. But it died down as a result of infighting between the party’s “old timers” and “newcomers”. The BJP and AGP teamed up to avoid a split in the Opposition. Both are now bogged down by internal revolts over the tie-up. Constituency-level workers and leaders have ransacked offices of both parties in different districts, one group in each party has also announced its resolve to quit and form new parties. The Congress has seen a number of leaders from both parties joining it in the past few days.

Hopes of “Mission 84” have vanished with the party conceding 43-44 seats to its new found allies: 24 to the AGP, 16 to the Bodo People’s Front and 3-4 to smaller ethnic parties leaving it with less than 84 seats to contest. There’s further confusion with the BJP saying it will now contest 90 seats! This will include “friendly fights” with either one or both of its main allies. With the Modi magic on the skids, party leaders are now relying on local factors, primarily anti-incumbency, to see them through to a simple majority of “Mission 64.”

Gogoi’s anti-incumbency in Dispur may well be offset by that of Modi in Delhi. The Centre is responsible for tackling “foreigners” and, according to Gogoi, it has failed miserably in doing so. Reminding voters repeatedly of Modi’s famous speech in April 2014 in which he had said the infiltrators would have to pack up and leave after he became PM, Gogoi has pointed out that the central government has failed to even complete the fencing of the international border.

BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal says General Borphukan and his deputy Ismail Siddique aka “Bagh Hazarika” successfully protected all native Assamese, Hindus and Muslims alike in Seraighat. He claims his party is doing the same 345 years later, against Bangladeshi infiltrators. Accusing the central government of not having done enough to protect the Assamese from illegal immigrants, Tarun Gogoi claims to be battling “Hindi-speaking” invaders from Delhi where the Mughals were once based!

re·pulse

Drive back (an attack or attacking enemy) by force.

spear·head

Lead (an attack or movement).

o·ver·whelm·ing

Very great in amount.

per·se·cute

Subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of their race or political or religious beliefs.

swamp

Overwhelm or flood with water.

carved out

to ​successfully ​create or get something, ​especially a ​work​position, by ​working for it

per·pet·u·ate

Make (something, typically an undesirable situation or an unfounded belief) continue indefinitely.

re·sur·gent

Increasing or reviving after a period of little activity, popularity, or occurrence.

de·prived

Suffering a severe and damaging lack of basic material and cultural benefits

in·cum·ben·cy

The holding of an office or the period during which one is held.

per·en·ni·al

Lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring.

squab·ble

Quarrel noisily over a trivial matter.

 died down 

If a ​sound or ​activity ​dies down, it ​becomes ​quieter or less ​obvious

bogged down

 to be/​become so ​involved in something ​difficult or ​complicated that you cannot do anything ​else

on the skids

​failing

THE HINDU: A new chapter in Myanmar

The election of U Htin Kyaw as Myanmar’s President is a watershed moment in its history. Mr. Htin Kyaw’s government would be its most democratic administration since 1962 when the military seized power. During this period, the generals ran a repressive regime that denied the people even basic democratic rights and isolated the country internationally. For Myanmar’s pro-democracy camp, the election is a moment of joy, and sorrow. Finally a legitimate, democratic government is in place, but there is deep disappointment at the fact that Aung San Suu Kyi, their “rightful” leader, could not become the President. A provision in the military-era Constitution bars Ms. Suu Kyi from assuming the highest office as her children are foreign citizens. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) lacks the parliamentary power to rewrite the Constitution. Efforts by Ms. Suu Kyi to reach a settlement with the generals did not bear fruit either. It was against this background that she nominated Mr. Htin Kyaw, an economist and writer she has known from her early school days, as the party’s presidential candidate. Ms. Suu Kyi has made it clear that she will be in control of the government, irrespective of her constitutional status.

While the formation of a democratic government is clearly a firm step forward, the new government faces an uphill task. Primarily, it has to address the deep economic problems. Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in Asia. In the years of isolation under the junta, economic growth stagnated, trapping millions in acute poverty. Getting the economy back on track is no easy task, and Myanmar will need regional and global assistance. Besides, though the generals have agreed to civilian takeover of political power, they still wield enormous influence over Myanmar’s institutions. One-quarter of seats in both Houses of Parliament are reserved for the military. This prevents any constitutional amendments without the military’s approval. The military also has direct control of three key Ministries: defence, home affairs and border affairs. Two recent actions of the military indicate it is still not ready to cede influence over institutions completely. The first is its refusal to let Ms. Suu Kyi become the President. It knew that if Ms. Suu Kyi, hugely popular at home and widely respected abroad, becomes President, that could expedite the country’s transition into a full democracy. Second, by successfully getting Myint Swe, a controversial retired general who served the previous junta, elected as one of the two vice-presidents, the military has sent a clear message to the government that it is not going to completely stay away from power. But the good news is that the balance of power has clearly shifted in favour of the pro-democracy camp after the November elections. Ms. Suu Kyi and President Htin Kyaw will have to tread cautiously but purposefully to build on the democratic gains, and expedite Myanmar’s transition into a full democracy.

watershed moment

an ​event or ​period that is ​important because it ​representsa ​big ​change in how ​people do or ​think about something

re·pres·sive

(especially of a social or political system) inhibiting or restraining the freedom of a person or group of people.

jun·ta

A military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force.

a·cute

(of a bad, difficult, or unwelcome situation or phenomenon) present or experienced to a severe or intense degree.

wield

Hold and use (a weapon or tool).

cede

Give up (power or territory).

ex·pe·dite

Make (an action or process) happen sooner or be accomplished more quickly.

tread

Walk in a specified way.

THE HINDU: Caste atrocities and political abdication

The murder of a 22-year-old Dalit man at Udumalpet in western Tamil Nadu has brought to the fore the worst aspects of today’s Tamil society: the resurgence of caste pride, a shameless disregard for individual rights when they are in conflict with the hegemonic order, and an anachronistic belief in the notion of caste purity and pollution. That a group of mercenaries could casually surround V. Shankar and his 19-year-old wife Kausalya, and brutally slay one of them and leave the other seriously wounded on the edge of a busy road does not merely indicate a lack of fear of the law. It demonstrates a disquieting confidence that no one would dare challenge or pursue them. Often characterised as ‘honour killings’ because their motivation arises from the idea that a woman marrying outside her community brings dishonour to the family, such murders in India normally involve family members rendering brutal ‘justice’ to the ‘transgressor’ within. In recent years, it appears to work in a different way in Tamil Nadu. In such murders, the victims are often Dalits, for daring to transgress social mores to marry someone deemed to be above their station in life. Thus, E. Ilavarasan, a Dalit youth whose marriage to a Vanniyar woman led to caste riots in November 2012 and whose body was found on a railway track in July 2013, and Gokulraj, another Dalit youth murdered for talking to a Gounder girl last year, were clearly victims of caste atrocities.

In the case of Shankar, too, the emphasis seemed to be mainly on wreaking vengeance against a Dalit man; though the element of punishing the family member too was present, as Ms. Kausalya was also attacked with long knives and remains in hospital. Whether in alleged defence of imaginary family honour or as a strike against Dalit assertion, such murders have become disturbingly frequent. The regrettable part of the entire episode is that major political parties tend to condemn such murders only in general terms, and avoid any mention of the role of dominant castes. Seldom do they confront the arrogance of some castes that enjoy political patronage and operate as enforcers of norms in some regions, especially targeting Dalits. Caste groups have become powerful political lobbies. Caste associations attract young and educated members of the community. Shockingly, Shankar’s murderers drew fulsome praise on social media from committed caste adherents. There is a shallow debate over whether present-day caste consciousness indicates the failure of the Dravidian social reform movement in Tamil Nadu. It is futile to blame social reformers who fought for caste-based reservations when it is the political leadership of recent years that has given credence and credibility to caste icons. Tamil society, which prides itself on its cultural moorings, needs to look inwards. Freedom to choose who to love has been seen to be a distinguishing sign of progressive societies. That it can be denied in this day and age is a disgraceful commentary on our times.

re·sur·gence

An increase or revival after a period of little activity, popularity, or occurrence.

heg·e·mon·ic

Ruling or dominant in a political or social context.

anachronistic

Anachronic: chronologically misplaced; "English public schools are anachronistic"

slay

Kill (a person or animal) in a violent way.

dis·qui·et·ing

Inducing feelings of anxiety or worry.

pur·sue

Follow (someone or something) in order to catch or attack them.

transgressor

Someone who transgresses; someone who violates a law or command; "the way of transgressors is hard"

mo·res

The essential or characteristic customs and conventions of a community.

a·troc·i·ty

An extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or injury.

wreak

Cause (a large amount of damage or harm

venge·ance

Punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong.

con·demn

Express complete disapproval of, typically in public; censure.

ad·her·ent

Someone who supports a particular party, person, or set of ideas.

fu·tile

Incapable of producing any useful result; pointless.

moor·ing

A place where a boat or ship is moored.

INDIAN EXPRESS: Here’s lookin’ at you

The internet has grown explosively, much faster than older media, because a government — Washington, in this case — had the sense to let go of it. Now, another government — in New Delhi — wants to tighten its grip and award itself custody over the security of internet infrastructure.

While the ICANN board met earlier this month in Marrakesh to relinquish Washington’s control over the internet in favour of a global, multi-stakeholder model, the Union minister for communications and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad, who attended the meet, has sought a bigger role for governments, holding up the mesmerisingly nebulous juju of security threats such as the rise of the Islamic State. In these disturbed times, the security threat has upstaged the old faithful, “technical reasons”, to explain away things that governments would rather not explain. Usually because they cannot.

Prasad says that his proposal struck a chord with representatives of foreign powers. Indeed, in a largely unreformed world, it is scarcely difficult to find governments who mistrust their subjects — even liberal democracies do that.

Perhaps this is only an appeal to India’s famous weakness for endorsement from distant shores?

The Indian government can always limit or suspend communications networks according to threat perceptions. What extra benefit would flow to it from a deeper sense of control over those networks? Hopefully, it is not the ability to snoop at will, without the galling necessity to move the courts on a case-by-case basis? Without regard for political affiliation, governments and administrations — especially those that take a special interest in security — have an innate yearning for pervasive and permanent surveillance. It is in the nature of governments to seek the right to snoop. It should be equally natural for their subjects to routinely resist it.

re·lin·quish

Voluntarily cease to keep or claim; give up

mesmerisingly

In a mesmerising manner

neb·u·lous

In the form of a cloud or haze; hazy.

         

ju·ju

A style of music popular among the Yoruba in Nigeria and characterized by the use of guitars and variable-pitch drums.

up·stage

Divert attention from (someone) toward oneself; outshine.

scarce·ly

Only just; almost not.

shore

A prop or beam set obliquely against something weak or unstable as a support.

snoop

Investigate or look around furtively in an attempt to find out something, especially information about someone's private affairs.

gall

Make (someone) feel annoyed.

in·nate

Inborn; natural.

yearn·ing

A feeling of intense longing for something

per·va·sive

(especially of an unwelcome influence or physical effect) spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people.

sur·veil·lance

Close observation, especially of a suspected spy or criminal.

BUSINESS STANDARD:Bond market may have cure for infra woes

The stressed assets of banks, particularly those in the public sector, continue to be in the news, given the much-publicised attempts to get Kingfisher Airlines promoter Vijay Mallya to return to India and face accusations regarding defaulting on loans. The banks' troubled balance sheets are among a set of persistent issues that have hobbled attempts to improve India's creaking infrastructure. Problems related to land acquisition and tardy environmental and statutory clearances have often been cited as underlying causes for stalled projects. But in fact the absence of a vibrant bond market that could step in to supplement bank lending is particularly crippling. In fact, it is the lack of a strong bond market that has contributed to stress in the banking sector.

India's banks hold stressed assets of around Rs 9 lakh crore, including over Rs 4 lakh crore in acknowledged bad debts. The bulk of these bad loans is held by public sector banks. A very substantial portion of the stressed and non-performing assets has also arisen from the infrastructure sector. Worryingly, over 50 per cent of bank credit to industry is to infrastructure, with the power sector alone accounting for 22 per cent of outstanding industrial credit. But banks are hardly the ideal vehicles to lend to infrastructure projects since asset-liability mismatches are guaranteed. Most bank borrowings have short- to medium-term tenures, with a preponderance of demand deposits and short-term deposits. The longest tenures amount to five years or so. Meanwhile, infrastructure projects are capital-intensive and have a long gestation period. There may be zero or negligible revenue accruing for the first few years. In the Indian context, with endemic delays, projects are often of even longer gestation. Even if a project eventually gets underway and generates returns, banks (and other Indian lenders including specialised infrastructure non-bank financial corporations) cannot afford to wait that long. India does not possess lenders with the requisite deep pockets, such as pensions and reinsurance companies. Banks have tried to control the risks of infrastructure lending by setting prudential sector limits and creating consortiums. But the asset-liability mismatches remain and the systemic risks are not mitigated by being spread out. The quantum of required funding is large enough to have badly affected most public sector banks. Attempts to create structures such as take-out financing have also not proved efficacious. A take-out structure implies that a loan will be taken over by a new lender after it is held for several years by the first lender. In this, the first lender continues to face huge risks.

The ideal instruments for financing long-gestation, capital-intensive projects are long-tenure bonds. A bond may be subscribed to by anybody, without fear of asset-liability mismatches - because, in theory, bonds can be sold on. However, that implies an active secondary bond market with the requisite liquidity to price a bond accurately and sell it on. Unfortunately, India does not possess an active secondary market in bonds. The major players in the bond market consist of foreign portfolio investors or FPIs (who are constrained by preset limits), banks and a few debt mutual funds. The primary market consists largely of government debt and a large proportion is held to maturity. Imparting liquidity to the secondary market would require policy measures to encourage trading and to attract more players including high-net worth individuals and overseas FPIs. Among other things, this has to involve further changes to the methodology by which bank portfolios are marked to market, in order to induce more activity. The current situation is after all unsustainable. Banks cannot continue to operate with such an overhang of asset-liability mismatches and such massive non-performing assets. Nor can financing for the infrastructure sector be throttled because banks have hit their lending limits. Developing a more active secondary market in bonds should be a matter of priority and urgency because it can address both those issues at the same time.

hob·ble

Walk in an awkward way, typically because of pain from an injury.

tar·dy

Delaying or delayed beyond the right or expected time; late.

crip·ple

Cause (someone) to become unable to move or walk properly.

pre·pon·der·ance

The quality or fact of being greater in number, quantity, or importance.

ac·crue

(of sums of money or benefits) be received by someone in regular or increasing amounts over time.

con·sor·ti·um

An association, typically of several business companies.

ef·fi·ca·cious

(typically of something inanimate or abstract) successful in producing a desired or intended result; effective.

DAWN:State vs clerics

The religious right in the country is once again in a state of fervent agitation. Ostensibly, this is because the Punjab Assembly recently passed a historic women’s rights law.

Yet, other provinces have passed similar, arguably more robust, laws in recent times and there has been little outcry. The difference this time may be the straits the religious right has found itself in and its urgent need to put pressure on the federal government — the PML-N — to reverse policies that have caused it to lose ground in the public arena.

The signs are several. The conference convened by the Jamaat-i-Islami in Mansoora on Tuesday saw many speakers veer away from the Punjab law and condemn the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri and the clampdown on the activities of the Tableeghi Jamaat.

More remarkably, in attendance were avowed anti-democrats like Hafiz Saeed, whose interest in parliamentary democracy is nil. The constellation of ignominy that gathered in Mansoora clearly has wider goals than simply nullification of a pro-women law.

The recent fulminations of Fazlur Rehman, the JUI-F chief, give an indication of what those wider goals may be.

In evoking the spectre of a PNA-style opposition alliance, the maulana appears to be seeking unity of the religious right so as to put concerted pressure on the centre, with the intention of either bringing down the federal government or aggressively increasing the public space for the religious right and its extremist partners.

Behind those grand schemes lies a harsh reality: the JUI-F and its political and extremist cohorts face an existential crisis.

The National Action Plan made explicit for the first time the need to combat religiously motivated militancy and also called for the regulation of the sprawling network of madressahs across the country.

In truth, however, the slow collision between the state and religious right had already begun. The infamous outburst of Munawar Hassan in November 2013, in which the former JI chief condemned Pakistani soldiers drawing a sharp response from the military, may have set the parameters of conflict and dissent.

What remains to be seen is how firm the PML-N will stand in this ideological conflict between the forces of regression and those on the right side of history.

Pakistan must return to the vision of its founding father and become the progressive, modern and thoroughly democratic country that the Quaid wanted it to be.

Thus far, the PML-N has surprised with its willingness to dabble in more progressive and forward-thinking politics.

Yet, its mettle has not truly been tested. The Punjab Assembly is little more than a rubber stamp for the Sharif family’s pet projects. The hanging of Mumtaz Qadri was cleared by the courts.

Now comes the real baptism of fire — stand firm and stand tall against the religious right and the PML-N will earn itself a place in history. Crumble now and history will be less forgiving.

fer·vent

Having or displaying a passionate intensity.

ag·i·ta·tion

A state of anxiety or nervous excitement.

os·ten·si·bly

Apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually.

out·cry

An exclamation or shout.

a·re·na

A level area surrounded by seats for spectators, in which sports, entertainments, and other public events are held.

veer

Change direction suddenly.

con·demn

Express complete disapproval of, typically in public; censure.

clamp·down

A severe or concerted attempt to suppress something.

con·stel·la·tion

A group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure. Modern astronomers divide the sky into eighty-eight constellations with defined boundaries.

ig·no·min·y

Public shame or disgrace.

ful·mi·na·tion

An expression of vehement protest.

e·voke

Bring or recall to the conscious mind.

co·hort

An ancient Roman military unit, comprising six centuries, equal to one tenth of a legion.

sprawl

Sit, lie, or fall with one's arms and legs spread out in an ungainly or awkward way

out·burst

A sudden release of strong emotion.

dis·sent

Hold or express opinions that are at variance with those previously, commonly, or officially expressed.

re·gres·sion

A return to a former or less developed state

dab·ble

Immerse (one's hands or feet) partially in water and move them around gently.

met·tle

A person's ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way.

bap·tism

(in the Christian Church) the religious rite of sprinkling water onto a person's forehead or of immersion in water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church. In many denominations, baptism is performed on young children and is accompanied by name-giving.

crum·ble

Break or fall apart into small fragments, especially over a period of time as part of a process of deterioration.

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