Hindi English Translation || Editorial || The next step: On Manipur and the path to normalcy

The next step: On Manipur and the path to normalcy

Ethnicisation (जातीयता) and poor governance (शासन) are stumbling blocks to peace in Manipur

In the aftermath (परिणाम) of a conflict, a return to normalcy (साधारण अवस्था) must be a necessary basis to address (tackle, deal with, attend to, try to sort out) the grievances (शिकायत) of the affected parties that led to the conflict in the first place (at the beginning). There cannot be any redress (निवारण, उपाय) when groups engage in wanton (intentional, calculated, conscious, done on purpose, knowing, premeditated, purposeful, deliberate, pre-planned, prearranged, preconceived, predetermined, cold-blooded) and targeted (aimed at a particular group of people) violence against each other, use blockades (नाकाबंदी, अवरोधन) to prevent the transport of supplies, and continue to prevent displaced (विस्थापित) people from getting back (come again to a place; return, revert) to their homes. Return to normalcy is the first step before grievances are heard to prevent another conflict from emerging. And in order to effect the first step, peace talks (वार्ता, विचार विनिमय) between eminent (famous and respected, prominent, well known, leading) representatives — from civil society (it is the space outside the family, public sector (government & its branches) and private sector (businesses and corporations). It now signifies a wide range of organised and organic groups including non governmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions, social movements, grassroots organisations, online networks and communities, and faith groups) and political parties — in the conflict and tamping down (reduce, lessen, decrease, diminish (the intensity of something)) any embers (glowing coal, burning wood) of violence that might continue following the conflagration (flames, blaze, fire, firestorm, inferno) are a must. The presence of paramilitary (अर्द्धसैनिक) forces and the appeal for peace by Union Home Minister Amit Shah after a visit to the tribal and the Imphal valley areas have helped stem (stop, restrain, restrict, halt, curb, contail, control) the violence to an extent even if sporadic (occasional, infrequent, irregular, unpredictable) incidents of ethnic (संजाति विषयक) violence and arson have continued a month after the conflagration in Churachandpur, Imphal and other areas. But in terms of setting the conditions of peace which would entail (require, necessitate, demand, call for, be grounds/reason for, warrant, involve) the return of looted (लूट लिया) arms and the slow and sure return of those displaced to their battered (damaged, spoiled, impaired/ruined) homes, there has been little progress.

The Union government’s constitution (संविधान) of a peace committee (समिति) comprising eminent public figures in the State has hit a snag with many of them refusing to join it or suggesting that they have been added to the committee without prior consultation. The success of a peace initiative requires that all groups in a conflict are represented and includes representatives with public standing (position of the public) or a record that transcends their identities (पहचान). The withdrawal of quite a few public figures from this initiative unfortunately reveals (show, display, exhibit, uncover) the ethnicisation of civil society in Manipur and complicates peace building. More worryingly, Kuki-Zo representatives have expressly (absolutely, clearly, obviously, unequivocally, unmistakably) withdrawn their names as the committee included the Manipur Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh, while a Meitei civil society group has raked up (recollect, remember, revive/remind the memory of) an unwarranted (unjustified, unnecessary, unreasonable, uncalled for, groundless) generalisation (concept, idea, notion, thought, consideration) of the issue as one related to “narco-terrorism (it was first used to describe campaigns by drug traffickers using terrorist methods, such as the use of car bombs, assassinations and kidnappings, against anti-narcotics police in Colombia and Peru. Narco-terrorists refer to individuals and other members of drug cartels, mafia or other criminal organisations, whose actions were defined as “the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of government by the systematic threat or use of violence)” to withdraw from the committee. The government should still not give up on (to stop thinking that somebody will change; to stop hoping that you will never succeed in doing something; lose heart) persuading (influence, convince, induce, prompt (someone to do something through reasoning/analysis/thinking/justification/rationalization)) prominent political and civil society representatives to talk with one another. The fact that (used to refer to a specific situation under consideration/discussion) it requires the aegis (protection, support, backing, supervision, guidance of a person, group or organisation) of the Union government to push the envelope (extend the limits of what is possible; try new things that have not been accepted or tried before) on any further step on this issue also reveals the failure of the Biren Singh administration in retaining the confidence of all parties. It seems that it is time for the Union government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to think of an alternative leadership that could ease (soothe, relieve, alleviate, mitigate, assuage) the process of peace building as Mr Singh’s actions, both in the run-up to (a period of time just before an important event) the violence and in its aftermath, have either been ineffectual (inefficient/ineffective, unsuccessful, powerless) or shown up (expose, reveal, highlight, make obivios) an inability to govern effectively.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.normalcy (noun)

Hindi Meaning - साधारण अवस्था
English Meaning - a normal condition; normality, regularity.

2.ethnicisation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - जातीयता
English Meaning - the act or process of making or becoming ethnic.

3.governance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - शासन
English Meaning - the act of governing something; administration.

4.aftermath (noun)

Hindi Meaning - परिणाम
English Meaning - consequences, after-effects, repercussions; end result, outcome (of something bad or important).

5.grievance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - शिकायत
English Meaning - complaint, protestation, protest, criticism, problem, objection.

6.redress (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निवारण, उपाय
English Meaning - reparation, restitution, comeback, atonement, amends, remedy.

7.blockade (noun)

Hindi Meaning - नाकाबंदी, अवरोधन
English Meaning - disruption of the economic activities (e.g. supply of essential goods and others); barricade, barrier, roadblock; obstacle/impediment.

8.displaced (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - विस्थापित
English Meaning - relating to an act of forcing someone to leave his/her home, usually due to war, persecution, or natural disaster.

9.talks (noun)

Hindi Meaning - वार्ता, विचार विनिमय
English Meaning - dialogue, discussion, discourse, debate, negotiation, deliberation .

10.paramilitary (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अर्द्धसैनिक
English Meaning - (of semi-militarized force) organized like a military force.

11.ethnic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - संजाति विषयक
English Meaning - relating to a population subgroup (cultural, national, traditional/folk) with a common national or cultural tradition.

12.looted (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - लूट लिया
English Meaning - stolen (goods from a place).

13.constitution (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संविधान
English Meaning - formation, arrangement, composition.

14.committee (noun)

Hindi Meaning - समिति
English Meaning - panel, council, advisory group.

15.identity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पहचान
English Meaning - identification, recognition; individuality, originality.

16.stumbling block (noun)

English Meaning - blockade, hurdle, obstacle, barrier, impediment, hindrance.

17.address (verb)

English Meaning - tackle, deal with, attend to, try to sort out.

18.led to past and past participle of lead to (verb)

English Meaning - cause, result in, bring about, bring on, give rise to.

19.in the first place (verb)

English Meaning - at the beginning.

20.wanton (adjective)

English Meaning - intentional, calculated, conscious, done on purpose, knowing, premeditated, purposeful, deliberate, pre-planned, prearranged, preconceived, predetermined, cold-blooded.

21.targeted (adjective)

English Meaning - aimed at a particular group of people.

22.get back (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - come again to a place; return, revert.

23.eminent (adjective)

English Meaning - famous and respected, prominent, well known, leading.

24.civil society (noun)

English Meaning - it is the space outside the family, public sector (government & its branches) and private sector (businesses and corporations). It now signifies a wide range of organised and organic groups including non governmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions, social movements, grassroots organisations, online networks and communities, and faith groups.

25.tamp down (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - reduce, lessen, decrease, diminish (the intensity of something).

26.ember (noun)

English Meaning - glowing coal, burning wood.

27.conflagration (noun)

English Meaning - flames, blaze, fire, firestorm, inferno.

28.valley (noun)

English Meaning - a low area between hills or mountains typically with a river running through it.

29.stem (verb)

English Meaning - stop, restrain, restrict, halt, curb, contail, control.

30.sporadic (adjective)

English Meaning - occasional, infrequent, irregular, unpredictable.

31.arson (noun)

English Meaning - an act of setting fire intentionally to damage/destroy public properties, particularly buildings.

32.entail (verb)

English Meaning - require, necessitate, demand, call for, be grounds/reason for, warrant, involve.

33.battered (adjective)

English Meaning - damaged, spoiled, impaired/ruined.

34.hit a snag (phrase)

English Meaning - encounter an issue/obstacle (or) be affected by a problem/difficulty.

35.public standing (noun)

English Meaning - position of the public.

36.standing (noun)

English Meaning - position that someone/something has in an area of activity.

37.transcend (verb)

English Meaning - cut across, go beyond, rise above.

38.identity (noun)

English Meaning - a social category, a set of persons marked by a label and distinguished by rules deciding membership and (alleged) characteristic features or attributes; individuality, character, originality.

39.reveal (verb)

English Meaning - show, display, exhibit, uncover.

40.Kuki-Zomi community (noun)

English Meaning -The Kuki people are an ethnic group native to the state of Manipur and other states in northeastern India. The “Mizo” (poetic version of “Zomi”), people are a ethnic group native to the Indian state of Mizoram and neighbouring regions of Northeast India.

41.expressly (adverb)

English Meaning - absolutely, clearly, obviously, unequivocally, unmistakably.

42.Meitei people (noun)

English Meaning - an ethnic group native to the state of Manipur in northeastern India. Meitei people also called Manipuri, dominant population of Manipur in northeastern India.

43.rake up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - recollect, remember, revive/remind the memory of.

44.unwarranted (adjective)

English Meaning - unjustified, unnecessary, unreasonable, uncalled for, groundless.

45.generalisation (noun)

English Meaning - concept, idea, notion, thought, consideration.

46.narco-terrorism (noun)

English Meaning - it was first used to describe campaigns by drug traffickers using terrorist methods, such as the use of car bombs, assassinations and kidnappings, against anti-narcotics police in Colombia and Peru. Narco-terrorists refer to individuals and other members of drug cartels, mafia or other criminal organisations, whose actions were defined as “the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of government by the systematic threat or use of violence”.

47.give up on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - ​to stop thinking that somebody will change; to stop hoping that you will never succeed in doing something; lose heart.

48.persuade (verb)

English Meaning - influence, convince, induce, prompt (someone to do something through reasoning/analysis/thinking/justification/rationalization).

49.the fact that (phrase)

English Meaning - used to refer to a specific situation under consideration/discussion.

50.aegis (noun)

English Meaning - protection, support, backing, supervision, guidance of a person, group or organisation.

51.push the envelope (phrase)

English Meaning - extend the limits of what is possible; try new things that have not been accepted or tried before.

52.ease (verb)

English Meaning - soothe, relieve, alleviate, mitigate, assuage.

53.run-up to (noun)

English Meaning - a period of time just before an important event.

54.ineffectual (adjective)

English Meaning - inefficient/ineffective, unsuccessful, powerless.

55.show up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - expose, reveal, highlight, make obivios.