Hindi English Translation || Editorial || ​Kashmir conflict: On the J&K elections

​Kashmir conflict: On the J&K elections

The political divide (विभाजन, अंतर) between national parties and regional parties is clear

The first two rounds of the three-phase Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) elections have brought to the fore the contesting (प्रतिस्पर्धी, विरोधाभासी) visions for the region, between the national and regional parties, and between the national parties, the BJP and the Congress. This is the first Assembly (विधानसभा) election in 10 years, and also the first after J&K lost its Statehood (राज्य का दर्जा) and special status in 2019. The National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have vowed (प्रतिज्ञा करना) to fight for the restoration (पुनर्स्थापना) of special status, especially bringing back Articles 370 and 35A. Both parties have made identical (समान) promises on releasing jailed youth and withdrawing cases against them. They have also hinted at revoking (रद्द करना, निरस्त करना) laws such as the Public Safety Act (PSA) (सार्वजनिक सुरक्षा अधिनियम), often used to take locals into preventive detention (निवारक निरोध), and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India), frequently invoked (cite, mention, refer to, point to, adduce, turn to, resort to) against locals allegedly (कथित रूप से) helping militants (आतंकवादी) and separatists (अलगाववादी). Both have also promised to revisit (to consider again; think about something again) the termination (dismissal firing, sacking, discharge, ousting (of someone from employment)) of hundreds of government employees on suspicion (speculation, conjecture, guesswork, hypothesis, supposition, assumption) of supporting militancy (extremist, radical, sectarian group), and the denial of passports and jobs to locals on the basis of adverse (dangerous, harmful, detrimental, unhealthy; unfavourable, disadvantageous, bad) police reports. The issue of statehood and restarting the dialogue (discussions, talk, negotiation, consultation, deliberation, parley) with Pakistan are also central (most important, key, crucial, essential) to the manifestos ((policy) statement, declaration, pronouncement) of these regional parties. On the question of statehood, all parties are in agreement (agreeing), but the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, is still non-committal (evasive, equivocal, circumspect, reserved, wary, uncommunicative, indeterminate) about the timeline (schedule).

The BJP has ruled out the return of special status and Article 370. It has turned that into a weapon against the Congress and the regional parties, which it blames for the alienation (isolation, separation, detachment, estrangement) of Kashmir from the rest of India. The BJP fielded (deploy, position, station) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh among others in its intense bid (attempt, try, effort, endeavour) to win the mandate (approval, acceptance, endorsement, authority (given by a constituency to someone acting as its representative)) in the crucial Union Territory. The party succeeded in undoing (reverse, nullify, revoke, cancel, annul, make ineffective, bring to an end) the special status of J&K, fulfilling one of the central pieces of its ideological (relating to a system of ideas (ideology)) programme. The party has always used its position (stance, standpoint, viewpoint, point of view, opinion, attitude, perspective, policy) on Kashmir more as a mobilisation (the act of bringing forces/people/resources together for a particular cause) strategy (plan of action (in order to achieve a more expansive set of political, economic, and security interests)) elsewhere in the country. But, this time, it is being tested in the place where it matters. The Congress, which is contesting the election in alliance (association, union, bloc, partnership) with the NC, has been walking a tightrope on the question of special status. Its leader, Rahul Gandhi, has pledged (promise, swear, vow, affirm, avow, give an assurance) to fight for Kashmir within and outside Parliament but is silent on the tricky (difficult, problematic, sensitive, risky) issue of Article 370. While he has accused the BJP of using the J&K Lieutenant Governor to centralise (concentrate, consolidate, cluster, unify, bring under one roof) power and disempower (make someone less powerful) the local political leadership, the BJP has sought to draw parallels between (to compare two things and see similarities between them) the Congress’s agenda and that of Pakistan. The battle for power has caused parties and other actors (participants (in an action)) to drift (depart, deviate, swerve, digress) away from any possible convergence (coming together, move toward union or uniformity; merging, mingling; concurrence, confluence).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.conflict (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संघर्ष
English Meaning - dispute, quarrel, tussle, wrangle, disagreement, contention, strife, friction, discord.

2.divide (noun)

Hindi Meaning - विभाजन, अंतर
English Meaning - difference, disagreement, disconnection, detachment.

3.contesting (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - प्रतिस्पर्धी, विरोधाभासी
English Meaning - conflicting, opposite, opposing, contradictory, differing, clashing, inconsistent.

4.(Legislative) Assembly (noun)

Hindi Meaning - विधानसभा
English Meaning - Assembly/Vidhan Sabha; a legislative body in the states and union territories of India.

5.statehood (noun)

Hindi Meaning - राज्य का दर्जा
English Meaning - the condition of being an independent state.

6.vow (verb)

Hindi Meaning - प्रतिज्ञा करना
English Meaning - promise, guarantee, pledge, give one’s word, give assurance.

7.restoration (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पुनर्स्थापना
English Meaning - bringing back, reinstitution, reinstallation, re-establishment, revival.

8.carte blanche (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पूर्ण स्वतंत्रता
English Meaning - complete freedom to do whatever one wishes to do; a free hand, full discretionary power, leeway, latitude, elbow room; French phrase, literally means ‘blank paper’ except for a signature on which one is authorized to write whatever she/he wishes

9.identical (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - समान
English Meaning - similar, alike, comparable, equivalent, uniform.

10.revoke (verb)

Hindi Meaning - रद्द करना, निरस्त करना
English Meaning - cancel, reverse, repeal, quash, overrule, override, invalidate, nullify, abrogate, annul, abolish.

11.Public Safety Act (PSA) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सार्वजनिक सुरक्षा अधिनियम
English Meaning - The Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978, of Jammu & Kashmir is an administrative detention law that allows detention of any individual for up to two years without a trial or charge. The Public Safety Act allows for the arrest and detention of people without a warrant, specific charges, and often for an unspecified period of time.

12.preventive detention (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निवारक निरोध
English Meaning - an action taken by the administration on the grounds of the suspicion that some wrong actions may be done by the person concerned which will be prejudicial to the state.

13.allegedly (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - कथित रूप से
English Meaning - apparently, ostensibly, supposedly, presumably , evidently, seemingly.

14.militant (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आतंकवादी
English Meaning - extremist, radical, fanatic, hardliner, fundamentalist, sectarian, partisan.

15.separatist (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अलगाववादी
English Meaning - extremist, radical, rebel, insurgent, dissident, protester, secessionist, nonconformist, sectarian.

16.bring to the fore (phrase)

English Meaning - to move forward something into a most important position; to make something more noticeable; draw/call attention to; highlight, accentuate, underscore.

17.Article 370 of the Constitution of India (noun)

English Meaning - It had “temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir” which gave special powers to the state. The article allowed the state a certain amount of autonomy – its own constitution, a separate flag and freedom to make laws. Foreign affairs, defence and communications remained the preserve (domain) of the central government. It also allowed Jammu and Kashmir to make its own rules relating to permanent residency, ownership of property and fundamental rights. It did also bar Indians from outside the state from purchasing property or settling there.

18.Article 35A of the Constitution of India (noun)

English Meaning - Article 35A is a provision incorporated in the Constitution giving the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature a carte blanche to decide who all are ‘permanent residents’ of the State and confer on them special rights and privileges in public sector jobs, acquisition of property in the State, scholarships and other public aid and welfare. The provision mandates that no act of the legislature coming under it can be challenged for violating the Constitution or any other law of the land.

19.Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) (noun)

English Meaning - an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.

20.invoke (verb)

English Meaning - cite, mention, refer to, point to, adduce, turn to, resort to.

21.revisit (verb)

English Meaning - to consider again; think about something again.

22.termination (noun)

English Meaning - dismissal firing, sacking, discharge, ousting (of someone from employment).

23.suspicion (noun)

English Meaning - speculation, conjecture, guesswork, hypothesis, supposition, assumption.

24.militancy (noun)

English Meaning - extremist, radical, sectarian group.

25.adverse (adjective)

English Meaning - dangerous, harmful, detrimental, unhealthy; unfavourable, disadvantageous, bad.

26.dialogue (noun)

English Meaning - discussions, talk, negotiation, consultation, deliberation, parley.

27.central (adjective)

English Meaning - most important, key, crucial, essential.

28.manifesto (noun)

English Meaning - (policy) statement, declaration, pronouncement.

29.in agreement (phrase)

English Meaning - agreeing.

30.non-committal (adjective)

English Meaning - evasive, equivocal, circumspect, reserved, wary, uncommunicative, indeterminate.

31.timeline (noun)

English Meaning - schedule.

32.rule out (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - reject, dismiss, disregard, eliminate, exclude, disallow, prohibit, prevent.

33.alienation (noun)

English Meaning - isolation, separation, detachment, estrangement.

34.field (verb)

English Meaning - deploy, position, station.

35.bid (noun)

English Meaning - attempt, try, effort, endeavour.

36.mandate (noun)

English Meaning - approval, acceptance, endorsement, authority (given by a constituency to someone acting as its representative).

37.undo (verb)

English Meaning - reverse, nullify, revoke, cancel, annul, make ineffective, bring to an end.

38.ideological (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to a system of ideas (ideology).

39.position (noun)

English Meaning - stance, standpoint, viewpoint, point of view, opinion, attitude, perspective, policy.

40.mobilisation (noun)

English Meaning - the act of bringing forces/people/resources together for a particular cause.

41.strategy (noun)

English Meaning - plan of action (in order to achieve a more expansive set of political, economic, and security interests).

42.alliance (noun)

English Meaning - association, union, bloc, partnership.

43.walk a tightrope (phrase)

English Meaning - to deal with a difficult situation in which a very small error could have very bad outcomes.

44.pledge (verb)

English Meaning - promise, swear, vow, affirm, avow, give an assurance.

45.tricky (adjective)

English Meaning - difficult, problematic, sensitive, risky.

46.centralise (verb)

English Meaning - concentrate, consolidate, cluster, unify, bring under one roof.

47.disempower (verb)

English Meaning - make someone less powerful.

48.sought past tense of seek (verb)

English Meaning - try, aim, attempt.

49.draw parallels between (phrase)

English Meaning - to compare two things and see similarities between them.

50.actor (noun)

English Meaning - participants (in an action).

51.drift (verb)

English Meaning - depart, deviate, swerve, digress.

52.drift away (verb)

English Meaning - move away, go away, leave, drift apart, depart.

53.convergence (noun)

English Meaning - coming together, move toward union or uniformity; merging, mingling; concurrence, confluence.