Hindi English Translation || Editorial || No man’s land: Playing politics over Katchatheevu

No man’s land: Playing politics over Katchatheevu

Those in power should not rake up issues that affect ties with neighbours (पड़ोसी)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by raking up the contentious (विवादास्पद) matter of Katchatheevu (it is a tiny 285-acre uninhabited island in the Palk Strait that divides India and Sri Lanka. Measuring 1.6 km in length and just over 300 m in width), has set an unhealthy (बीमार, अस्वस्थ) trend of politicising (to make something into a political issue) an issue for electoral gains, and one that has bearing on ties with Sri Lanka. Mr. Modi, on March 31 on X, stated that “new facts reveal (lay bare, disclose, show, display, exhibit) how Congress callously (संवेदनाहीन ढंग से) gave away #Katchatheevu”. Even though the State BJP, like other parties in Tamil Nadu, has been talking about the island’s retrieval (पुनः प्राप्ति, वापस पाना), the situation gets complicated when its national leadership too lends (give, provide, offer, contribute) its voice (opinion/view). As with (in the same way as) the Congress-led UPA government, the BJP-led NDA regime (प्रशासन) too has seen the islet (a small island) as a part of Sri Lanka. In 2022, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) informed the Rajya Sabha that “Katchatheevu lies (be situated, be located) on the Sri Lankan side of the India-Sri Lanka International Maritime (समुद्रतटीय) Boundary Line [IMBL]”. In 2013, the UPA regime told the Supreme Court that the question of retrieval did not arise as no territory belonging to India was ceded (सौंपना) to Sri Lanka. It contended (claim, assert, argue, profess, affirm) that the islet was a matter of dispute between British India and Ceylon and that there was no agreed boundary, a matter settled through the 1974 and 1976 agreements, leading to (result in, cause, bring on, bring about, give rise to) the IMBL. A little after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister, an MEA affidavit (शपथ-पत्र) in the Madras High Court stated that sovereignty (संप्रभुता) over Katchatheevu “is a settled matter”. But the present government has also been telling Parliament that the matter relating to the islet is sub judice (विचाराधीन) as it was before the Supreme Court.

The crux (essence, most important point, central point) of the row (quarrel, fight, squabble, clash, dispute) now is whether the Congress, under Jawaharlal Nehru or Indira Gandhi, had “callously” handled the matter. Documents from an RTI query by BJP State president K. Annamalai reveal that the Indian leadership, before the agreements of 1974 and 1976, had recognised (acknowledge, accept, realize, admit) that it did not have a strong case over the territory, even though the area was part of the zamindari of the Raja of Ramanathapuram since 1803. A report in The Hindu (March 1972) says the annual church festival began over “90 years ago”. But, what must have troubled the Indian authorities (प्राधिकारी वर्ग), going by the minutes of a meeting in Chennai in 1974 between Foreign Secretary Kewal Singh and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, were historical facts aiding Sri Lanka. These include the reference (संदर्भ, उल्लेख) by an Indian survey team in 1874-76 to Kathatheevu being a part of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka’s assertion (claim, insistence, attestation, affirmation, contention) of sovereignty since 1921 when talks (वार्ता) began to demarcate (define, delimit, mark off (boundary)) the fishery (areas of the sea where fish are caught in large quantities for commercial purposes) line in the Palk Bay (a waterway/inlet of the Bay of Bengal sea between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. (Bay is a body of water surrounded by land on three sides)), and the inability of the Madras Presidency (an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. The Madras Presidency covered the southern half of India and Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka)) to establish (prove, demonstrate, show, display) the islet’s original title (entitlement, claim, rights (to something)). Besides (apart from, other than, barring, excluding; as well as, in addition to, moreover, additionally), Sri Lanka had been exercising (use, practise, apply, wield) jurisdiction (sovereignty, supremacy, authority, control, power) over the territory since the mid-1920s without protest by India. Nehru’s observation (remark, comment, statement, opinion, utterance) on “giving up our claim (entitlement, tile, rights (to something))” or constitutional (legal) expert M.C. Setavald’s favourable opinion is thus cited (invoke, mention, refer to, point to, adduce, turn to, resort to) by critics (criticizer, censurer, castigator, attacker, fault-finder) of the Congress and the DMK, but the RTI documents show that the decision had sound (valid, reasonable, logical, well founded, convincing, plausible, credible) basis (cause, reason, grounds, rationale, rationale, point, objective). It is understandable if political leaders in Tamil Nadu raise the demand of Katchatheevu’s retrieval every now and then (from time to time; occasionally, periodically, at times, sometimes), but it would be extremely disturbing (upsetting, discomfiting, disconcerting, unsettling, disquieting, troubling) if the Prime Minister too joins the bandwagon (a popular activity/event that is currently become fashion).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.neighbour (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पड़ोसी
English Meaning - a country that is next to another country; (bordering)country.

2.contentious (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - विवादास्पद
English Meaning - controversial, disputable, debatable.

3.unhealthy (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बीमार, अस्वस्थ
English Meaning - undesirable, risky, dangerous, damaging, detrimental.

4.callously (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - संवेदनाहीन ढंग से
English Meaning - unfeelingly; heartlessly, insensitively.

5.retrieval (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पुनः प्राप्ति, वापस पाना
English Meaning - getting back, recovery, reclamation, repossession, recoupment

6.regime (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रशासन
English Meaning - government.

7.cede (verb)

Hindi Meaning - सौंपना
English Meaning - give up, concede, hand over, relinquish (power/authority).

8.affidavit (noun)

Hindi Meaning - शपथ-पत्र
English Meaning - sworn statement, self-attestation, self-declaration.

9.sovereignty (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संप्रभुता
English Meaning - jurisdiction, supremacy, authority, control, power.

10.sub judice (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - विचाराधीन
English Meaning - a Latin term that means “under judgment” or “under consideration by a court of law.”

11.maritime (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - समुद्रतटीय
English Meaning - of or related to the sea.

12.authorities (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्राधिकारी वर्ग
English Meaning - officials, officialdom, the people in charge, the government, the administration, the establishment, the bureaucracy, the system.

13.aid (verb)

Hindi Meaning - सहायता
English Meaning - help, assist, support, back.

14.reference (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संदर्भ, उल्लेख
English Meaning - mention, comment, remark, citation.

15.talks (noun)

Hindi Meaning - वार्ता
English Meaning - dialogue, discussion, deliberation, consultation, parley, negotiation.

16.no man’s land (phrase)

English Meaning - an unowned land or an uninhabited area; a disputed area between opposing armies’ frontlines.

17.Katchatheevu (noun)

English Meaning - it is a tiny 285-acre uninhabited island in the Palk Strait that divides India and Sri Lanka. Measuring 1.6 km in length and just over 300 m in width.

18.rake up (phrasal verb)

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

19.ties (noun)

English Meaning - association, relationship, bond, connection.

20.politicise (verb)

English Meaning - to make something into a political issue.

21.have a bearing on (phrase)

English Meaning - have a relevance, relation or connection to something; have an influence, impact or effect on something.

22.reveal (verb)

English Meaning - lay bare, disclose, show, display, exhibit.

23.lend (verb)

English Meaning - give, provide, offer, contribute.

24.voice (noun)

English Meaning - opinion/view.

25.as with (phrase)

English Meaning - in the same way as.

26.islet (noun)

English Meaning - a small island.

27.lie (verb)

English Meaning - be situated, be located.

28.International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) (noun)

English Meaning - it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones (such as the territorial sea (12 nautical miles), contiguous zone (24 nautical miles), exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles), and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles). Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction’s coastline under the United Nations Convention on Law of Sea (UNCLOS).

29.contend (verb)

English Meaning - claim, assert, argue, profess, affirm.

30.lead to (verb)

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

31.crux (noun)

English Meaning - essence, most important point, central point.

32.row (noun)

English Meaning - quarrel, fight, squabble, clash, dispute.

33.recognise (verb)

English Meaning - acknowledge, accept, realize, admit.

34.zamindari system (noun)

English Meaning - a system by which landowners lease their lands to tenant farmers in return of a share of the produce

35.go by (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - consent to, accede to, assent to, comply with, accept, subscribe, concur, agree.

36.assertion (noun)

English Meaning - claim, insistence, attestation, affirmation, contention.

37.demarcate (verb)

English Meaning - define, delimit, mark off (boundary).

38.fishery (noun)

English Meaning - areas of the sea where fish are caught in large quantities for commercial purposes.

39.Palk bay (noun)

English Meaning - a waterway/inlet of the Bay of Bengal sea between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. (Bay is a body of water surrounded by land on three sides).

40.Madras Presidency (noun)

English Meaning - an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. The Madras Presidency covered the southern half of India and Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka).

41.establish (verb)

English Meaning - prove, demonstrate, show, display.

42.title (noun)

English Meaning - entitlement, claim, rights (to something).

43.besides (preposition)

English Meaning - apart from, other than, barring, excluding; as well as, in addition to, moreover, additionally.

44.exercise (verb)

English Meaning - use, practise, apply, wield.

45.jurisdiction (noun)

English Meaning - sovereignty, supremacy, authority, control, power.

46.observation (noun)

English Meaning - remark, comment, statement, opinion, utterance.

47.give up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - stop, cease, discontinue, renounce, forgo; cede, concede, relinquish.

48.claim (noun)

English Meaning - entitlement, tile, rights (to something).

49.constitutional (adjective)

English Meaning - legal.

50.cite (verb)

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

51.critic (noun)

English Meaning - criticizer, censurer, castigator, attacker, fault-finder.

52.sound (adjective)

English Meaning - valid, reasonable, logical, well founded, convincing, plausible, credible.

53.basis (noun)

English Meaning - cause, reason, grounds, rationale, rationale, point, objective.

54.every now and then (phrase)

English Meaning - from time to time; occasionally, periodically, at times, sometimes.

55.disturbing (adjective)

English Meaning - upsetting, discomfiting, disconcerting, unsettling, disquieting, troubling.

56.bandwagon (noun)

English Meaning - a popular activity/event that is currently become fashion.

57.jump on the bandwagon (phrase)

English Meaning - to suddenly join something (an activity) that has already become popular/successful (so that you can also get the benefits of it); to join the trend.