Daily Vocab Capsule Title st July 2020 Title · Even during this period of social distancing and...
Transcript of Daily Vocab Capsule Title st July 2020 Title · Even during this period of social distancing and...
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Daily Vocab Capsule 1st July 2020
In Border Claims, Reimagining South Asia’s Boundaries
In the backdrop of troublesome territorial assertions, the ‘entity’ needs to be rethought of as a region of regions.
Even during this period of social distancing and public lockdown, claims and counterclaims over territories in
and around the Kalapani region (located at the tri-junction between northern India, western Nepal and southern
China/Tibet) have resurfaced to become an issue that has embroiled India and Nepal in a political debate; it is
now gravitating towards a confrontational trend of popular politics. Therefore, it is pertinent to look at our South
Asian mentalities as to how such disputes are “handled” rather than “addressed” within the given dispensation of
South Asian statecraft.
State as sole arbiter
One of the major problems of South Asian politics is that it has to flow from within a state-centric paradigm.
State-centrism, within the assumption of a South Asia, has given the state structure the propriety to be the sole
arbiter of disputes, if any, among communities and regions falling within the territorial limits of nation states. It
is the state that articulates, defines, and represents “national” interests in negotiations with other states. Experience
suggests that states in South Asia consecrate political boundaries as the “natural” shield even in the arbitration of
South Asian affairs. Interestingly, this “realist” fashion of statecraft happens to be the dominant South Asian
pattern within which territorial boundaries are valued more than lives, livelihoods and the well-being of the people
located at the edges of nation states. “Patriotism” looms large as and when inter-state relationships are viewed
through the statist lens, although “jingoism” might be missing. Myopic hostility, real or imagined, is used as the
governing principle in the arbitration of territorial disputes across South Asia.
Contested idea
Basically, the term “region” seems to be a contested idea in a South Asian context as none of the South Asian
states has ever recognised and respected the idea of regional identity or regional politics, while becoming
suspicious of such natural cleavages in politics. Given that this is a reality, how could one even think of South
Asia as a region to reckon with? One must understand that South Asia is perhaps the most natural regional
grouping of states around the world. And, at the same time, it is also the most difficult and contested grouping.
South Asia needs to be rethought, not as a region of states, but as a region of regions. As such it demonstrates
itself more as a borderland that needs to be cultivated out of contact zones which exist beyond the limits of
territorial boundaries shared by the member-states.
Life here is fluid
Such a perspective is necessary in order to address the contemporary crisis that has emerged from the Kalapani
dispute. There is a need to go beyond the popular debates (couched in the language of “myopic hostility”)
revolving around such “troubling” questions such as: how much area has been “encroached” upon by which state
and on what basis. Such questions appear to be “normal” in the way a “statist paradigm” deals with the issue; but
they seem to be “troubling”, if not “haunting”, questions to those who are to maintain their lifeworld at those
zones which are inexplicable to a “realist” or a “neo-realist” statist paradigm.
South Asian life, essentially at the edges of the nation state, is bound to be fluid because the boundary, which
confirms the territorial limits of a nation state, is at the same time the affirmed threshold of another nation state.
In a certain sense, the people living at the edges of nation states within South Asia do not actually belong to any
of the two nation states. Or in other words, they belong to both the states at the same time. Non-sedentary practices
define their life courses, while switching positionalities animate their aspiration of belonging. Plurality,
differences and inclusivity bring coherence to borderland ontology; they defy the logic of singular, unifying,
exclusive identities that the nation states privilege.
Impact on cooperation
Howsoever real the “realist” positions may be, borderlands act as natural vessels to de-essentialise the statist
paradigm. As places of habitation, such spaces are more real than what the “realist” positions of statecraft might
make out of them — for those who live in them. Administrative treaties and tribunals represent them as spatial
categories; but as lived spaces, they hardly fit into the protocols of a statist paradigm. This is crucial especially
when we know that as countries, both India and Nepal not only share cultural and civilisational backgrounds but
also an “officially” recognised porous border.
Unless both India and Nepal agree to see the reality beyond the gaze of the statist paradigm, they are going to
endanger the future of other regional experiments such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) or the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) sub-regional
initiative. South Asian states need to realise the difference between “regional cooperation” merely as advocacy
and as an issue that demands self-approval and self-promotion.
There is every likelihood that South Asian countries would remain busy in making tall claims of regional
cooperation while closing all doors of recognising difference and mutual tolerance. In the commotion that ensues,
powerful countries operating within and beyond the orbit of South Asia might become successful in establishing
their control by using the same token of “regional cooperation” as an issue of realpolitik.
Both India and Nepal, and for that matter, other South Asian countries need to rethink South Asia as a region of
regions before they submit to the enticements of a new language of “regional cooperation” — one that is
ontologically empty but materially more rewarding. Region and regional identity are not just issues of
“realpolitik” in South Asia; rather, the need is to “officially” accommodate this rather naturally drafted way of
doing politics, if we are genuinely concerned about South Asian geopolitics.
Courtesy: The Hindu (International)
1. Embroil (verb): Meaning- To involve somebody/yourself in an argument or a difficult situation. (आपत्ति में
डालना)
Synonyms- Involve, Entangle, Implicate, Bog down
Antonyms- Untangle, Exclude, Liberate
Example- The film’s about a journalist who becomes embroiled with a nightclub owner.
2. Pertinent (adj.): Meaning- Appropriate to a particular situation. (उपयुक्त)
Synonyms- Relevant, To the point, Apposite, Appropriate
Antonyms- Irrelevant, Unsuitable, Extraneous, Inappropriate
Example- Please keep your comments pertinent to the topic under discussion.
3. Loom (verb): Meaning - (of an event regarded as threatening) seem about to happen. (पास ही मंडराना)
Synonyms- Brew, Be imminent, Be impending, Be close
Antonyms- Wane, Fall back, Vanish
Example- With the elections looming large, his government is fighting to keep energy prices under control.
4. Jingoism (noun): Meaning-A strong belief that your own country is best, especially when this is expressed in
support of war with another country. (कट्टर राष्ट्र वाद)
Synonyms- Extreme patriotism, Chauvinism, Flag-waving, Nationalism
Example- We cannot afford misrepresentation of the facts, jingoism and warmongering in the media.
5. Reckon (verb): Meaning- To be generally considered to be something. (मानना माना जाना)
Synonyms- Regard as, Consider, View, Think of as, Hold to be
Antonyms- Ignore, Disregard, Neglect, Discard
Example- The event organized by them was reckoned a failure.
6. Threshold (noun): Meaning- The level at which something starts to happen. (दहलीज़)
Synonyms- Starting point, Beginning, Brink, Verge, Initiation, Inception
Antonyms- Ending, Close, Completion, Omega
Example- She was on the threshold of a dazzling career
7. Animate (verb): Meaning- Give inspiration, encouragement, or renewed vigour to.(जीवंत कर देना)
Synonyms- Enliven, Vitalize, Vivify, Invigorate
Antonyms- Inanimate, Discourage, Deter
Example- A smile suddenly animated her face.
8. Commotion (noun): Meaning- A state of confused and noisy disturbance. (तहलका)
Synonyms- Tumult, Disturbance, Turmoil
Antonyms- Peace, Calm, Order, Stillness
Example- She was distracted by a commotion across the street.
9. Ensue (verb): Meaning- To happen after or as a result of another event. (पररणामस्वरूप होना)
Synonyms- Follow, Supervene, Result, Derive
Antonyms- Antecede, Precede, Predate
Example- The riot police swooped in and chaos ensued.
10. Enticement (noun): Meaning- Something used to attract or to tempt someone. (प्रलोभन)
Synonyms- Lure, Temptation, Allurement
Antonyms- Repulsion, Dislike, Discouragement
Example- Countless others will no doubt be offering him similar enticements in the weeks ahead