THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 7, 2016- Topic 2
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will
clearly leave no stone unturned in giving his prohibition policy a legislative punch. Within days of the Patna High Court striking a blow to the “total prohibition” regime in
the State, the government notified the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016,
and approached the Supreme Court to
challenge the High Court order. The haste throws some light on Mr. Kumar’s
political strategy, which is aimed at distinguishing himself in a crowded
landscape. Prohibition was his main
campaign outreach to women voters in
the 2015 Assembly elections. Having won the votes of women in earlier elections
on schemes such as bicycles for schoolgirls, prohibition gave his Janata Dal
(United) an added moral aura — he was fighting a no-holds-barred election
against his former ally, the BJP, and he was fighting in alliance with Lalu
Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. In the event, he was returned to the Chief
Minister’s post, but with the RJD getting a greater number of MLAs than the
JD(U). Mr. Kumar’s natural claim to the big post draws from his personal
credibility, seen to be more potent than his party’s. This connect with a wide
cross-section of the public, as a politician empathetic to aspirations for a
dignified, socially and educationally empowered life, had him in the fray for a
larger national role during his BJP-allied days, and so too in his current
anti-BJP politics.
The prohibition plank, with its Gandhian
overtones and empathetic message to women, gives Mr. Kumar a chance to arrogate
to himself the mantle of a moral campaigner nationally. In the immediate term,
it allows him to set himself apart from the RJD’s rougher politics, and change
the subject soon after his government found itself emitting the wrong message
on law and order, particularly when Mohammad Shahabuddin was briefly out on
bail. By attempting to overcome the High Court order, Mr. Kumar may have
underlined his assertiveness, but he has, in the process, missed the
opportunity the court gave him to reconsider the harsh punishments outlined in
the previous law, with all the questions they pose for civil liberties, as well
as the very architecture of the legislation. The prohibition regime forces the
deployment of the police to seal the State’s border, and away from more mindful
policing within, which was the change Mr. Kumar’s long chief ministership
promised. The punishment worked into the current law gives the police greater
opportunity for rent-seeking. This may alienate the very constituencies that
keep him in the running for a role larger than his party’s electoral footprint.
Vocabulary
Punch: a blow with the fist.
Example: They ram into the wall, exchanging body blows and punches as they scuffle.
Synonyms: blow, hit, knock, thump, box, jab, clip, uppercut, hook
Blow: an act of blowing on an instrument.
Example: A number of blows on the whistle
Synonyms: toot, blast, blare, whistle
Regime: a system or planned way of doing things, especially one imposed from above.
Example: Detention centers with a very tough physical regime
Synonyms: system, arrangement, order, pattern, method, procedure, routine
Haste: excessive speed or urgency of movement or action; hurry.
Example: Working with feverish haste
Synonyms: speed, hastiness, hurriedness, swiftness, rapidity, quickness
Aura: the distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be
generated by a person, thing, or place.
Example: The ceremony retains an aura of mystery
Synonyms: atmosphere, ambience, air, quality, character, mood, feeling
Fray: a situation of intense activity, typically one incorporating an element of
aggression or competition.
Example: Nineteen companies intend to bid for the contract, with three more expected
to enter the fray
Synonyms: unravel, wear, wear thin, wear out/through, become worn
Plank: a fundamental point of a political or other program.
Example: The central plank of the bill is the curb on industrial polluters
Synonyms: board, floorboard, timber, stave
Abrogate: repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement).
Example: A proposal to abrogate temporarily the right to strike
Synonyms: repeal, revoke, rescind, repudiate, overturn, annul, disallow
Mantle: an important role or responsibility that passes from one person to another.
Example: The second son has now assumed his father's mantle
Synonyms: role, burden, onus, duty, responsibility
Assertiveness: the
quality of being self-assured and confident without being aggressive
Alienate: make (someone) feel isolated or estranged.
Example: An urban environment
which would alienate its inhabitants
Synonyms: turn away, set apart, drive apart, isolate