THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 20, 2016- Topic 1
A video released by film-maker Karan Johar pledging not to work with
“talent from the neighbouring country” is obviously a last-ditch attempt to
salvage his forthcoming production, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. With the effect of a Rorschach test, Johar’s pitch can be read in
divergent ways. At one level, as an outright capitulation to the mob, angrily
led in Mumbai by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, as well as to a wider audience
currently consumed by a low-grade intolerance of anything Pakistani. At
another, as a cleverly coded defence of a film starring Pakistani actor Fawad
Khan by drawing attention to the labour of “300 Indians” on the project who
face unfair rejection. Either way, the larger issue is the ease with which a
boycott of people from a particular country is enforced, so that everyone is
intimidated into falling in line to a Tebbit-like test. Mumbai has, of course,
long kept Pakistani sportspersons at bay. Three years ago, the Pakistani women’s
cricket team at the World Cup had be shifted out to Cuttack, diminishing not
just Mumbai, but India itself for the failure to uphold the spirit of sport
essential to a liberal democracy. Last year, even Pakistani umpires and
television commentators were compelled to pull out of their duties at an
international match in Mumbai. It’s not Mumbai alone. In 2013, for instance, no
team fielded Sri Lankan cricketers in Indian Premier League matches in Chennai.
But the current, post-Uri rash of objections to Pakistani artists is
widespread — concerts have been cancelled from Gurgaon to Bengaluru, and the
airwaves crackle regularly with some film or sport personality averring to keep
apart from his Pakistani counterparts. However, it would be under-reading the challenge
to India’s syncretic legacy if the political silence around such boycotts was
not highlighted. It is not enough for officials at the Centre to say that there
is no change in the visa policy for Pakistani citizens. When the political
leadership — in government and in Opposition — does not take the lead in
persuading the silent majority that barriers to cultural and academic exchange
are undemocratic and represent a closure of the Indian mind, it renders
vulnerable the scattered individuals who are willing to stand up to bullying.
On Pakistan, the ambivalent attitude to snapping cultural ties highlights
important foreign policy questions. Do we use India’s incredible soft power to
win over Pakistanis and others to the ideals of democracy, liberalism,
secularism, syncretism for the greater good of the neighbourhood? Or do we
reduce all people-to-people contact to unrelenting enmity?
Vocabulary
Obviously: in a way that is easily perceived or understood; clearly.
Example: She was obviously sick
Synonyms: clearly, evidently, plainly, patently, visibly, discernibly, manifestly
Salvage: the rescue of a wrecked or disabled ship or its cargo
from loss at sea.
Example: A salvage operation was under way
Synonyms: rescue, recovery, reclamation
Intolerance: unwillingness to accept views,
beliefs, or behavior that differ from one's own.
Example: A struggle against religious intolerance
Synonyms: bigotry, small-mindedness, illiberality, parochialism
Intimidated: frighten or overawe (someone),
especially in order to make them do what one wants.
Example: He tries to intimidate his rivals
Synonyms: frighten, menace, terrify, scare, terrorize, cow, dragoon, subdue
Compelled: force or oblige (someone) to do something.
Example: A sense of duty compelled Harry to answer her questions
Synonyms: force, pressure, press, push, urge, dragoon, browbeat, bully, intimidate
Crackle: a sound made up of a rapid succession of slight cracking
sounds.
Example: There was a crackle and a whine from the microphone
Persuading: cause (someone) to do
something through reasoning or argument.
Example: It wasn't easy, but I persuaded him to do the right thing
Synonyms: prevail on, coax, convince, get, induce, win
over, bring around, coerce
Bullying: use superior strength or influence to intimidate
(someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.
Example: A local man was bullied into helping them
Synonyms: persecute, oppress, tyrannize, browbeat, harass, torment
Syncretism: the amalgamation or attempted
amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
Example: If multiculturalism means syncretism , then religious conservatives of all
faiths will certainly opt out.
Unrelenting: not yielding in strength,
severity, or determination.
Example: The heat was unrelenting
Synonyms: implacable, inflexible, uncompromising, unyielding, unbending
Enmity: the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile
to someone or something.
Example: Enmity between Protestants and Catholics
Synonyms: hostility, animosity, antagonism, friction, antipathy, animus