THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- November 30, 2016- Topic 2
With the CPN
(Maoist-Centre)-led government in Nepal approving amendments to the
Constitution that will be tabled in Parliament, a first step towards positive
change has been made in addressing federal concerns. The amendments include
federal redrawing of boundaries that will allow for at least two
Madhesi-dominated Terai provinces, substantial recognition of rights of
naturalised citizens, especially women, and some degree of proportional
representation in the Upper House. All these were major demands raised by
Madhesi and other groups in agitations that lasted months and disrupted life.
But with the opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified-Marxist Leninist)
refusing to countenance any change, the Nepali Congress not providing adequate
support to the government and the Madhesi parties refusing to budge from
maximalist positions in the run-up to the move, it remains to be seen whether
these amendments will pass. A failure would mean the political battle to honour
the commitments made in the interim Constitution in 2007, which followed a
series of agitations seeking a federal democratic character to Naya Nepal, is
lost to the status quoists.
Last week marked the tenth
anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) between mainstream
political parties and the Nepali Maoists. It formally ended the decade-long
civil war and paved the way for a constitutional republic. The initial
achievements, painstakingly won, secured the peace process and mainstreamed the
Maoists to bring a measure of stability to a country emerging not only from
civil war but also a disastrous spell of rule by the palace. However, these
last ten years have not quite seen the substantive change people had hoped for,
with political parties abandoning the bipartisan approach to the CPA. Far from
rising to the responsibilities of the new compact, the polity reverted to its
default position of the 1990s, with short-termist power grabs and spells of
political instability. This abdication resulted in a failure to forge consensus
on the contentious issues of state restructuring and amendments to the
Constitution to address the concerns of the Madhesis and other ethnic groups.
The naysayers have cynically used the ‘nationalist’ line to resist the amendments,
suggesting that these are directed by a foreign hand (read India). This ploy
has been frequently used to resist democratic change. Unlike what the
‘nationalists’ claim, a truly federal Nepal is not a recipe for instability.
Provinces sharing the power that is currently concentrated in Kathmandu would
stabilise Nepali politics and empower marginalised communities. Prime Minister
Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ took office promising momentum to the political
process. Months later, he has taken the first step.
Vocabulary
Concern: anxiety; worry.
Example: Such unsatisfactory work gives cause for concern
Synonyms: anxiety, worry, disquiet, apprehensiveness, unease
Disrupted: interrupt an event, activity, or process by causing a disturbance or problem.
Example: A rail strike that could disrupt both passenger and freight service
Synonyms: throw into
confusion, throw into disorder, throw into disarray
Countenance: a person's face or facial expression.
Example: His impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance give little away
Synonyms: face, features, physiognomy, profile, (facial)
expression, look
Adequate: satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity.
Example: This office is perfectly adequate for my needs
Synonyms: sufficient, enough, requisite; acceptable, passable, reasonable, satisfactory
Interim: in or for the intervening period; provisional or temporary.
Example: An interim arrangement
Synonyms: provisional, temporary,
stopgap, short-term, fill-in, caretaker
Pave: cover a piece of ground with concrete, asphalt, stones, or bricks; lay
paving over.
Example: The yard at the front was paved with flagstones
Disastrous: causing great damage.
Example: A disastrous fire swept through the museum
Synonyms: catastrophic, calamitous, cataclysmic, tragic, devastating, ruinous
Substantive: having a firm basis in reality and therefore important, meaningful, or
considerable.
Example: There is no substantive evidence for the efficacy of these drugs
Reverted: return to a previous state, condition, practice, etc.
Example: He reverted to his native language
Synonyms: return, go
back, change back, default, fall
back, regress, relapse
Abdication: an act of abdicating or renouncing the throne.
Example: Edward VIII did not marry until after his abdication
Synonyms: resignation, retirement, relinquishment, renunciation, surrender
Ploy: a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own
advantage.
Example: The president has dismissed the referendum as a ploy to buy time
Synonyms: ruse, tactic, move, device, stratagem, scheme, trick, gambit