THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-January 3, 2017- Topic 1
The price of defiance
The Board of Control for Cricket in
India has only itself to blame for its present predicament. Its president and
secretary have been removed for defying the Supreme Court’s order to
accept reforms suggested by a court-appointed committee. And its president,
Anurag Thakur, now faces legal action for contempt of court as well as
prosecution for perjury.
None of this would have happened had the BCCI shown some sense of responsibility and a vision for the future, and recognised the fact that the highest court was only seeking to reform the manner in which cricket is administered in the country. In the court’s view, the appointment of the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee and adoption of its recommendations were part of a project to bring transparency and accountability to the BCCI. While the court expected cooperation and compliance, the BCCI responded with obstructionist tactics and defiance. It was therefore inevitable that the court would seek to send out a message that it will not brook any wilful defiance. Despite the court making the Lodha panel reforms binding on the BCCI through its July 18 verdict, the BCCI appeared to defy it. It cited as one reason difficulties in getting its affiliated State units to accept the reforms, but at the same time made at its Annual General Meeting in September some decisions that were not in tune with the panel’s recommendations. The price of such defiance is clear: the Supreme Court is now going to appoint a committee of administrators to supervise the board’s affairs.
None of this would have happened had the BCCI shown some sense of responsibility and a vision for the future, and recognised the fact that the highest court was only seeking to reform the manner in which cricket is administered in the country. In the court’s view, the appointment of the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee and adoption of its recommendations were part of a project to bring transparency and accountability to the BCCI. While the court expected cooperation and compliance, the BCCI responded with obstructionist tactics and defiance. It was therefore inevitable that the court would seek to send out a message that it will not brook any wilful defiance. Despite the court making the Lodha panel reforms binding on the BCCI through its July 18 verdict, the BCCI appeared to defy it. It cited as one reason difficulties in getting its affiliated State units to accept the reforms, but at the same time made at its Annual General Meeting in September some decisions that were not in tune with the panel’s recommendations. The price of such defiance is clear: the Supreme Court is now going to appoint a committee of administrators to supervise the board’s affairs.
Mr. Thakur’s position is especially
unfortunate. As a young sports administrator, he was presented with a great
opportunity to lead cricket administration into a new era in which Indian cricket’s
on-field achievements would be matched by the Board’s transparent and
accountable functioning. If only he and other affiliated units had accepted the
reforms, influential individuals who had held sway for decades would have been
replaced by fresh talent, and the seemingly unending tenure of some would have
been cut short. However, by defying the court in the name of protecting the
sport’s autonomy, Mr. Thakur has courted a double blow: the loss of power and
authority as well as imminent punishment. His equivocation on whether he
invited the International Cricket Council to say there is governmental
interference in the BCCI’s affairs has led to the court hardening its stance
against him. It is not clear what course of action, if any, would now mollify the
Supreme Court and help them escape its wrath. A bitter lesson has indeed been
taught, but it is uncertain if it has been learnt.
Vocabulary
Blame: responsibility for a fault or wrong.
Example: His players had to take the blame
Synonyms: responsibility, guilt, accountability, liability, culpability
Predicament: a difficult, unpleasant, or
embarrassing situation.
Example: The club's financial predicament
Synonyms: difficult situation, mess, difficulty, plight, quandary
Contempt: the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless,
or deserving scorn.
Example: He showed his contempt for his job by doing it very badly
Synonyms: scorn, disdain, disrespect, scornfulness, contemptuousness
Perjury: the offense of willfully telling an untruth in a court after having taken
an oath or affirmation.
Example: Another antique rule provided that a corporation could not be indicted for
a felony like perjury .
Synonyms: lying under oath, giving false evidence/testimony, making
false statements
Compliance: the action or fact of complying with a wish or command.
Example: They must secure each other's cooperation or compliance
Defiance: open resistance; bold disobedience.
Example: The demonstration was held in defiance of official warnings
Synonyms: resistance, opposition, noncompliance, disobedience
Inevitable: certain to happen; unavoidable.
Example: War was inevitable
Synonyms: unavoidable, inescapable, inexorable, ineluctable, assured
Brook: a small stream.
Example: The flow of that water - in brooks , streams, rivulets, rivers, and lakes -
frames much of what makes kentucky so lush and alluring.
Synonyms: stream, creek, streamlet, rivulet, rill, brooklet, runnel
Sway: a rhythmical movement from side to side.
Example: The easy sway of her hips
Synonyms: swing, roll, shake, oscillation, undulation
Imminent: about to happen.
Example: They were in imminent danger of being swept away
Synonyms: impending, close
(at hand), near, (fast) approaching, coming