THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-July 26, 2017- Topic 1
A regional rejoinder - on BJP's challenges in Karnataka
For the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, new threats are
opening old weaknesses. While the ruling Congress remains its principal
opposition, the Hindu nationalist party is becoming the target of regional,
linguistic and casteist groups that are resisting any assimilation into a
wider, homogenous Hindu religious identity. Whether the issue is the adoption of a Karnataka State flag, the resistance to use of
Hindi in public spaces, or the assertion of the Lingayat caste identity in
opposition to a Hindu religious identity, it is the BJP that is feeling the
heat more than the Congress.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah worked the flag issue
to his own advantage, fanning regional sentiments, and painting the BJP as an
overbearing nationalist party that gives no room for regional variations.
Indeed, the Congress, which is desperate to reinvent itself to stay politically
relevant, appears bent on occupying the political space of a regional party in
Karnataka. The growing resentment against
the use of Hindi in public spaces such as metro rail stationsis now directed at the BJP-ruled Centre. The BJP’s vote
bank could now be torn asunder by the demand among sections of the Lingayat
community for being considered a separate religious grouping. Its chief
ministerial candidate, B.S. Yeddyurappa, relies heavily on the Lingayat vote
bank, and any dent will tell on the winnability of the party. The Hindi-Hindu
combination might work well for the BJP in the northern States, but in the
south there is a risk of it turning out to be a big drag.
Of course, Mr. Siddaramaiah, under some pressure from the national
leadership of his party, did not go the full distance on the flag issue, and
instead referred it to a panel to decide on its legal sanctity. As a national
party the Congress has its limitations in taking on the BJP in this manner, but
at this point of time Mr. Siddaramaiah seems prepared to use any weapon in his
battle to best the BJP. As a result, the Congress government has taken hold of
the debate, pushing the BJP on the defensive. Viewing as it does all strains of
subnationalism with suspicion as variants of anti-nationalism, the BJP seems to
have conceded some ground on this issue. At the same time, the Congress cannot
press the advantage beyond a point. The language issue is tied up with several
other subjects relating to Karnataka’s rights and its disputes with
neighbouring States. Indeed, it is a mask for all sorts of socio-economic
grievances and a ready mode of political mobilisation. As Karnataka prepares
for an Assembly election next year, the BJP can only hope that struggles on the
basis of regional, linguistic and casteist identities do not coalesce into a
movement that subverts its Hindu-Hindi platform. And with it the party’s
political fortunes.
Vocabulary
Linguistic: the ability to do something successfully or efficiently.
Example: The players displayed varying degrees of competence
Synonyms: capability, ability, competency, proficiency, accomplishment
Resistance: the refusal to accept or comply with something; the attempt to
prevent something by action or argument.
Example: She put up no resistance to being led away
Synonyms: opposition to, hostility to, refusal to accept
Assertion: a
confident and forceful statement of fact or belief.
Example: His assertion that his father had deserted the family
Synonyms: declaration, contention, statement, claim, opinion, proclamation
Fanning: disperse
or radiate from a central point to cover a wide area.
Example: The arriving passengers began to fan out through the town in search of
lodgings
Synonyms: spread out, branch out, outspread
Desperate: feeling,
showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be
impossible to deal with.
Example: A desperate sadness enveloped Ruth
Synonyms: despairing, hopeless, anguished, distressed, wretched, desolate
Reinvent: change
something so much that it appears to be entirely new.
Example: He brought opera to the masses and reinvented the waltz
Defensive: very
anxious to challenge or avoid criticism.
Example: He was very defensive about that side of his life
Synonyms: self-justifying, oversensitive, prickly, paranoid, neurotic
Indeed: used
to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already suggested.
Example: It was not expected to last long, and indeed it took less than three weeks
Synonyms:
|
As expected, to be sure, in fact, in point of
fact, as a matter of fact
|
Grievance: a
real or imagined wrong or other cause for complaint or protest, especially unfair
treatment.
Example: Failure to redress genuine grievances
Synonyms: injustice, wrong, injury, ill, unfairness, affront, insult, indignity
Subvert: undermine
the power and authority of an established system or institution.
Example: An attempt to subvert democratic government
Synonyms: destabilize, unsettle, overthrow, overturn, bring
down, topple
