TOPIC OF THE DAY:-L’affaire Khashoggi
There are limits to Saudi Arabia’s defiance even within the ambit of narrow national interest
The gory, gruesome and ghastly details of the last few moments in the life of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as reported in the government-controlled Turkish media, have reaffirmed the continuing validity of the universal truth: the pen is mightier than the sword.
Authoritarian regimes not only do not fear open, violent acts of defiance but they also welcome them. It helps them identify opponents of the regime and deal with them with ruthlessness and brutality. Most such acts of opposition would be dismissed as terrorism, as is routinely done by totalitarian regimes. It is the written word, even more than the spoken one, that scares regimes. Khashoggi, after all, was just one person, at one time even close to the ruling circles in Riyadh. He welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reform moves in the country such as permitting women to drive cars unaccompanied by male members of the family. But the regime felt so threatened by Khashoggi’sdissident and heretical views that it felt compelled to liquidate him physically.
Nor are those responsible for his suspected murder necessarily unhappy that the horrible details of his torture have come out in the public domain, something they themselves might have greatly hesitated to do. They have achieved the purpose of sending a clear, unambiguous message to all potential trouble makers. The message will no doubt be effective in silencing dissent for a long while.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) reaffirmed
Meaning : state again strongly.
Synonyms : continue , prolong
Antonyms : destroy
Example : “the prime minister reaffirmed his commitment to the agreement”
2) regimes
Meaning : a government, especially an authoritarian one.
Synonyms : establishment , government
Antonyms : disorder
Example : “ideological opponents of the regime”
3) defiance
Meaning : open resistance; bold disobedience.
Synonyms : contempt , opposition
Antonyms : calm
Example : “an act of defiance”
4) ruthlessness
Meaning : the quality of lacking pity or compassion for others.
Synonyms : atrocity , brutality
Antonyms : kindness
Example : “the real-world ruthlessness of business”
5) dissident
Meaning : a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state.
Synonyms : discordant, dissenting
Antonyms : conforming
Example : “a dissident who had been jailed by a military regime”
6) heretical
Meaning : believing in or practising religious heresy.
Synonyms : agnostic , atheistic
Antonyms : orthodox
Example : “heretical beliefs”
7) unambiguous
Meaning : not open to more than one interpretation.
Synonyms : explicit , obvious
Antonyms : indefinite
Example : “instructions should be unambiguous”
8) dissent
Meaning : the holding or expression of opinions at variance with those commonly or officially held.
Synonyms : discord , disunity
Antonyms : agreement
Example : “there was no dissent from this view”
