Topic Of The Day:-“Social Tensions“
But by far the most troubling legacy of the government has been in the social sphere, which has been wrecked, possibly beyond restoration, by a pernicious brand of Hindu nationalism that has taken violence to new, grotesque levels. There are many milestones here. In the new order of things, communal violence is no longer episodic but a continuum without end. Its execution is in the manner of a ritual, with the victim held captive and a video crew filming for larger audiences every blow, every beating, especially the final sadistic kick before life ebbs away. The crime is not hidden, as would be the normal instinct, but worn as a badge.
In another first, the violence has been drawing approval not only from social media troll armies that applaud acts of depravity but from sections of the ruling class, including MPs and Ministers. Indeed, the Prime Minister’s occasional and generic condemnation of violence did not stop Union Minister Jayant Sinha from garlanding and posing with men accused of lynching.
The marauders have had their way so easily, openly and so often in these four and a half years that the lynchings, mainly of Muslims and Dalits, do not numb the senses, as happened in 2015 when Mohammed Akhlaq was killed in Uttar Pradesh for the alleged sin of storing beef. At the time a further shock was how unconscionably the debate moved to whether it was beef or mutton that was stored. Since then we have had Pehlu Khan, Junaid and many more. The names have morphed into statistics… 10, 11, 15 and so forth.
Incendiary calls from the right have become the expected thing. Neither Mr. Sinha nor those found to have repeatedly crossed the red lines have been punished with expulsion. Undoubtedly because of the impunity offered to the offenders, the violence has spread and taken different forms, including copycat lynchings of people suspected to be child lifters, and mob vandalism by Kanwariya processionists returning from pilgrimage.
The descent into darkness can be judged from increasingly worried public voices. Industrialist Anand Mahindra took to Twitter to express his disapproval: “If there’s one thing that worries me about the future, it is dictatorship by mobs… Quelling these mobs has to be non-negotiable.” The Supreme Court, which felt constrained to call for a law against lynching, wondered if mobocracy had become the new normal: “Horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be permitted to inundate the law of the land.”
The arrests recently of rights activists with a record of support and service to Dalits and Adivasis has added to the liberal perception of a vindictive regime that has already whipped up public opinion against them by publicising unproven charges, some of them ludicrous. The Supreme Court has had to intervene to restrain the police and ease the terms of their detention.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) swagger
Meaning : walk or behave in a very confident and arrogant or self-important way.
Tamil Meaning : நடை
Synonyms : bluster , sashay
Antonyms : deprecate
Example : “he swaggered along the corridor”
2) blitzkrieg
Meaning : an intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory.
Tamil Meaning : மின்னலடி தாக்குதல்
Synonyms : assault , attack
Antonyms : defense
Example : Adolf Hitler failed with his blitzkrieg to defeat the western alliance.
3) caveat
Meaning : a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations.
Tamil Meaning : எச்சரிக்கை
Synonyms : admonition
Antonyms : consonance
Example : “there are a number of caveats which concern the validity of the assessment results”
4) exude
Meaning : (with reference to moisture or a smell) discharge or be discharged slowly and steadily.
Tamil Meaning : வெளியிடும்
Synonyms : emanate
Antonyms : deny
Example : “the beetle exudes a caustic liquid”
5) belligerence
Meaning : aggressive or warlike behaviour.
Tamil Meaning : விரோத மனோபாவத்துடன்
Synonyms : antagonism , aggressiveness
Antonyms : favor
Example : “Mortimer was eyeing Guy with belligerence”
6) astounds
Meaning : shock or greatly surprise.
Tamil Meaning : வசீகரிக்கிறாள்
Synonyms : astonish , confound
Antonyms : clarify
Example : “her bluntness astounded him”
7) scrutiny
Meaning : critical observation or examination.
Tamil Meaning : கண்காணிப்பின்
Synonyms : analysis , audit
Antonyms : flash
Example : “every aspect of local government was placed under scrutiny”
8) devastated
Meaning : destroy or ruin.
Tamil Meaning : பாழாக்கி
Synonyms : ravage , raze
Antonyms : build
Example : “the city was devastated by a huge earthquake”
9) galloping
Meaning : (of a horse) go at the pace of a gallop.
Synonyms : dash
Antonyms : slow
Example : “we galloped along the sand”
10) strangulate
Meaning : prevent circulation of the blood supply through (a part of the body, especially a hernia) by constriction.
Synonyms : suffocate
Antonyms : breathe
Example : “a strangulated hernia”
11) byzantine
Meaning : excessively complicated, and typically involving a great deal of administrative detail.
Synonyms : daedal
Antonyms : glance
Example : “Byzantine insurance regulations”
12) lacerated
Meaning : tear or make deep cuts in (flesh or skin).
Tamil Meaning : சிராய்த்துக் காயப்படுத்து
Synonyms : mangle , claw
Antonyms : aid
Example : “the point had lacerated his neck”
13) conviction
Meaning : a firmly held belief or opinion.
Tamil Meaning : தண்டனை
Synonyms : confidence , faith
Antonyms : distrust
Example : “she takes pride in stating her political convictions”
14) wreck
Meaning : cause the destruction of (a ship) by sinking or breaking up.
Tamil Meaning : விபத்து
Synonyms : crash , debris
Antonyms : building
Example : “he was drowned when his ship was wrecked”
15) pernicious
Meaning : having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
Tamil Meaning : தீய
Synonyms : dangerous
Antonyms : assisting
Example : “the pernicious influences of the mass media”
