TOPIC-1:War and
possible peace in Syria
The agreement reached in Munich by
major world powers, including the United States and Russia, to work towards a cessation of hostilities
in Syria within a week is the most constructive step yet to find a political
solution to the country’s civil war. For years, the world looked away when
Syria was transformed into a geopolitical battlefield where several countries
were involved, either directly or through their proxies,
to maximise their interests. The war has nearly destroyed the country,
triggering an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. A report released last week by
the Syrian Centre for Policy Research paints a picture graver than what even the UN had estimated. About
470,000 people have been killed and 1.9 million injured since the crisis began
in March 2011. Nearly 45 per cent of the population has been displaced, while
life expectancy has dropped from 70 to 55.4 in five years. That a civil war in
a small nation of about 23 million people was allowed to get this catastrophic, itself points to the failures of the
international system.
The positive development in the
Munich agreement is that both Russia and the U.S. have strongly come out for a
cessation of hostilities. Russia is directly backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, while the
U.S. and its allies, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, support the anti-regime
rebels. To be sure, both blocs have different solutions to offer for the
crisis. While the Russians want the regime to be sustained, with or without Mr.
Assad, the Americans and their allies want Mr. Assad to go. Still, there is
some common ground. Both Washington and Moscow are fighting the Islamic State. Despite its military intervention
in favour of the Assad regime, Russia is consistently pushing for an eventual
political solution. The U.S. has over the years mellowed
its hardline stand. Though it still calls for Mr. Assad’s ouster, it doesn’t
say when he should go. This common ground opens the possibilities for a ceasefire, which, if it is put in place
successfully, could set the stage for serious negotiations. But even the
implementation of a ceasefire faces serious challenges. Since the Russian
intervention, the regime forces have made substantial
advances on the ground. The weakening of rebel positions has upset their
regional backers. Saudi Arabia and Turkey have announced they are considering
sending ground troops to Syria. If they do that, Russia would be forced to
expand their involvement, which would dangerously escalate
the crisis. Another key question is whether President Assad, already emboldened by the military advances made, would be
ready to make concessions. In an
interview last week he vowed to retake
the whole of the country by force. But after the near-total destruction of
Syria, it is delusional to think of a
military solution. If the U.S. and Russia are committed to the Munich
agreement, they should put serious pressure on their allies and bring them to
the table. That’s the only way forward for Syria.
VOCABULARY:
1.cessation : the fact or process of ending or being
brought to an end.
2.hostilities :
hostile behaviour; unfriendliness or opposition.
3.proxies : a
person authorized to act on behalf of another.
4.unprecedented :
never done or known before.
5.graver : any of
various tools for chasing, engraving, etc., as a burin.
6.catastrophic :
involving or causing sudden great damage or suffering.
7.regime : a
government, especially an authoritarian one.
8.allies : a state
formally cooperating with another for a military or other purpose.
9.Despite : without
being affected by; in spite of.
10.intervention:
interference by a state in another's affairs.
11.mellowed :
relax and enjoy oneself.
12.ceasefire : a
temporary suspension of fighting; a truce.
13.substantial :
of considerable importance, size, or worth.
14.escalate: make
or become more intense or serious.
15.emboldened:
give (someone) the courage or confidence to do something.
16.concessions :a
thing that is granted, especially in response to demands.
17.vowed :
solemnly promise to do a specified thing.
18.delusional : IT means suffering from or characterized
by erroneous beliefs.
TOPIC-2:State overreach
on the campus.
The Union government’s response to
the recent developments at Jawaharlal Nehru University betrays a disquieting
intent to create an atmosphere of fear amongst its students and teachers. The
rationale for the police action was an event to mark the anniversary of the
execution of Afzal Guru, a convict in the
Parliament attack case, and it is alleged that
slogans were raised against India’s sovereignty. However, unless there was
actual incitement to violence, there
really was no case for the police to swoop down
on the campus, arrest students, and slap charges of sedition
and criminal conspiracy on them. The
Delhi Police seemed to have taken the cue
from a remark made by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that “anti-national
activities” would not be tolerated, and invoked
the draconian pre-Constitution law of
sedition. The arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the JNU Students’ Union,
who belongs to the All-India Students’ Federation, an organisation known to be
affiliated to the CPI, is quite inexplicable,
except in terms of the theory that he was chosen for his political antipathy to
the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the RSS’s student wing. Neither his
union nor the party to which it is affiliated supports separatism in Kashmir or
opposes parliamentary democracy. The union has in fact disassociated itself from the views expressed by a
small group of students who organised the event. Yet, an impression is sought
to be created that Mr. Kumar and many other like-minded student activists in
JNU are ‘anti-national’.
Once again, Section 124-A of the
Indian Penal Code, which makes sedition punishable with life imprisonment, has
been casually invoked despite the Supreme Court repeatedly cautioning that even
words indicating disaffection against the state will not constitute the
offence, unless there is a call for violence or a pernicious
tendency to create public disorder. It is difficult to dismiss the police
action as a routine or expected response by the state to reports of allegedly
anti-national speeches. The JNU campus nurtures political opinion of all
shades. It is a haven for legitimate dissent and a locus of inevitable
differences. Its atmosphere should not be undermined by some to whom its
intellectual space is an eyesore. In recent times, the suicide of a scholar in the
University of Hyderabad roiled the
student community across the country and created an upsurge
against the ruling dispensation wielding
its ideological influence on campus activities. The misconceived manner in
which Afzal Guru was commemorated by a handful of JNU students should not be a
provocation for tarring the students’
union with the brush of alleged anti-nationalism. The government should not
sense in these developments an opportunity to suppress all dissent and seek to
kill the ideological orientation of some student groups. Deviation from its own notion
of nationalism cannot be treated as sedition. The line between dissent and treason may be thin to some, but the ability to
distinguish between the two is a constitutional duty of the state. And given
the history of its misuse and its incompatibility with a modern Constitution,
Section 124-A of the IPC ought to be junked
altogether.
VOCABULARY:
1.betrays :
expose (one's country, a group, or a person) to danger by treacherously giving
information to an enemy.
2.disquieting:
inducing feelings of anxiety or worry.
3.convict : a
firmly held belief or opinion.
4.alleged : said,
without proof, to have taken place or to have a specified illegal or
undesirable quality.
5.incitement : the
action of provoking unlawful behaviour or urging someone to behave unlawfully.
6.swoop :
(especially of a bird) move rapidly downwards through the air.
7.sedition :
conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or
monarch.
8.conspiracy : a
secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.
9.cue : set a
piece of audio or video equipment in readiness to play (a particular part of
the recorded material).
10.invoked: call
on (a deity or spirit) in prayer, as a witness, or for inspiration.
11.draconian : (of
laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe.
12.inexplicable :
unable to be explained or accounted for.
13.disassociated
:(especially in abstract contexts) disconnect or separate.
14.pernicious:
having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
15.legitimate :
conforming to the law or to rules.
16.dissent : the holding or expression of opinions at
variance with those commonly or officially held.
17.inevitable :
certain to happen; unavoidable.
18.roiled
: make (a liquid) turbid or muddy by disturbing the sediment.
19.upsurge : an
upward surge in the strength or quantity of something; an increase.
20.dispensation :a
political, religious, or social system prevailing at a particular time.
21.tarring : cover (something) with tar.
22.orientation : a person's basic attitude, beliefs,
or feelings in relation to a particular subject or issue.
23.treason : the
crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill or overthrow
the sovereign or government.
24.junked :
discard or abandon unceremoniously.
