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Daily Vocab Capsule 1st July 2020

In Border Claims, Reimagining South Asia’s Boundaries

In the backdrop of troublesome territorial assertions, the ‘entity’ needs to be rethought of as a region of regions.

Even during this period of social distancing and public lockdown, claims and counterclaims over territories in

and around the Kalapani region (located at the tri-junction between northern India, western Nepal and southern

China/Tibet) have resurfaced to become an issue that has embroiled India and Nepal in a political debate; it is

now gravitating towards a confrontational trend of popular politics. Therefore, it is pertinent to look at our South

Asian mentalities as to how such disputes are “handled” rather than “addressed” within the given dispensation of

South Asian statecraft.

State as sole arbiter

One of the major problems of South Asian politics is that it has to flow from within a state-centric paradigm.

State-centrism, within the assumption of a South Asia, has given the state structure the propriety to be the sole

arbiter of disputes, if any, among communities and regions falling within the territorial limits of nation states. It

is the state that articulates, defines, and represents “national” interests in negotiations with other states. Experience

suggests that states in South Asia consecrate political boundaries as the “natural” shield even in the arbitration of

South Asian affairs. Interestingly, this “realist” fashion of statecraft happens to be the dominant South Asian

pattern within which territorial boundaries are valued more than lives, livelihoods and the well-being of the people

located at the edges of nation states. “Patriotism” looms large as and when inter-state relationships are viewed

through the statist lens, although “jingoism” might be missing. Myopic hostility, real or imagined, is used as the

governing principle in the arbitration of territorial disputes across South Asia.

Contested idea

Basically, the term “region” seems to be a contested idea in a South Asian context as none of the South Asian

states has ever recognised and respected the idea of regional identity or regional politics, while becoming

suspicious of such natural cleavages in politics. Given that this is a reality, how could one even think of South

Asia as a region to reckon with? One must understand that South Asia is perhaps the most natural regional

grouping of states around the world. And, at the same time, it is also the most difficult and contested grouping.

South Asia needs to be rethought, not as a region of states, but as a region of regions. As such it demonstrates

itself more as a borderland that needs to be cultivated out of contact zones which exist beyond the limits of

territorial boundaries shared by the member-states.

Life here is fluid

Such a perspective is necessary in order to address the contemporary crisis that has emerged from the Kalapani

dispute. There is a need to go beyond the popular debates (couched in the language of “myopic hostility”)

revolving around such “troubling” questions such as: how much area has been “encroached” upon by which state

and on what basis. Such questions appear to be “normal” in the way a “statist paradigm” deals with the issue; but

they seem to be “troubling”, if not “haunting”, questions to those who are to maintain their lifeworld at those

zones which are inexplicable to a “realist” or a “neo-realist” statist paradigm.

South Asian life, essentially at the edges of the nation state, is bound to be fluid because the boundary, which

confirms the territorial limits of a nation state, is at the same time the affirmed threshold of another nation state.

In a certain sense, the people living at the edges of nation states within South Asia do not actually belong to any

of the two nation states. Or in other words, they belong to both the states at the same time. Non-sedentary practices

define their life courses, while switching positionalities animate their aspiration of belonging. Plurality,

differences and inclusivity bring coherence to borderland ontology; they defy the logic of singular, unifying,

exclusive identities that the nation states privilege.

Impact on cooperation

Howsoever real the “realist” positions may be, borderlands act as natural vessels to de-essentialise the statist

paradigm. As places of habitation, such spaces are more real than what the “realist” positions of statecraft might

make out of them — for those who live in them. Administrative treaties and tribunals represent them as spatial

categories; but as lived spaces, they hardly fit into the protocols of a statist paradigm. This is crucial especially

when we know that as countries, both India and Nepal not only share cultural and civilisational backgrounds but

also an “officially” recognised porous border.

Unless both India and Nepal agree to see the reality beyond the gaze of the statist paradigm, they are going to

endanger the future of other regional experiments such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral

Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) or the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) sub-regional

initiative. South Asian states need to realise the difference between “regional cooperation” merely as advocacy

and as an issue that demands self-approval and self-promotion.

There is every likelihood that South Asian countries would remain busy in making tall claims of regional

cooperation while closing all doors of recognising difference and mutual tolerance. In the commotion that ensues,

powerful countries operating within and beyond the orbit of South Asia might become successful in establishing

their control by using the same token of “regional cooperation” as an issue of realpolitik.

Both India and Nepal, and for that matter, other South Asian countries need to rethink South Asia as a region of

regions before they submit to the enticements of a new language of “regional cooperation” — one that is

ontologically empty but materially more rewarding. Region and regional identity are not just issues of

“realpolitik” in South Asia; rather, the need is to “officially” accommodate this rather naturally drafted way of

doing politics, if we are genuinely concerned about South Asian geopolitics.

Courtesy: The Hindu (International)

1. Embroil (verb): Meaning- To involve somebody/yourself in an argument or a difficult situation. (आपत्ति में

डालना)

Synonyms- Involve, Entangle, Implicate, Bog down

Antonyms- Untangle, Exclude, Liberate

Example- The film’s about a journalist who becomes embroiled with a nightclub owner.

2. Pertinent (adj.): Meaning- Appropriate to a particular situation. (उपयुक्त)

Synonyms- Relevant, To the point, Apposite, Appropriate

Antonyms- Irrelevant, Unsuitable, Extraneous, Inappropriate

Example- Please keep your comments pertinent to the topic under discussion.

3. Loom (verb): Meaning - (of an event regarded as threatening) seem about to happen. (पास ही मंडराना)

Synonyms- Brew, Be imminent, Be impending, Be close

Antonyms- Wane, Fall back, Vanish

Example- With the elections looming large, his government is fighting to keep energy prices under control.

4. Jingoism (noun): Meaning-A strong belief that your own country is best, especially when this is expressed in

support of war with another country. (कट्टर राष्ट्र वाद)

Synonyms- Extreme patriotism, Chauvinism, Flag-waving, Nationalism

Example- We cannot afford misrepresentation of the facts, jingoism and warmongering in the media.

5. Reckon (verb): Meaning- To be generally considered to be something. (मानना माना जाना)

Synonyms- Regard as, Consider, View, Think of as, Hold to be

Antonyms- Ignore, Disregard, Neglect, Discard

Example- The event organized by them was reckoned a failure.

6. Threshold (noun): Meaning- The level at which something starts to happen. (दहलीज़)

Synonyms- Starting point, Beginning, Brink, Verge, Initiation, Inception

Antonyms- Ending, Close, Completion, Omega

Example- She was on the threshold of a dazzling career

7. Animate (verb): Meaning- Give inspiration, encouragement, or renewed vigour to.(जीवंत कर देना)

Synonyms- Enliven, Vitalize, Vivify, Invigorate

Antonyms- Inanimate, Discourage, Deter

Example- A smile suddenly animated her face.

8. Commotion (noun): Meaning- A state of confused and noisy disturbance. (तहलका)

Synonyms- Tumult, Disturbance, Turmoil

Antonyms- Peace, Calm, Order, Stillness

Example- She was distracted by a commotion across the street.

9. Ensue (verb): Meaning- To happen after or as a result of another event. (पररणामस्वरूप होना)

Synonyms- Follow, Supervene, Result, Derive

Antonyms- Antecede, Precede, Predate

Example- The riot police swooped in and chaos ensued.

10. Enticement (noun): Meaning- Something used to attract or to tempt someone. (प्रलोभन)

Synonyms- Lure, Temptation, Allurement

Antonyms- Repulsion, Dislike, Discouragement

Example- Countless others will no doubt be offering him similar enticements in the weeks ahead