4 November The Hindu Vocab

 

Editorial-1

Uncivil proposal: On laws to curb 'love jihad'

Court verdicts in unrelated cases shouldn’t be a ruse to curb personal freedom to marry

The astounding proposal by Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to enact a law to curb what they call ‘love jihad’ reeks of a vicious mix of patriarchy and communalism. Propounded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the detestable idea amounts to legitimising a term that constitutes a blatant slur against inter-faith marriages and relationships in which one of the parties is a Muslim man. The ostensible reason for bringing in such a law seems to be that the “honour” of Hindu women is under threat from zealous Muslim youth seeking to win over girls from other communities for religious conversion in the name of love and marriage. The flaws in the concept are quite obvious: there is no legal sanction to self-serving and political terms such as ‘love jihad’ and there can be no legislation based on an extra-legal concept. In any case, legislative intervention in marriages involving consenting adults will be clearly unconstitutional. The domain of matrimony is occupied by separate laws governing weddings that take place under religious traditions, as well as the Special Marriage Act, which enables a secular marriage, including between couples from different faiths.

Also Read | After U.P. and Haryana, Madhya Pradesh mulls law against ‘love jihad’

Mr. Adityanath, who has also threatened those allegedly operating in secret by concealing their identities, and his Haryana counterpart, Manohar Lal, seem to be making the same mistakes: using the term ‘love jihad’ in a communal sense and speaking about marriages as if they were not a matter of personal choice. They would do well to remember that earlier this year, the Union Home Ministry made it clear that the term is not defined in law, while replying to a parliamentary question. Investigation into marriages that purportedly raised such a suspicion also failed to find any substance in the allegations. The immediate context for these leaders to go out on a limb about curbing inter-faith marriages is a recent Allahabad High Court judgment that frowned upon religious conversion solely for the purpose of marriage; and the horrible murder of a 20-year-old woman in Faridabad by a stalker who happened to be a Muslim. By no stretch of imagination can the murder be used to denounce consensual inter-faith relationships. Regarding the court verdict, the High Court had declined to intervene on a writ petition seeking police protection for a recently married couple, noting that the bride had converted from Islam to Hinduism solely for the purpose of marriage. It had found such an expedient conversion unacceptable, citing a similar 2014 verdict in which the court had questioned the bonafides of conversions without change of heart or any conviction in the tenets of the new religion. Although the court strayed from the issue at hand, its objective was to underscore that conversion should not become a device. It is indeed salutary as a principle that inter-faith couples retain their religious beliefs separately and opt for marriage under the Special Marriage Act. However, this principle cannot be used to derogate from personal choice or become a ruse to interfere in the individual freedom to forge matrimonial alliances.

1. uncivil (adjective) –अशिष्ट-- impolite, bad-mannered, disrespectful, ill-mannered, discourteous.
2. curb (verb) – control, contain, restrict, limit.
3. love jihad (noun) – also called Romeo Jihad; “Love jihad” is term used by right-wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love. (guise means outward appearance or false show).
4. ruse (noun) – चाल-ploy, stratagem, tactic/trick, cunning plan, device, expedient.
5. astounding (adjective) – चकित करनेवाला-shocking, surprising, bewildering.
6. reek (verb) – be characterized by something unpleasant/undesirable.
7. vicious (adjective) – heinous, terrible, dreadful, awful; hostile, hate-filled, bitter.
8. patriarchy (noun) – a family/group/society/community/government controlled by a man/a group of men, descent described through male line of the family.
9. communalism (noun) – adherence/obedience to one’s own ethnic group (against the principle/practice of living together in a wider society).
10. propound (verb) –स्थापित- submit, propose, put forward, suggest.
11. detestable (adjective) –घिनौना-- hateful, horrible, awful, heinous, disgusting, abhorrent.
12. amount to (verb) – be regarded as, be equivalent to, be tantamount to, be equal to.
13. legitimise (verb) – validate, legitimate, justify, permit/endorse, sanction.
14. constitute (verb) – be equivalent to, be tantamount to, be regarded as.
15. blatant (adjective) –ज़बरदस्त- evident, flagrant/glaring, obvious.
16. slur (noun) –कलंक- insult, misrepresentation, allegation/insinuation.
17. inter-faith marriage (noun) – sometimes called a “mixed marriage”, is marriage between spouses having/professing/affirming faith in different religions. (spouse means a husband or wife).
18. ostensible (adjective) – apparent, seeming, alleged, purported.ख़याली
19. bring in (phrasal verb) – cause, bring about, create, produce.
20. honour (noun) – purity, virtue, chastity.
21. zealous (adjective) – fiery, passionate, impassioned, enthusiastic, eager, purposeful, intense, single-minded.
22. seek (verb) – try, aim, attempt. 
23. win over (phrasal verb) – persuade, convince, induce.
24. flaw (noun) – defect, fault, imperfection/weakness.खामियों
25. sanction (noun) – support, backing, approval, acceptance.
26. self-serving (adjective) – self-seeking, self-regarding, self-interested, selfish, inward-looking.
27. extra-legal (adjective) – not regulated by the law.
28. in any case (phrase) – whatever happens; moreover.
29. consenting (adjective) – agreeing, accepting, assenting, allowing.
30. unconstitutional (adjective) – undemocratic, autocratic, dictatorial, totalitarian.
31. domain (noun) – area/sphere of activity; field, area, sphere.
32. matrimony (noun) – marriage.
33. Special Marriage Act (1954) (noun) – a legislation to govern marriages that could not be solemnised/performed according to religious customs/traditions – which essentially meant inter-faith or inter-caste marriages.
34. enable (verb) – allow, permit, give permission to.
35. secular (adjective) – non-religious.
36. allegedly (adverb) – apparently, ostensibly, purportedly, reportedly.
37. counterpart (noun) – equivalent, equal (person); fellow, peer.
38. make clear (phrase) – explain, clarify, elucidate.
39. purportedly (adverb) – allegedly, reportedly, supposedly.
    कथित रूप से
    
    
40. suspicion (noun) – misgiving, doubt/qualm, distrust, scepticism.
41. substance (noun) – significant subject, important matter/content, valid message.
42. allegation (noun) – charge, accusation, indictment.
43. go out on a limb (phrase) – to take a risk; do something that is different from what others are doing.
44. frown on/upon (phrasal verb) – disapprove of, be against, discourage, dislike, disfavour
45. solely (adverb) – only, simply, merely.केवल
46. stalker (noun) – a person who stalks. (stalk means pursue, woo, court, chase, follow, watch consistently; persecute, harass, annoy, bother, trouble persistently).
47. by no stretch of the imagination (noun) – used to emphasize that something is not definitely correct/possible.
48. denounce (verb) – condemn, criticize, censure.आरोप लगा देनाF
49. consensual (adjective) – relating to consensus/consent; in agreement with those who involved.
50. writ petition (noun) – A writ petition can be filed by any person whose Fundamental Rights have been infringed/violated by the State. Under a Public Interest Litigation, any public-spirited person may file a writ petition in the interest of the general public even if his own Fundamental Right has not been infringed.
51. bride (noun) – woman who is getting married.
52. expedient (adjective) – tactical/strategic; advantageous, beneficial.उपाय
53. bonafides (noun) – rationality, logic, justifiability, defensibility, authenticity, नेकनीयती correctness.
54. change of heart (phrase) – change one’s mind, have second thoughts, have a rethink, think again, think differently.
55. conviction (noun) – belief, opinion, view, thought, idea.
56. tenet (noun) – principle, doctrine, rule.
57. stray (verb) – digress, deviate, wander, drift, get sidetracked.
58. at hand (phrase) – nearby, close by, within reach, available; imminent, close at hand.
59. underscore (verb) – underline, emphasize, highlight.
60. device (noun) – ploy, cunning plan, tactic/trick.
61. indeed (adverb) – in fact, actually.
62. salutary (adjective) – good, helpful/useful, beneficial, practical, valuable.लाभदायक
63. derogate from (verb) – deviate, diverge, depart.छोटा बनाना
64. interfere (verb) – handle, meddle, intervene (unwantedly).हस्तक्षेप करना
65. forge (verb) – form, create, build up (something successful).मन से गढ़ लेना
66. alliance (noun) – relationship, closeness, connection/affinity.
67. Enact-- क़ानून बनाना
68. छुपा-concealing