美国国家公共电台 NPR--As Pakistan authorities tried to arrest ex-Prime Minister Khan, clashes erupt

As Pakistan authorities tried to arrest ex-Prime Minister Khan, clashes erupt

Transcript¹

Pakistani police scuffled with supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday as officers arrived outside his home to arrest him for failing to appear in court on graft² charges.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

In Pakistan, police have been told to stand down after nearly 24 hours of confrontations³ as they tried to arrest the former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Police clashed with Khan's supporters, who had formed a human shield around his home in the suburb of Lahore. This political crisis comes as Pakistan is on the brink⁴ of economic default. NPR's Diaa Hadid is on the line from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. Hi, Diaa.

DIAA HADID, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Sacha.

PFEIFFER: Where do things stand now?

HADID: The high court in Lahore basically ordered the police to hold off on arresting Imran Khan until tomorrow. And that came after pretty dramatic cat-and-mouse clashes between security forces and Khan's supporters. His supporters hurled⁶ rocks, beat officers with sticks and even lobbed a firebomb at the police at one point, and they were lobbing tear gas canisters to repel⁷ them. Supporters shared this clip of the clashes. Have a listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUN FIRING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

HADID: And while this was going on, Khan went onto Twitter to say this.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

IMRAN KHAN: (Non-English language spoken).

HADID: He's saying, if something happens or if I'm jailed or they kill me, it's up to you to carry on fighting.

PFEIFFER: Diaa, why did this happen?

HADID: Ostensibly, this is to arrest Khan because he hasn't turned up to court in one of 80 - eight, zero - cases that he's enmeshed in. But Khan's supporters say the real reason is to try curb⁹ his influence before elections. And they're expected this fall.

PFEIFFER: You know from covering Pakistan that this country is sadly used to political crisis. Is this situation being considered more of the same? Or is it different?

HADID: It's really worrying analysts¹⁰ here. And they say they haven't actually seen a situation like this in years, where supporters are risking their own lives to protect their leader. As these clashes are going on, there's also been pop-up protests in other cities around Pakistan. And this attempt to arrest him, his supporters say it's going to make him even more popular. Have a listen here to Abdullah Riar. He's an aide to Imran Khan.

ABDULLAH RIAR: Imran Khan symbolizes¹¹ a yearning¹² of this nation to have an accountable political process. Mr. Khan has made very clear that military has no role in the politics of Pakistan.

HADID: OK. That last thing that Riar said, that the military has no role in Pakistani politics, that's important because Khan and his supporters say his ouster in April was orchestrated by the army.

PFEIFFER: Does the military have that kind of power in Pakistan?

HADID: Analysts say it does. The military is Pakistan's most powerful institution. And they're widely seen as being behind this campaign to clip Khan's political wings. And that's been going on for months now. But the thing is, Khan's been fighting back. And his supporters have unleashed¹³ a jaw-dropping amount of vitriol against the army. And this is an institution that used to be spoken about in hushed tones because it was so feared. So have a listen here to columnist¹⁴ Arifa Noor, who spoke⁸ about this.

ARIFA NOOR: You see a lot of people questioning the role of the military. This should be of concern to the military itself because, you see, legitimacy¹⁵ at the end of the day is about perception.

HADID: But there's also a more immediate¹⁶ issue. Pakistan is on the brink of default. The IMF has so far refused to release a tranche of a bailout worth about $1 billion. And that's partly because of this political crisis. And now in Pakistan, millions of people are close to starving. Thousands are losing their jobs. And the coming days and weeks are looking dire¹⁷ because neither side - not the army, not the government, nor Khan - is showing any signs of compromise.

PFEIFFER: That's NPR's Diaa Hadid in Islamabad. Thank you.

HADID: Thank you, Sacha.

(SOUNDBITE OF AK AND TIM SCHAUFERT'S "TIDES")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

3 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

4 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 repel   

v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥

参考例句：

• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
• Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 symbolizes   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil. 用光明与黑暗来象征善与恶。
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace. 她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

13 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

15 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

16 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

17 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。