VOA标准英语2010年-Indian Authorities Struggle to Control

Kashmiris buy vegetables from a mobile vendor¹ in a boat at Dal Lake during a curfew in Srinagar, India, 5 Aug 2010

In Indian Kashmir, authorities are struggling to control spiraling street protests, which have led to the death of more than 45 people in the past six weeks. It is the worst violence in two years.

Undeterred by strict curfews, thousands of residents have been pouring into the streets across the Kashmir valley in recent weeks, chanting anti-India slogans.

The marches erupted to protest the death of a young man who was hit by a tear gas shell in June. Efforts to quell² the demonstrations³ have only fed the violence, as clashes between heavily armed security personnel and young people hurling⁴ stones have led to more deaths, and more protests.

The protesters target police stations and security bunkers. They have burned police vehicles, attacked rail stations and other government buildings.

The violence has jolted⁵ Indian authorities, who were optimistic that the relative calm in Kashmir in recent years signaled the end of a separatist insurgency⁶ that wracked the region in the 1990s. 

Political analysts⁷ say there is a difference between then and now. While the violence in the 1990s was stoked by Pakistan-based Islamic militant⁸ groups, this time the protests are largely spontaneous local gatherings⁹.

Youthful rage

Amitabh Mattoo is professor of disarmament studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. He says what is visible on the streets of Kashmir is the rage of young people who grew up during the conflict, and who do not see enough opportunity.       

"You have a generation of young people who have already witnessed 20 years of conflict, violence, often been sequestered¹⁰ in their homes, faced harassment¹¹, not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel…. All this is buried in a sense of Kashmiri victimhood, a sense of Kashmiri deprivation¹², a sense that justice has not been done to them either politically or economically," says Mattoo.

The escalating¹³ protests have prompted the government to pour thousands more troops into a region that is already heavily militarized.

Shoot at sight orders have been issued to control the volatile¹⁴ situation.

But the presence of more security forces only stokes the anger.

Jammu and Kashmir's chief minister, Omar Abdullah, took power 18 months ago pledging to reduce the size of the military in the state. He says more security forces had to be deployed¹⁵ to restore law and order.

"Unfortunately, as much as one wishes not to have to resort to the use of force, when people take it upon themselves to take the law into their own hands, there are consequences to such decisions, and often times those consequences are serious and tragic¹⁶," says Abdullah.

Those tragic consequences have led to the deaths of more than a score of young people, many of them the result of gun fire by the security forces. Hundreds of security personnel have been wounded.

Lack of training

Amitabh Mattoo says the situation has deteriorated¹⁷ because the security forces are not trained to handle civilian¹⁸ protests.

"Unfortunately the police in Jammu and Kashmir, including paramilitary forces, have really for last 20 years been forces which have countered an insurgency, countered a militancy," Mattoo adds. "And they do not know quite how to deal with protests that are by almost unarmed civilians¹⁹ or armed with just rocks and stones…. Certainly in the 21st century you have to ensure that people who are not armed with guns are not killed because of their protests." 

Both the state and federal government have appealed to the demonstrators to end the protests and break the cycle of violence. A prominent separatist leader in the state, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has also called on people to hold only peaceful protests.

Indian leaders promise to address the grievances²⁰ of the demonstrators once the violence ends. In parliament this week, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the government will initiate²¹ a political process in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"We recognize that the issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir are issues concerning our own people, and have to be addressed through the political process and through a dialogue with all sections of people in Jammu and Kashmir," said Home Minister P. Chidambaram. 

Skepticism remains²²

But in Kashmir, there is skepticism about those promises. Kashmir has long demanded more autonomy, more development and the withdrawal²³ of security forces from the region – but has seen little progress on those requests for decades.

The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan, and lies at the heart of a bitter dispute between them.

 

1 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

2 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

3 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

4 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

6 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

9 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

10 sequestered   

adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押

参考例句：

• The jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months. 陪审团渴望被隔离至少两个月。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Everything he owned was sequestered. 他的一切都被扣押了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

12 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

13 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

14 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

15 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

16 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

17 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

18 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

19 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

20 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

22 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

23 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。