Pious and Sanctimonious | Rihanna | Greta | On Farmers' Protests | The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary | With Hindi Word Meaning |

“Pious and Sanctimonious”

(Pious: पवित्र; strongly believing in religion, and living in a way that shows this belief.
Sanctimonious: पाखंडी; acting as if morally better than others.)

The government must not see all criticism as part of a conspiracy against India

India’s unusual response to comments on the ongoing farmers’ protests by some international celebrities comes across as highly sanctimonious. “The temptation (प्रलोभन; the wish to do or have something that you know you should not do or have) of sensationalist (सनसनीखेज; presenting information in a way that is shocking or exciting rather than serious) social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to (सहारा लेना; to use something because it is the only thing available) by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. 

It advised these celebrities to ascertain facts and properly understand the issues at hand “before rushing to comment on such matters”. The response is somewhat (कुछ हद तक; to some degree) supercilious (उपेक्षापूर्ण/तिरस्कारपूर्ण; behaving as if you are better than other people, and that their opinions, or beliefs are not important) in the immediate context of what singer and performer Rihanna had said in a single tweet. She had asked why the issue was not being talked about more, while drawing attention to a news report on the extraordinary measures taken by the government to put down the farmers’ protests, including the laying of trenches (खाई/गड्ढा; a narrow or deep hole that is dug into the ground) and barricades (बाड़/अवरोधक; a line or pile of objects put together, to stop people from going where they want to go) and banning the Internet.

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Other international personages (विख्यात व्यक्ति; an important or famous person) who had ventured (साहस करना; to risk doing something that might be criticized or dangerous) to talk about the issue included some lawmakers from the U.S. and the U.K. too, but even that did not warrant a formal response from the government. If the MEA statement’s claim that “some vested interest groups” were mobilising international support smacked of paranoia (व्यामोह/संदेह का मिथ्याभ्रम; an extreme and unreasonable feeling that other people do not like you or are going to harm or criticize you), the fact that a few isolated comments could send the Indian government into a tizzy (घबराहट; a temporary state of worry and confusion), and lead to a lengthy riposte (प्रत्युत्तर; a quick and clever remark, often made in answer to a criticism), reflects a siege mentality (भयभीत मानसिकता; a feeling that makes you frightened of people around you, and causes you not to trust them) arising from deep insecurity. Whether it is organised dissent (मतभेद/असहमत होना; to disagree with other people about something) within the country, or informal criticism from elsewhere, it sees everything as a conspiracy (साजिश/षड्यंत्र; a secret plan made by two or more people to do something bad, illegal) against itself, a design on the country’s unity and the stuff of propaganda (प्रचार प्रसार; information that are spread by an organized group or government to influence people’s opinions).

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The registration of a police case after Greta Thunberg, the teenaged Swedish climate change activist, shared a protesters’ ‘toolkit’ on Twitter, has added another twist to this unedifying (अशोभनीय; unpleasant and causing people to feel no respect) demonstration of touchiness (तुनकमिजाज़ी/चिड़चिड़ापन; the quality of being easily offended or upset). Many Indian celebrities, from the fields of cinema and sports, joined issue with Rihanna to state their case against what they saw as external interference. Many of them professed (दावा करना; to claim something, sometimes falsely) their desire to keep the country together and voiced their disapproval of ‘propaganda’.

The larger issue, of course, is something the government itself has drawn attention to. What is the limit to the claim that a problem is a country’s internal matter and something those outside its borders are not entitled to comment upon?

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Given India’s recent comment voicing concern over the military takeover in Myanmar or the attack on Capitol Hill in the U.S., and its oft-expressed (often expressed) views on developments in neighbouring countries, it requires no iteration (पुनरावृत्ति; the process of doing something again and again, usually to improve it) that some issues that have a bearing (असर; connection to or influence on a result) on human rights, survival of democracy and international relations do tend to invite comment. It is not as if only the farmers’ protests have got traction (संकर्षण/खींचने की क्रिया; the ability of a wheel or tire to hold the ground without sliding) overseas.

The best way for the government to avoid international criticism is not to allow more people to see it as authoritarian (दबंग/सत्तावादी; demanding that people obey completely and refusing to allow them freedom to act as they wish), disrespectful of rights, and given to attempts to undermine (कमजोर कर देना; to make someone less confident or powerful) institutions of democracy.