2019年经济学人 印度vs巴基斯坦:莫迪的危险时刻(3)

 

By the same token, Mr Modi has not sparked the outright¹ communal² conflagration³ his critics, The Economist⁴ included, fretted⁵ about before he became prime minister. But his government has often displayed hostility⁶ to India’s Muslim minority and sympathy for those who see Hinduism—the religion of 80% of Indians—as under threat from internal and external foes⁷. He has appointed a bigoted⁸ Hindu prelate, Yogi Adityanath, as chief minister of India’s most populous⁹ state, Uttar Pradesh. A member of his cabinet presented garlands of flowers to a group of Hindu men who had been convicted of lynching a Muslim for selling beef (cows are sacred to Hindus). And Mr Modi himself has suspended the elected government of Jammu & Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state, and used force to suppress protests there against the central government, leading to horrific civilian¹⁰ casualties.

同样地，莫迪并没有像他的批评者(包括《经济学人》在内)在他成为总理之前担心的那样，引发全面族群冲突。但他的政府经常对印度的穆斯林少数民族表现出敌意，同情那些认为印度教——80%印度人的宗教——受到来自内部和外部敌人威胁的人。他任命固执的印度教教士约吉·阿迪亚纳斯为印度人口最多的北方邦的首席部长。他的一名内阁成员向一群印度教男子赠送了花环，这些人因以私刑绞死一名出售牛肉的穆斯林出售牛肉而被判处有罪（对印度教徒来说，牛是神圣的）。莫迪本人也暂停了查谟克什米尔（查谟克什米尔是印度唯一一个穆斯林占多数的邦）民选政府的任职，并使用武力镇压反对中央政府的抗议活动，导致了骇人的平民伤亡。

As reprehensible¹¹ as all this is, the Hindu zealots who staff Mr Modi’s electoral machine complain that he has not done enough to advance the Hindu cause. And public dissatisfaction with his economic reforms has helped boost Congress, the main opposition¹² party, making the election more competitive than had been expected. The temptation to fire up voters using heated brinkmanship with Pakistan will be huge.

尽管这一切都应受到谴责，但莫迪竞选团队中的印度教狂热分子抱怨称，莫迪在推动印度教事业方面做得不够。公众对他的经济改革的不满也帮助提振了主要反对党国大党，使选举比预期的更具竞争力。利用与巴基斯坦的激烈边缘政策来煽动选民的诱惑将是巨大的。

Mr Modi has made a career of playing with fire. He first rose to prominence¹³ as chief minister of Gujarat when the state was racked by anti-Muslim pogroms in 2002. Although there is no evidence he orchestrated the violence, he has shown no compunction about capitalising on the popularity it won him in Hindu-nationalist circles. With a difficult election ahead, he may think he can pull off the same trick again by playing the tough guy with Pakistan, but without actually getting into a fight. However, the price of miscalculation does not bear thinking about. Western governments are pushing for a diplomatic settlement at the UN. If Mr Modi really is a patriot¹⁴, he will now step back.

莫迪的职业生涯都在玩火。2002年，古吉拉特邦遭受反穆斯林大屠杀，他以古吉拉特邦首席部长的身首次份声名大振。虽然没有证据表明他策划了这次暴力，但他对利用这次暴力在印度教民族主义者圈子里赢得的声望丝毫不感到内疚。在即将到来的艰难选举中，他可能认为他可以通过对巴基斯坦采取强硬态度，再次上演同样的把戏。然而，误判的代价没有给思考留余地。西方政府正推动在联合国达成外交解决方案。莫迪如果真的是一位爱国者，那么现在就会退让。

1 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

2 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

3 conflagration   

n.建筑物或森林大火

参考例句：

• A conflagration in 1947 reduced 90 percent of the houses to ashes.1947年的一场大火，使90%的房屋化为灰烬。
• The light of that conflagration will fade away.这熊熊烈火会渐渐熄灭。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

6 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

7 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。

8 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

9 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

10 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。

11 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

14 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。