2007年VOA标准英语-Despite Peace Talks With Pakistan, India Mainta

By Raymond Thibodeaux
Srinagar
25 June 2007

There has been a slow but steady thaw¹ in relations between India and Pakistan in the past two years, with improvements in intergovernmental communication and cross-border transportation. But there has been little progress on what both sides concede is the most challenging obstacle to fully² normalized relations: the region of Kashmir, which both countries claim as their own. Raymond Thibodeaux reports from Srinagar, the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

It is just after four in the morning on Srinagar's Dal Lake, and the prayers have started at a nearby mosque³, just as they do every morning. Thousands of birds chatter⁴ in the trees, as if in competition with the human worshippers. It is not hard to imagine Kashmir as the heaven on earth touted⁵ by the numerous billboards⁶ aimed at tourists.

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ndian paramilitary soldiers patrol near the site of an explosion in the outskirts of Srinagar, India, 24 June 2007

But for the more than six million people living in Indian-controlled Kashmir, this is a far cry from a paradise. Nearly half a million Indian army troops are fanned out across the region to combat an 18-year rebellion by armed groups seeking either an independent Kashmir or one ruled entirely⁸ by Pakistan. Some of the separatists are home grown, others have crossed over from Pakistani Kashmir.

Kashmir's roads and markets are strewn with checkpoints, razor wire and sandbagged bunkers. Soldiers patrol the streets with assault rifles and flack jackets. Many of Srinagar's movie theaters and its only indoor sports stadium have been converted to barracks.

Some Kashmiris say it is too much, especially now that there has been a significant decrease in violence in the region.

They include Mehbooba Mufti, president of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kashmir, which is pushing the Indian government to withdraw its troops.

"Today I don't understand, when the situation is much, much better, why the reduction of troops is not taking place," said Mehbooba. "Withdrawal⁹ of troops can be the biggest confidence-building measure as far as the people of Jammu and Kashmir are concerned."

The region, which has a predominately Muslim population, was divided between India and Pakistan five decades ago. Bitterness over the division has led the two countries to war twice, and nearly set off a third war. But over the past few years, New Delhi and Islamabad have worked to improve relations, although they have made no progress on the Kashmir dispute.

Many people here complain of almost daily harassment¹⁰ at the hands of the Indian army. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, considered one of Kashmir's more moderate separatist leaders, says the peace talks between Islamabad and New Delhi have done little to improve the lives of the ordinary Kashmiri.

"He's still searched by the army. He's still taken down from the bus," he said. "His house is still searched. His cattle and his farm is still occupied by the army."

The army, for its part, sees itself as a protection force that has returned some stability to a region racked by nearly two decades conflict.

If they have not gained the trust of Kashmir's population, some soldiers say, it is not for lack of trying.

The Indian army provided rescue and recovery teams after the October 2005 earthquake that struck Kashmir, killing¹¹ about 73,000 people, including about 1,400 on the Indian side of the region. Troops have recently offered to help spruce up Muslim shrines¹² and mosques¹³ in Kashmir.

Colonel S.K. Sakhuja, an Indian army spokesman, says this is part of a hearts-and-minds campaign that includes building schools, providing computers, constructing roads, and providing health care to people in remote villages. Even the military bunkers have "Help us help you" stenciled¹⁵ on them.

Colonel Sakhuja maintains that the campaign is working.

"This has been a great success because the support of the locals to the army has seen a turn for the better. They are very much supporting us in terms of cooperating with us to restore the normalcy to these regions," he said. "There have been instances of the militants¹⁶ acting¹⁷ against the civilians¹⁸ and the locals, and such information does come to us."

A recent Indian government decision to invite a high-level Israeli military training team to Kashmir did not go down well among the region's predominately Muslim population. The Israelis have been asked to help train Indian security forces in combating terrorism and cracking down on infiltration¹⁹ by cross-border militants.

Sajad Lone¹⁴ is author of the book Achievable Nationhood, which he calls a road map to peace in Kashmir. He describes India's use of Israeli military expertise²⁰ as an attempt to inflame²¹ Muslim extremists in Kashmir and Pakistan.

"Intentionally²² provocative²³. Many such things - provocations²⁴ - take place every day," he said. "But then I think there is a certain level of immunity²⁵, people have become immune to these provocations. But if you are talking of jihadist tendencies, it does fuel into that. Somewhere, it fuels it."

 

It is easy to see why distrust runs high between many Kashmiris and the New Delhi government. An estimated 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Eight-thousand to 10,000 more Kashmiris are missing, most of them military-age men who were allegedly detained by Indian security forces before they vanished.

Even now, senior government officials decline to comment on the missing. But India's defense²⁶ secretary has formed a committee to look into the withdrawal of troops from Kashmir.

1 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

4 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

5 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

6 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

7 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 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。

10 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。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

13 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

14 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

15 stenciled   

v.用模板印（文字或图案）( stencil的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• To transfer(a stenciled design) with pounce. 以印花粉印用印花粉末转印（镂空模板花样） 来自互联网
• L: Cardboard cartons, with stenciled shipping marks. 李：刷有抬头的硬纸板箱。 来自互联网

16 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

17 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

18 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。

19 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

20 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

21 inflame   

v.使燃烧；使极度激动；使发炎

参考例句：

• Our lack of response seemed to inflame the colonel.由于我们没有反应,好象惹恼了那个上校。
• Chemical agents manufactured by our immune system inflame our cells and tissues,causing our nose to run and our throat to swell.我们的免疫系统产生的化学物质导致我们的细胞和组织发炎，导致我们流鼻水和我们的喉咙膨胀。

22 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

23 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

24 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

25 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

26 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。