Directions (Q.1-8): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them.
The arrest of the Kashmir separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat within six weeks of his release from jail shows an early collapse of the ‘healing touch’ policy adopted by the Jammu and Kashmir government led by the Peoples Democratic Party soon after coming to power.
Mr. Alam was a known troublemaker with the potential to instigate violence, and little thought seemed to have gone into the decision to let him walk free from jail after more than four years in detention. At a rally to be addressed by Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar, Mr. Alam was at the head of a group of youths shouting anti-India slogans and waving the Pakistan flag, forcing the government to first place him under house arrest and later take him into custody. That the PDP and its partner in government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, were divided on how to deal with Mr. Alam was evident from the start. Not only did the PDP fail to consult the BJP on the issue, it appears to have underestimated the sinister consequences of releasing Mr. Alam without wresting any kind of assurances from him. If Mr. Alam’s release last month embarrassed the BJP, his arrest now is an acceptance of failure by the PDP, which was at pains to stress that while the released person had a history of involvement with stone-pelting he had never wielded a gun.
Mr. Alam was a known troublemaker with the potential to instigate violence, and little thought seemed to have gone into the decision to let him walk free from jail after more than four years in detention. At a rally to be addressed by Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar, Mr. Alam was at the head of a group of youths shouting anti-India slogans and waving the Pakistan flag, forcing the government to first place him under house arrest and later take him into custody. That the PDP and its partner in government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, were divided on how to deal with Mr. Alam was evident from the start. Not only did the PDP fail to consult the BJP on the issue, it appears to have underestimated the sinister consequences of releasing Mr. Alam without wresting any kind of assurances from him. If Mr. Alam’s release last month embarrassed the BJP, his arrest now is an acceptance of failure by the PDP, which was at pains to stress that while the released person had a history of involvement with stone-pelting he had never wielded a gun.
If political considerations weighed heavily in the decision to release Mr. Alam, matters of practical policing seemed to have forced the government’s hand in ordering his rearrest. Other than giving the hardliners in the Kashmir dispute an opportunity to regroup, the release and rearrest episode appears to have achieved little. The Kashmir issue is not any closer to a solution. Politically, both the PDP and the BJP will be seen as having bungled in this case. In a State torn by violence, flag-waving and sloganeering might seem minor crimes, but the Jammu and Kashmir government cannot be seen as ignoring the anti-national implications of Mr. Alam’s waving the Pakistan flag in the Valley. If the government does not clamp down on this symbolicdefiance, it will only embolden the separatist forces. Political autonomy for Kashmir will have to be negotiated within the framework of India’ssovereignty, and the crackdown following the waving of the Pakistani flag is a clear statement of intent and purpose from both the State and Central governments. The Masarat Alam release and rearrest fiasco was an avoidable political miscalculation. Nothing must be allowed to undermine the credibility of a genuine political initiative from the Mufti Sayeed administration, which should pick up the threads of the earlier dialogue between New Delhi and Srinagar on proposals for more autonomy for the State.
Source-The Hindu, Delhi Edition, 18 April
Q.1. Which of the following is the synonym of the word “implications”?
1) ramification
2) repercussion
3) reverberation
4) All of the above
5) None of the above
Q.2. Which of the following is the meaning of the word ‘healing touch policy’, according to the passage?
1) Healing the wounds of kasmiris hurt during the riot.
2) A new method for relieving pain and heel fast.
3) Touching the soft and critical issues for political benefits.
4) Govt led scheme for the ones affected during Kashmir floods.
5) None of the above.
Q.3. Choose an appropriate Title for the above passage :
1) Heaven Becomes Hell
2) Political Blunder
3) Waving The Wrong Flag
4) BJP and Its Mistake
5) PDP and its decision
Q.4. According to the passage, what embarrassed BJP?
1) Re Arrest of Mashrat Alam after PDP govt. freed him
2) The act by its MP’s in Jammu Kashmir
3) The act of waving Pakistan’s flag by Mashrat Alamand sloganeering in favour of Pakistan
4) The release of Mashrat Alam when PDP-BJP alliance came in power
5) None of these
Q.5. Which of the following is not true regarding the passage?
A) Mashrat Alam was rearrested after he instigated violence in the valley
B) Mashrat Alam was in detention for about four years
C) There were sign of differences between BJP and PDP on the rearrest of Mashrat Alam
1) Both A and B
2) Both A and C
3) Both B and C
4) All A, B and C
5) None of these
Q.6. Which of the following is the synonym of the word “wresting”?
1) spawn
2) engender
3) prise
4) wrestling
5) None of the above
Q.7. Which of the following can be the meaning of the word “Sinister”?
1) Upcoming issues that can lead to certain consequences.
2) giving the impression that something harmful or evil or will happen.
3) forecasting the consequences
4) cynical about the consequences
5) pessimistic approach towards the consequences
Q.8. What is the synonym of ‘defiance’?
1) disobey
2) rebel against
3) go against
4) flout
5) All of the above
Q.9.What does the word ‘sovereignty’ in the passage imply?
1) Campaign
2) Reach
3) Jurisdiction
4) Interest
5) None of the above
Q.10.What does the word ‘sovereignty’ in the passage imply?
1) Campaign
2) Reach
3) Jurisdiction
4) Interest
5) None of the above
1. 4
2. 3
3. 3
4. 4
5. 2
6. 3
7. 2
8. 5
9. 3
10. 3
2. 3
3. 3
4. 4
5. 2
6. 3
7. 2
8. 5
9. 3
10. 3
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