Conscious Ignorance! Victim of Misuse
The Helpless Word "Unprecedented"
Nidhu Bhusan Das
Congress delegation headed by interim President of the party Sonia Gandhi on 27 February 2020 met the President of India Ramnath Kovind and presented a memorandum expressing concern about the violence in north-east Delhi.The memorandum read out to the media by Sonia Gandhi mentions that it is an "unprecedented violence" in national capital Delhi.
The English participial adjective "unprecedented" is a derivative from the root "precedent".The word "precedent" has its origin in Old French where it literally means "preceding" I.e., that which precedes.So,the etymological meaning of the derivative" unprecedented" is unexampled or that which was never done or known before.
The other day,Delhi High Court in a hearing on the ongoing violence while criticising the lack of professionalism of Delhi police mentioned the spectre of 1984 Delhi massacre and remarked that a revisit of the spectre could not be allowed.
In the wake of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, a large scale massacre occurred.The Delhi High Court might have referred to that unfortunate incident and suggested that it was a precedent.If so, how the Congress can justify that the the 2020 violence in Delhi is "unprecedented"?
Political rhetoric tends to be hyperbolic,and law cannot accept hyperbole.We the commoners should steer clear of such misuse of words.Sometimes playing with words and use of hyperboles may be the cause of harm.
