Vocabulary Builder — Essay & Answer Writing
Reparation
The action of making amends for a wrong or injury; specifically, compensation paid by a state for war damage, historical injustice, or atrocities committed against another nation or people
Old French reparacion — from Latin reparare (to restore, repair); re- (again) + parare (to prepare, make ready). In the sense of interstate compensation, the term gained currency after the Treaty of Versailles (1919).
"The 2025 demand by Bangladesh that Pakistan issue a formal apology and reparation for the 1971 genocide brought the concept of transitional justice back into South Asian diplomatic discourse."
High-relevance word for GS-2 (International Relations) and GS-1 (Modern Indian History / Society). Use in the context of: (1) 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War — Pakistan's unresolved obligation for reparation and apology; (2) Colonial reparation debate — whether Britain owes India reparations for 200 years of extraction, as argued by Shashi Tharoor and quantified by economist Utsa Patnaik; (3) Global precedents — Germany's Holocaust reparations to Israel. Distinguish from 'restitution' (returning specific stolen objects, e.g., Kohinoor) versus 'reparation' (broader monetary or symbolic amends for systemic harm). In 2026, Bangladesh-Pakistan diplomatic friction makes this word highly examinable in essay and IR answers.
