UPSC Prelims 2002 · General Studies

Question 39: International Relations and Current Affairs

The main reason for unrest and violence in Zimbabwe in recent years is due to

aconflict between different native ethnic groups

bprolonged crisis over land reforms

ceconomic crisis due to continuous drought and famine

dpower struggle between political groups of white European settlers and native black community

AnswerThe answer is (b).

Zimbabwe's unrest in 2000-01 centred on land. President Mugabe's government backed occupations and seizures of white-owned commercial farms, which a small white minority held from colonial times, to resettle black Zimbabweans. Violence, a tense election climate and an economic slump followed. Remember: the unresolved colonial land question was the core issue, not rivalry between native ethnic groups.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) The conflict was not mainly between native ethnic groups.
(b) Right: the prolonged crisis over land reform and farm seizures.
(c) Drought and economic trouble added hardship but were not the main cause.
(d) It was not a power struggle among white settler groups; it was over land held by whites.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2002, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.