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Why has comma been used to separate two independent clauses?

  1. The overwhelming power that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act gives to the state, [comma]the sheer impunity with which government can treat this group of accused, the Kafkaesque role of the judiciary in denying bail and making procedural safeguards ineffective, and the deafening political silence on their detention, all warrant deeper reflection.
  2. And Teltumbde was insightful in thinking that once you had been labelled Left in India,[comma] it was easy to secure a diminution in your legal and cultural standing.
  3. Putin declares this to be a victory of sorts for him,[comma] he avoids the cost of occupying Ukraine, but does enough to control it, and in his own way, humiliates NATO.

Sentence 1 and 2

Sentence 3

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  • In 1 they are dependent (subordinate) clauses. If we simplify it it says, "The power, the impunity, the role and the silence all warrant reflection". warrant is the main verb. In 2 - "Teltumbde was insightful (in thinking this facilitated this)". 3 seems to me to need a colon rather than the first comma and I would say, "Ukraine, while doing enough to control it, and - in his own way - humiliates NATO." Mar 5, 2022 at 8:20

2 Answers 2

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[The overwhelming power that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act gives to the state], [the sheer impunity with which government can treat this group of accused], [the Kafkaesque role of the judiciary in denying bail and making procedural safeguards ineffective], and [the deafening political silence on their detention], all warrant deeper reflection.

Example1 is one independent clause consisting of four noun phases, as bracketed, in a series. The commas separate the noun phrases, and this use is fine.

2.

Teltumbde was insightful in thinking that [once you had been labelled Left in India, it was easy to secure a diminution in your legal and cultural standing].

In the original text, there is no And starting this clause.

In example 2, the bracketed part consists of a dependent clause and an independent clause. The use of the comma is fine.

In example 3, the comma after him is incorrect as the statement before that is an independent clause. A full stop or a semicolon would be fine.

This example also has another punctuation error. The third comma should be placed, instead, after and so that the last two commas form a bracketing comma pair.

My suggestion is as shown below:

3.

Putin declares this to be a victory of sorts for him. He avoids the cost of occupying Ukraine, but does enough to control it and, in his own way, humiliates NATO.

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I have taken the liberty of promoting OLD BRIXTONIAN'S comment to its deserving status as an answer:

In 1 they are dependent (subordinate) clauses. If we simplify it, it says, "The power, the impunity, the role and the silence all warrant reflection". warrant is the main verb.

In 2 - "Teltumbde was insightful (in thinking this facilitated this)".

3 seems to me to need a colon rather than the first comma and I would say, "Ukraine, while doing enough to control it, and - in his own way - humiliates NATO." – Old Brixtonian 2 hours ago

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