There is a growing expectation from the Anti- RP-2021 forces for Church support to their public rally. The issues raised against the RP-2021 are definitely genuine and the concerns of the people are also extremely justified. There is also no doubt that the Church has a duty to support rights based issues irrespective of the communities affected. The expectation for support from the Church by the Anti-RP 2021 forces is also prefectly in order. These forces have already roped in a couple of priests to lend credibility to their struggle. Is the argument floating around that there could be no tomorrow for Goans something new? Have we not heard this argument on every issue and during political campaigns? Is the RP-2021 the only major evil that threatens the existence of Goans, the culture and social harmony? The question remains as to who decides the priority on issues that Goans need to tackle and whether the Church must declare its public support to these groups, or not?
The anti-RP 2011 experience must offer some learnings for the Church. There is a need to recall that some former key members that dictated policies of the Anti-RP-2011 movement are now spitting venom against the Church on the English Medium of Instruction issue. Though well known that it was the Church which gave the anti-RP 2011 struggle its much needed public acceptance in its nascent stage, this group has not even bothered to consult the Church before publicly declaring its position not only post RP 2011 but also on the present RP-2021. At one point a local Editor was roped in to take a dig at the Church authorities for supporting a rift within the anti-RP 2011 group. It is yet not known whether the anti-RP 2011 group is in agreement with the position on planning processes professed by the Church over the last 4 years. Should the Church also not remind itself on how the Anti-RP 2011 movement was and remains controlled and used by vested interests that have a hand in the present mess on the RP 2021?
The present Anti-RP 2021 formations hopping around town against the RP are a loosely knit coalition of convenience, where ideologies of one group need not necessarily be in consonance with that of its partners. While one village group claims to be the backbone of this initiative, there continues to be public confusion on the actual leadership of this group. Its sudden swinging between village issues to lead initiatives on State level issues does raise questions. Again like the anti-RP 2011 movement, the anti-RP 2021 forces are not bound by any Vision or Mission, or Code of Ethics or a commonly agreed upon Minimum Ideology for its supporters. What after the RP-2021 is denotified? Will we see another somersault like the one witnessed by the Anti-RP 2011 movement wherein conflicting views surfaced on whether the RP should consider the rights of the people in 'Spatial Planning' or not? Whether the TCP ACT needs to be overhauled or some minor cosmetic changes would suffice even before an RP-2021 process was initiated? The same smoke screen is now being seen in the anti-RP 2021 hysteria. Some of of these activists are also involved in a smear campaign against the Church and some others highly suspicious about the possibility of Church authorities compromising with the Government on the RP-2021. So can the Church expect itself to be used merely as a door mat for only generating crowds to inflate some egos and build the image of some ambitious few?
The Church is a spiritually, socially and politically significant institution in Goa with a mission to defend the rights of the oppressed and marginalised. But does that mean it must unquestionably align with its persecutors and detractors even though the issue may be genuine and of popular interest? For in a relationship, is it not to be expected that both the parties are enriched and grow together in an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding? A relationship is not a one-sided affair where only one-sided interests dominate. Can habitual betrayals and double speak by certain forces be a cause to be complacent? The Church has on-going struggles being waged on several moral issues and has a mission to generate support for these issues. How many of these Anti-RP 2021 groups will be open to also support the social agenda of the Church? Does the Church not have a responsibility to ensure that upright, honest and transparent activist leadership emerges so that the people will not be taken for a ride by politicians, fascists and criminals disguised as activists? Or will the Church continue to act irresponsibly by claiming that such crooked elements will always infiltrate social groups and despite this risk it needs to keep attempting for a social and political change?
The Church is not a novice at extending support to such popular movements in Goa. But every time the goal was achieved the church got repaid with ingratitude because the movements actually had other hidden agendas which were not in consonance with the teachings of the Church. These last few months we witness a spate of attacks against the Church not only by religious fanatics but from so-called progressive catholics who at the same time spare no efforts in exploiting their religious identity to gain acceptance in social circles when needed. The Church has played a pivotal role in ensuring that Goa remains a seperate territory during the historic Opinion Poll only to be repeatedly taunted as being anti-national every time it stands up for its rights. The success of the Konkani movement again points to the support from the Church but when it comes to the recognition of the Roman script for konkani which is widely used by the catholic community it gets opposed as a demand by pro-Portuguese sympathisers. Not by the marathi protagonists but by Konknni protagonists themselves. The Church rose to ensure full support for the struggle against the Regional Plan 2011, but ultimately were its views even considered by the movement once the RP got struck down? These were all initiatives of external groups, call them secular, political or social and the Church played its role by generating the support irrespective of which religious denomination initiated the movement. Is this generosity repaid in the same measure by all sections of the Goan community or does the Church continue to face hostility every time it demands its just rights from the Government? Do these social groups extend support in times of crisis or do they just pretend to look the other way or even fuel further polarisation?
When the Church initiated certain movements and expected support from other communities, what was the response? The Church raised the banner against the Konkan Railway Alignment and it instantaneously got polarised into a religious battle. Some community members began promoting bonds of the Konkan Railway to oppose the Church supported movement and dubbed it as anti-national. The State violence against the Anti-Meta Strips protesters became a cause for celebration for some communities claiming that christians deserved the sound thrashing for their anti-development stance. There are several other issues that were immediately polarised as being a war for survival for a particular religious community. The struggle against gated housing projects in villages was also communalised with one section accusing the Church of fueling the controversy fearing its declining hold on Salcette taluka. Most recently we have the Medium of Instruction issue which no sooner the Church institutions rightfully took up with the Government has been polarised into a survival of religious cultural identity under the guise of protection of Indian languages. At every juncture the Church initiatives get ridiculed by a section of Goan society and it repeatedly comes from the same communal forces taking cover of very secular looking organisations like freedom fighters or Bhasha Mandals or Abhiyans. These very forces were behind the official language agitation and the anti-RP-2011struggle but had absolutely no reservations in taking the support of the Church to fill the grounds and pressurise the Government. The same forces are now at play to support any issue that would embarrass the Congress Government, in particular Digambar Kamat, whose betrayal of the BJP needs to be avenged at any cost.
The days to come will be of great relevance to the Church leadership if it wants to remain a spiritually, socially and politically significant force in Goa. Or, whether it will allow fascists and politicians to continue priotitizing issues that every Goan must support to be truly worthy of being recognised as a Goan and a national patriot? Whether the fascist formula of - if you are with Anna, you are against corruption and, if you are against Anna, you are with the corrupt- will be succumbed to by the Church? Whether it will continue to introduce its flock to the prowling wolves and jackals in sheep's clothing by just looking at the issue of RP-2021 and not the securing of its due rights and respect in Goa? The decisions of the Church have direct political and social ramifications not only for its leadership but also for its followers. Just as it is said that 'Prevention is better than cure', so also the Church needs to carefully screen the Anti-RP 2021 forces for their beliefs and undisclosed affiliations. If not, just as the anti-RP 2011 threw up certain elements who went berserk no sooner power got to their heads, the anti-RP 2021 has the same potential of throwing up some elements who could go to any heights for personal gain. Will the Church have an iota of control over this anti-RP2021 dispensation no sooner it achieves its goal and no sooner Assembly elections are declared?
This does not mean that the Church needs to sit back and watch. The Church needs to also call the shots in the social and political arena of Goa rather than playing second fiddle.
Soter D'souza
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