Denial, Blame, Abuse, Lies,....Will not Save Goa -Soter

 Op-ed published in oHeraldo, August 24, 2020

The embarrassment caused to the Government and Goans with the busting of rave parties in the State by the Goa police has met with the expected denial and rationalisation as usual. The blame for the drug scene is shamelessly being dumped on the foreigners. Interestingly, it will be no big hassle for Goans if some politicians and activists indulge in booze parties during the Covid-19 lock-down. The havoc caused in the Goan homes from the consumption of alcohol is not as much of a concern for the Government and the Goan society. But rave parties, drug addiction and chewing tobacco or gutka are a problem. 

The common Goan delusion cutting across religious communities is that the migrants and tourists are the ones who cannot handle booze. Such double-standards and hypocrisy are visible when it comes to almost any socio-political issue, including those about the environment. And this is not surprising considering that, when it involves Goan culture, certain abusive and addictive behaviours become acceptable as normal. Such motivated reasoning and denial are the root cause of Goa’s festering problems.

While Goans are extra sensitive about the health of their environment, there is hardly any concern for their own mental health. This is how Goans have allowed themselves to be taken round in circles over the years by a politician-corporate-activist nexus, which has fed fancy illusions and toyed with emotions to further selfish political and business agendas. Little can the common man understand that the politician and activist rhetoric and propaganda has now evolved to a level of ‘truthful lying’. This devious art of lying is not new. It has existed in social and business interactions down the centuries. But nowadays with truthful lying being extensively employed to purposely mislead and manipulate people, particularly in politics, psychologists have assigned it the term ‘paltering’. 

A truthful lie is a statement which is technically true but is used to cover up a lie. This is how politicians in TV debates talk about Nehru’s and Congress’ corruption when questioned about corruption by the BJP Government. When questioned on the Rafale deal, the response is about the Bofors scam.  A recent example is how the BJP in Goa is defending itself by claiming that the Roy Ravi Naik who joined the party is not the same Roy Naik it had accused of being involved with the drug cartel. This is precisely how a Governor, who presided over the abrogation of Art 370 in J&K and the silencing of the democratic voices of its MLAs and MPs by confining them under house arrest, is made a Goan hero because his utterances suited the local caste politics. 

So while Goans are so concerned about the horrors of chemical abuse and addiction, though alcohol is probably not considered to be an intoxicant by them, it is not realised that power, money, sex, gambling, religion and food also cause addictions. Those affected by such addictions also manifest the same thinking and behaviour as chemical dependents. These are what psychologists categorise as ‘process addictions’ which are equally destructive not only to the individual but to the society as well. And it is this interplay of process addictions and chemical addictions in Goa’s social, economic and political life which is at the root of the anti-people policies and anti-social climate. Such anti-social thinking and behaviour can only thrive with society’s support. It’s about co-dependency. It is by compartmentalising the social evils that a deviant societal system denies the real issue and finds scapegoats to divert attention. Given the love-hate relationship between corrupt politicians and the people, it will be a lie to claim that the destruction in Goa is happening without the active or passive collaboration of Goans themselves.  

With branding and marketing techniques employed to play on the psyche of Goans, it’s easy for abuse, bullying and extortion to also sell as activism for protecting Goa and Goans. Unfortunately, the social activism we see in Goa has no ethical code of conduct or self-regulatory mechanisms in place. Just like the politicians, some activist groups are also avoiding transparency and accountability. This reinforces a public suspicion about a politician-activist-corporate nexus raking up selective issues to divert attention from the real issues. The Truth in Goa has fallen victim to ‘slacktivism’ and ‘clicktivism’ which employs denial, blaming and lying to induce anger, fear, anxiety and guilt in Goans and mobilise blind support. There are even allegations flying on social media that the xenophobic and jingoistic brand of activism has found its way into Goan NRI pockets. Instead of campaigns resulting in the multiplier effect with more people joining, what we actually see is an activism confined to a select crowd which circulates under various banners . 

To save Goa, the Goans need to first recognise the cross-connections between the machinations of various social groups and the underlying problems in the State. Before looking at the behaviour of others, every Goan needs to develop the humility to first reflect on how their own personal thinking and behaviour could possibly be feeding these social and political problems. Blaming politicians, migrants, and tourists is not going to solve problems. Allowing emotions to dominate reason only makes Goans vulnerable to further exploitation. A culture of unattached village level critical dialogues has to be promoted. The common man needs to have a balanced picture of the Goan reality, instead of a distorted picture painted by those resorting to manipulating emotions and using truthful lies to further selfish political and business interests.

(The author is a social activist)

https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Opinions/Denial-blame-abuse-lies-will-not-save-Goa/164524