This Lead article was published in oHeraldo on December 28, 2020
The Government has kicked off the 60th anniversary celebrations of Goa’s liberation amidst widespread discontent and anger visible in the Goan community, due to a heightened feeling of political and social alienation. In 2008, Wendell Rodricks (late) had stoked controversy when he denounced certain destructive development policies of the Goa Government by calling it ‘a cultural genocide and ethnocide of 2 million indigenous Goan people’. But the destruction has only accelerated two-fold since then. In Goa’s politics perhaps even Abraham Lincoln has been proved wrong with his view that, “you can fool all the people some of the time, ...”. Politicians have enjoyed a high success rate when it comes to ‘fooling all the Goans all the time’ for the last 6 decades. It is the self-serving Goykarponn which will now seek to make merry by liberating the State’s coffers from the Rs 100 cr fund allocated under a pretext of jubilee celebrations.
While Goykars give an impression of resenting the domination and control of Goa’s politics from Delhi, the history of political contradictions after liberation stares every Goan in the face. The assorted shades of Goykarponn which have only clashed and worked at cross-purposes on every political issue have contributed to realising the national designs of snatching Goa’s land and destroying Goa’s unique culture, under a garb of development and reversing historical injustices from Western colonial rule. A Goykarponn blindsided by the nationalist delusion in 1961, equated the ancient Comunidade system with the oppressive Zamindari system prevalent in North India and cheered the enactment of laws under the guise of liberating the mundkars (tenants) from the slavery of the bhatkars (land owners). The result today is that neither the bhatkars nor the mundkars own Goa’s land, nor do they have a say in Goa’s development. Goykarponn in some coastal areas has already vanished. The vibes in developed towns and villages are no more about Goykarponn.
Goa’s saturation with brands of ‘Save Goa’ treatments have proved to be far worse than the disease itself. The political response of the younger generation could be summed up in the words of Italian philosopher and novelist George Santayana who said; “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This is how the mergerist Goykarponn, which prefers being a district of Maharashtra and has proudly adopted Marathi as its language, is now distracting Goans with a definition on who is a ‘person of Goan origin’. These hypocrites fall silent when it comes to demanding that the Roman script for Konkani be given official recognition as it is used by persons of Goan origin. Such hydra-headed Goykarponn also perceives certain religious communities as anti-nationals to suit its political and economic interests. And how can anyone ignore the treacherous Goykarponn which sheds crocodile tears that Goa is being driven into a future of surrender, but repeatedly changes ideological colours for political power by getting into a marriage of convenience with the very opponents it condemns as communal and anti-Goan? This Goan disaster is aided by a hyper Goykarponn which whines and protests on the streets but repeatedly ends up playing into the hands of the plunderers for the last 6 decades.
After a history of repeated political betrayals since liberation, a debilitated Goykarponn still prefers to believe that saving Goa is possible by persisting with the same blunders of the past. In these last two decades, saving Goa has been nothing beyond event management rather than anticipatory action. No sooner an election is in sight we begin to hear the stale refrain of “this is the last chance to save Goa”. This may sound novel for the younger generation. But the last few decades have shown that every vote cast to save Goa in the election has only reduced its chances of survival by 10 years. More so, one cannot help noticing the fact that almost every protest to save Goa remains Church-centric and cheered from the pulpits. If these so-called people’s movements are truly representative of the various religious and caste sections in Goa, why do these protests fail to show a representation proportional to the population size of various sections within the Goan community?
Goa’s tragedy stems from the fact that the flash mob mentality of Goykarponn fails to contextualise its local problems from a broader national perspective. It seeks to deny the larger truth that before they targeted Goa with destructive linear projects, they came for the universities, writers and intellectuals, but it (Goykarponn) remained silent. They circumvented Parliament’s consent on important laws through ordinances, yet it remained silent. They now come with farm bills, but it remains silent. This shameless Goykarponn may scream hoarse on isolated issues, but keeps alive the oppressive governance systems and structures.
The silence from a large section of Goykars is not about mhaka kiteak poddlam, but it's about being circumspect and safeguarding against a cognitive dissonance which has afflicted Goykarponn. For this rot in Goa to be arrested, Goykars will need to step back, reflect and re-strategise their political responses. The turn-coats have to be called out and isolated.
(The author is a social activist who has worked in creating awareness on the issue of local self-governance)
https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Celebrating-a-liberation-from-Goykarponn/169116
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