Tourism branding and Goykarponn -Soter

 Published as Lead Article in oHeraldo on 27 Dec. 2021

The recent blurt of the Union Tourism Minister about the government’s openness to declare Goa as the ‘Casino Capital of India’ has gone without the response it deserved from real Goykarponn. Unfortunately, a Goykarponn in crisis fails to recognise the subtle impression created by tourism branding and marketing about Goa’s culture of booze and vulgar partying and tagging this to a particular religion. The idea of Goa which is sold to the rest of the country is far from reality and has an element of a dirty communal design. Probably, when the political climate is conducive, the desi cultural perverts may go a step further in proposing Goa as the favourite booze, drugs and sex capital of Bharat.

Goa’s tourism is part of the double engine governance which exploits a unique culture to reap economic profits and at the same time furthers a communal politics of projecting a vulgar image of one religious community. The Goan characters projected in Cyrus Broacha’s TV comedy shows and in Bollywood movies are a reflection of this impression created about Goan life in the rest of the country. Goykarponn has no problem with such perverted cultural attributes being tagged to it by the rest of Bharat. If not, such a remark from a minister should have promptly drawn widespread outrage and condemnation from across the State. But this was not the case. 

Goykarponn is no more about loyalty and morals, it’s about money and political power. Throwing money has become the path to entry into the Goan hearts for land sharks, corporates and politicians from the rest of Bharat. The threat to goykarponn seems to vanish for the Goan in our neighbourhood when Delhiwallahs are preferred over fellow Goans for the sale of ancestral land and houses. The Goykarponn in the panchayats turns blind to illegalities by migrants on seeing money bags. The Goykarponn is forgotten when it comes to hosting migrants in Goan backyards and on commune lands, and even to such an extent of legitimising the migrant capture under a Bhumiputra Act. Goykarponn sees no problem in getting hired by professional political strategists to dupe the Goan voters in the elections. At least on the surface it now appears that the love for Goa is nothing more than “paisa phenko Goykarponn dekho” (splash money and enjoy goykarponn).

The recent report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) highlights a fact that in the present Goa Legislative Assembly all the 40 sitting MLAs are crorepatis. What’s forgotten are the crorepatis from among those defeated contestants in the 2017 polls and others holed up in local bodies? Even the latest Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report of the Niti Aayog has placed Goa among the least poor States in the country, with poverty hardly at 4% of the national average. These various findings expose a mismatch in the claims of the Goykar’s innocence in the loot of Goa and the actual situation on the ground. There are no questions asked as to how and at what cost is so much wealth generated by the Goykar crorepatis in a tiny and State like Goa. This is why the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities and the unaffordable cost of land and housing in Goa do not rattle Goans. It’s party time as usual with the Goykar beating around the bush instead of facing the hard truth.

Goykarponn is now an industry and gets interpreted as per whose political and monetary ambitions and profits realised or threatened. It's not only the unscrupulous politicians who generate wealth, but a large section of Goans are directly or indirectly collaborators in this loot. Even the precincts of the religious places and festivals are used for the politicians  to brand and market themselves with sponsorships or with the excuse of fighting illegalities and destructive projects. Political defections, protests and litigations under a pretext of protecting Goa and Goykarponn are now a flourishing business which thrives on the Goan miseries while preserving the root causes for the problems. We see how politicians are shamelessly jumping around like frogs. 

Some critics of Goan society observe that there is an acute lack of a spirit of inquiry and scientific temper in the social and political discourse among Goykars. The Goan villages and homes in which all sorts of illegalities and obnoxious activities flourish are not as much of a concern for the Goan as the violations around heritage monuments. While there is an obsession with climate change, we hardly witness any sustained protests from Goykars against the contamination and corrupting of society due to the indiscriminate govt policies promoting alcohol, drugs, sex trade and casinos. In fact, the sponsorships from casinos and liquor companies are welcomed by Goykars for religious, sports and cultural events. 

The crorepatis and scamsters very well know that money and political power will ensure them the front seats at religious ceremonies and socio-cultural events. Money yields power, power is might and might has become right in Goa. The poor and naive Goykars remain no more than a crowd to be emotionally aroused, hired and herded for protests to further the political and financial machinations of the politicians and religious leaders. Some critics sarcastically refer to these blind supporters as the ‘vanar sena’ (monkey army). 

And after having destroyed Goa’s entire coastline, the greedy and shameless Goykarponn has now set its eyes midland on pristine and unexplored villages by hiding behind a fig leaf of ‘heritage tourism’. 

(The author is a social activist and has worked in creating awareness on the issue of local self-governance)

https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Opinions/Tourism-branding-and-Goykarponn-/184462