Lead Article published in oHeraldo on August 28,2023
The signs of societal decay are there to see for those Goans who have their eyes open and head on their shoulders. The culpability for decline in the quality of life and growing insecurity cannot be solely attributed to political corruption and the unreasonable influx of migrants. The thriving ignorance, irrationality and moral compromise within the Goan community are a far greater contribution to such degeneration. A degenerating society throws up toxic leaders and all the problems which come along as a natural and logical consequence.
The refusal to understand the reality and stand up for the truth, coupled with the dismissal of critical thinking and reflection as habitual pessimism, contrarianism and antagonism, is no sign of a progressive society. This inability to reflect and debate rationally and with civility is the crux of the problem. Every problem is reduced to a ‘tiatr’ (drama) script of mocking some villain and cheering a hero. The passion for ignorance and crisis of character in society are now visible on the streets. Mindfulness, reason, and civility have got a silent burial in the blind chase for wealth, power and instant fame.
‘It takes two hands to clap’
The recent drama around a warrior God is predominantly an outcome of publicity craving egos, clueless on where to draw the line. The debate whether a remark is right or wrong is a futile exercise when sick minds are on a rampage. What needs to be seen is whether such comments are necessitated and prudent as well as beneficial to the common good, given the circumstances wherein it is largely evident that there is an agenda to stoke communal passions for the elections in 2024. One should not ignore the impact of the optics, namely the occasion and place where the controversial remark is made or action carried out. Injudicious utterances at an inappropriate time and place, no matter how right they sound, only help reinforce the false propaganda of fanatics that churches and masjids are used for political brainwashing and attacks on Hindus.
‘Charity begins at home’
The hypocritical dance of innocence on religious platforms and the toxic love and charity in practice are now a new normal for sick egos. The ‘pravachans’ of leaders from secured pulpits are theoretically entertaining; how such sermons translate into practice are seen when truth gets spoken to these powers. Authoritarianism takes a deceptive cover of a divine mandate. Abuse and violence from toxic authorities need not necessarily be physical, it can be mental too. The locking of places of worship and burial grounds, to bring communities asserting their rights onto their knees begging for pardon and also indirectly send a veiled threat to others, is nothing different from the psychopathy of bulldozing houses of a certain community and jailing dissenters under false sedition charges without an impartial and just trial. Bending and crawling before authority is considered as obedience. With Love and Charity more for the cameras and self-aggrandizement, with Truth and Justice sedated, what remains is a religion of colonial tactics.
‘Prevention is better than cure’
Unfortunately, both politics and religion in Goa are falling into the grip of toxic leadership which is tightening its control by subtly weakening the cohesiveness in the community. One realizes how flawed and demented the society has become when a crowd assembles in solidarity under a garb of prayer in reaction to a crowd screaming outside a police station for the arrest of an alleged accused. Since when has this drama of a praying mob become the remedy to a mob of fanatics? Songs and speeches circulated on social media in support of a victim are hardly a deterrent to the rising intolerance. These controversial leaders who play prophet and their apologists are not interested in any serious process of soul-searching and reasoning to prevent or frustrate the communal agendas. After all, voices of sanity do not get instant popularity. Gandhiji had said: “Nothing is so easy as to train mobs, for the simple reason that they have no mind, no premeditation.”
‘Wisdom is supreme’ (Proverbs 4:7)
A distraught pastor in his Sunday reflection on the scriptures had the courage to mirror the truth when he said, “In these troubled times the Wisdom of Solomon is missing in our Political and Church leadership. The Humility of Solomon is not found in those exercising authority in God’s name. These earthly authorities refuse to apologize for their own sins of omission and commission, but expect unconditional apologies from the people to be pardoned….” Without doubt such pastors will not find favour in the eyes of toxic authorities.
‘A stitch in time saves nine.’
What Goa is encountering in its leadership is the cunning and baffling disease of money and power addiction. We the people cannot expect toxic leaders in politics or religion to liberate us. Sowing fear, insecurity and division are their favourite tools to control the people and deflect attention from the internal abuse and violence onto some external enemy. Toxic leaders along with their cultivated band of ‘flying monkeys’ are experts in presenting their victims as villains, while they play innocent victims. The unsuspecting public has to liberate itself from the ‘Karpman’s drama triangle’ of dysfunctional systems. The ‘Chronology samaj lijiye’ is not enough to tackle toxic leaders, ‘psychology bi samaj lijiye’ is equally important. The pulpits cannot be the shortcut to fight the political menace of communal hatred. Inter-religious prayer meetings have to move into inter-religious dialogue on contentious social and political issues. The antidote to hate does not lie in reactionary responses, but by investments in proactive and collective processes which have to mature over time.
(The writer was a counsellor at a Drug Prevention and De-addiction Centre in Goa)
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