Goa is a tiny little State which is believed to have the highest density of social action groups as compared to other States. In spite of this Goa is socially and politically sliding down the drain with every passing day. No one has dared to evaluate the contribution of various people's movements and social actions over the years. Nor have there been any efforts to assess where interventions to Save Goa could be a little different and effective. Even proposing to have an introspection could invite stiff resistance and abuse from the activist lobby that demands accountability from the world but resent doing the same when it comes to their activities. If Goa has developed a politician-corporate cartel, it probably would not be wrong to say that side by side over the years there has also developed an activist cartel cultivated by the elitist media circles and gullible NRIs. These activists have been as damaging to the Goan cause as the unscrupulous and corrupt politicians. Sometimes it becomes difficult to distinguish between a politician and these activists. This activist cartel has managed to keep the 15 lakh population divided, distracted and entertained with various secondary issues affecting Goa, while it has kept the public away from understanding the primary issues affecting Goa. The public is kept busy with issue after issue that is never brought to a closure. Instead the interventions propel further problems. This over the years has contributed to some disillusionment in the Goan public that feels cheated by activists and has gradually developed a mindset that nothing will change. "Sab Chor hai!" attitude.
The problem is that it does not require any qualification to be declared an activist in Goa. It does not also require that you have sufficiently lived in Goa and absorbed the local culture. Elitist migrants become activists no sooner they step on Goan soil. Neither having a formal degree in Social Work will ensure a better sense of ethics and principles in an activist. The media too is quick to label anyone and everyone as an NGO or an activist, migrants with their sweet talk have a cutting edge. All it would require is issuing a press note or organising a press conference on some sensational issue and cultivating a set of media persons that will give them prominence. Just like the politicians, Goa's activist cartel is on the look out for popular issues that strike a chord with the people and the issue will be whipped till it can generate no further political and economic mileage. The people of Goa are taught to respond to issues emotionally and not with their reason. The Goan population is too ignorant to even realise the game until the end. By then it is too late. The activist cartel has moved on to some other emotional issue and will conveniently keep mum over the pile of old unresolved issues. Money and power are the driving force behind which issue will receive attention and which will not. Activism has become a tool for some budding professionals to gain popularity and sell their merchandise to the Goan people.
There is big talk among civil society groups about 'conflict of interest' and 'corruption' within MPs and MLAs. But no one in Goa dares utter a word against the conflict of interest and corruption among activists and their total lack of ethics. What do Goans have to say about the architects who first design a mega project for a construction firm on a hill slope in a sleepy fishing village of Goa within CRZ limits, get kicked out after a new management takes over, and then surface as activists to instigate the village people to file a PIL against the project to protect their hill slopes and oppose building violations and the rest? How do Goans react to environmental activists who instigate Goans against mining but who have no reservations as part of the school management to accept donations from a mining firm for a school building? Why are Goans blind to notice activists who receive awards for their activism from a top real estate firm? How can Goans have no problems with activists who accept donations from builders to fund their programs? Are Goans so ignorant about political party office-bearers who mingle among villagers claiming to save Goa's villages? And what about activists who double up as brokers for various property and land deals? How about activists who are part of Government panel on a particular issue and at the same time manipulate people's movements on the very same issue? Do Goans have a problem with an activist who exposes the designs of the fascists at Azad Maidan and preaches secularism but joins the very same fascist forces in spitting venom against the christian community on the medium of instruction issue? Why do Goans fail to see how activists who raise a hue and cry about environmental hazards but also sell their expertise to government agencies after mounting pressure through various actions? The list of conflict of interests and contradictions can go on. This will suffice for the moment. After raising these contradictions one can expect nothing from Goans except a defensive response and rationalisations that this is all a fiction of someone's imagination. Here begins the problem of Goa. The great Goan EGO which prevents any objective introspection.
There are too many contradictions in Goa's activist responses to people's issues. What can one say when even before a social issue gets resolved the Social Movement or the Activist spearheading the movement receives an Achievement Award from some Goan Trust or Foundation? It would be nice to find out who are the persons on the selection committee for this award. The sell out of the Gaon people on the Regional Plan by those who claimed awards for having engineered a people's victory is just one of the example. These days we see how the theme issue of some political party has also become the theme issue for some activists who have roped in NRIs and NRI organisations to create awareness. One should not be shocked to one day discover that there existed most acclaimed activists who were behind the granting of clean chits to polluting industries in industrial estates. Are Goans not familiar with how some save Goa activists designed a project for a religious institution in South Goa and got it approved as a residential house until alert villagers smelt the rat and stemmed the rot? Accusations also fly that activists get themselves on government and other committees to blackmail industrialists and real estate developers for various considerations. One is not guilty until proven guilty. Some Goans may be aware on how difficult it is to get national level legal person to assist in public interest issues and the reasons behind it. Only legal persons who are ready to defy the local activist cartel may take up the case. To prove someone guilty, one needs hard facts which are not easy to come. Logical assumptions are not sufficient. The people can sense it but cannot put their hand on the material facts. Corruption by activists is a very tricky enterprise. Till such time the rogue activists remain M/S CLEAN ACTIVIST.
It does not mean that all activists are crooks and opportunists. There do exist good and sincere activists who contribute positively but whose work remains unrecognised. As long as Goans do not have a basic code of ethics to judge their social activists and till such time as Goans do not learn to demand accountability and transparency from social movements and activists in Goa, they will be caught in this vicious circle of an ETERNAL CAMPAIGN TO SAVE GOA while the activists will grow richer from promoting their private enterprise and helping MIGRANT HAVENS to flourish in Goa.
-Soter Dee
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