By
| 07 Feb, 2016, 07:47AM IST
The
recent outburst of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court against
the menace of corruption in the governance systems reveals the level of
frustration even within the judiciary at having to remedy a problem
which citizens ought to have also attempted to do instead of depending
solely on courts. When the high court advises that people
‘non-cooperate’ with corruption in the political system it appears to be
reminding this nation that we are a democracy. In a democracy, we the
people have the power to install and bring down governments every five
years through the ballot. If corruption persists in this country, then
it is clear that we the citizens of this country have equally failed in
our democratic duty. This would imply that we the people have overtly or
covertly connived with the system in letting the ‘multi-headed hydra’
of corruption (as referred to by the high court) to flourish but expect
the judiciary to work miracles within a legal frame-work put in place by
such people’s representatives. This also holds true for the corruption
and communalism we witness in Goa. It is ultimately Goan society which
cooperates with the corrupt and communal system by voting for
unscrupulous public representatives. So merely, screaming foul or
gambling with political fronts floated by the very same corrupt system
without doing the basics will bring no solution.
Both
non-cooperation and non-violence are the powerful weapons which we as a
nation have inherited from our great struggle for independence from
British exploitation. But employing both these weapons requires immense
spiritual strength, first within the social leaders and then also within
the masses. Unfortunately a modern society driven by greed which gets
manifested in materialism and consumerism seems to have wiped off traces
of such spiritual force which Gandhiji referred to as ‘soul force’.
According to Gandhiji, “non-cooperation means refusal, both to help the
sinner in his sin and to accept any help or gift from him till he has
repented.” He further adds that, “the primary object of non-cooperation
is nowhere stated to be paralysis of the Government. The primary object
is self-purification.” So will Goans reflect on their own social and
political behaviours and refrain from such actions which promote a
corrupt and communal system to thrive before focusing on government,
politicians and all others except themselves? Should citizens not
refrain from taking donations for religious activities, sports and
cultural activities from corrupt governments and politicians? If not,
what moral right do we have to curse and swear against corrupt
politicians when we are beneficiaries of the exploits from such crime?
What
we have today as protests against corruption and communalism are far
from people’s movements but more of mob reaction provoked by elitist
activist clubs which obviously sees actions devoid of reasoning and
wreathed with impatience and impulsivity. There are no objectives set
nor are there timely evaluations of the social actions undertaken by
ever mushrooming social-action groups which appear and disappear as per
the seasons. The end result is that we only get ‘selfies’ of self-praise
and self-marketing on social media and the same old corrupt political
agents getting elected under new brand labels. So, what we see is not
only dual citizenship but also dual behavior of Goans, one for the
public and the other in private. Therefore, while there is so much
concern being raised over the social and political alienation of the
Goan, there is also an unexplained rush for a share of the economic
benefits afforded by the same unscrupulous and immoral political
system.
Going
by the noise decibels, a hurt and grieving Goan society should normally
have seen non-cooperation or non-participation in any government
sponsored entertainment or festivities. But this is not the case. Goans
seem to enjoy the fun and orgasms derived from the fun and frolic
afforded by the corrupt political system but do not want to suffer the
pain which comes along as a natural consequence. If not, why do we not
see the consolidation of the petty forces hopping around town with
‘special status’, RP, asmitai, MoI, coconut tree, clean governance and
the rest which actually are mere symptoms of a root cause which is
corruption and communalism? What prevents Goans from launching a
non-cooperation movement by refusing to collaborate in criminal
development and all that it throws up in the form of carnival parades,
booze escapades, music and food festivals and so on till the government
mends its ways? Are Goans ready to spoil the party even though it will
pinch their pockets, or have we reduced ourselves to such a position
where ‘beggars can no more be choosers’?
http://www.heraldgoa.in/Review/Voice-Of-Opinion/Have-Goans-really-had-enough/98670.html
Published in Herald Review -7th February 2016
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