Activism in Goa needs Azaadi
Just a decade ago there was a spark of hope that the rot in Goa would be arrested as activism began picking up in villages.
By | 08 May, 2016, 06:37AM IST
The Gram Sabhas were in the news for seeking accountability from elected representatives. There was a sense of panic among politicians and real estate developers. It was heartening to see that many simple women were in the forefront of the struggle to save the little that was left of traditional Goa. But unfortunately, like many promising movements have been destroyed in the past, the arrogance, imprudence and in some cases compromise with the political establishment by some leaders destroyed the unity and morale of the people. What we see today seems more of a ‘Save Goa’ brand exploited by cheats and political agents which passes as activism. Activism seems to have become more about the activist’s sustainability rather than Goa’s sustainable development.
Activist jargon such as ‘sustainable’, ‘participatory’, ‘co-operative’,…has a large consumer market as it strikes an emotive chord in a distressed and agonized Goan society. The vulnerability of the people was always known to be exploited by politicians, but in the last couple of years the evils of our political system have also slipped into so-claimed people’s activism. For those familiar with the games politicians play it does not take long to notice the lies, slander, double speak, secrecy, blackmail and other dirty tactics adopted in activism to incite or deceive the public. For instance, activism over a decomposing corpse in a morgue by preventing the last rites on the pretext of demanding justice when the underlying intention appears more about using it as a political tool for an upcoming State election cannot be anything else but criminal activism. So what we are witnessing nowadays in activism is more like George Orwell had said of politics, “Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Though politicians complain about activism blocking development in Goa, the contrary seems true. In reality, People’s Power actually stands weakened with a bunch of ring leaders appropriating the right to speak on behalf of everyone. In the absence of some minimum acceptable code of conduct for activists set by society, it does not take time for complaints and litigations to save Goa to also become an industry for blackmail and extortion, if allegations doing the rounds in government and industrial circles have some truth in them. Recently, a mining firm alleged that an activist had received some few lakhs of rupees. The defence put out for the activist about the money having been distributed to fellow villagers to cover losses was not convincing. The conflict of interest in activism is at times so glaring that a businessman who faces competition from the casinos actually leads the anti-casino protests. Similarly, builders who give affidavits to get their construction projects approved within the setback of a proposed ten metre road then masquerade as activists to instigate public to oppose the road width. A politician who does not succeed in getting his bribe from a construction project then gets his agents to use the Gram Sabha to oppose the project on the pretext of environment or that it is a burden on existing infrastructure. So also, professionals who are associated with real estate development and in government committees also double up as activists and control decision making on land use planning policies in people’s movements. It is perhaps for this reason that activism probably does not go beyond press conferences, a couple of public meetings with people carted to the venue, litigations and in some situations even violence. If this is not true, then why is it that certain issues and projects get so much prominence while even more serious issues and other similar projects adversely affecting the lives of people get ignored?
The activism we see around does not appear to empower people but instead reduces them to puppets on a string to get pulled as per convenience. For Gandhiji had said, “Nothing is so easy as to train mobs, for the simple reason that they have no mind, no meditation.” The only vaccine to prevent falling prey to unscrupulous activism is for people to cultivate the skill for ‘Critical Thinking’ and ‘Informed Choices’. A priest in a frock flanked by activists like Amar-Akbar-Anthony must not deceive us into believing that a movement is secular and genuine. The public needs to demand accountability and transparency from activists before lending support. There needs to be a rationale with definite objectives and a time-frame spelt out for people’s movements along with transparent and participatory decision making mechanisms. If not, Goans can only expect to be driven to eternally dreaming and agitating for ‘acche din’ while Goa gets destroyed.
http://www.heraldgoa.in/Review/Voice-Of-Opinion/Activism-in-Goa-needs-Azaadi/101776.html
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