The views expressed in my last article titled ‘Activism in Goa needs Aazadi’ met with interesting reactions, but not unexpected, from some sections of the activist circuit.
By
| 29 May, 2016, 07:42AM IST
The
views expressed in my last article titled ‘Activism in Goa needs
Aazadi’ met with interesting reactions, but not unexpected, from some
sections of the activist circuit. While some agreed that if activists
can demand accountability and transparency from governments then it is
but rational to expect that they also be open to applying the
prescriptions to themselves. Some others felt that the views expressed
had damaged the credibility and sincerity of activists and their
on-going struggles. With some activists it was the usual ‘Tu Tu, Main
Main’ with the sins of the Church getting flung into the argument out of
context in a sort of unconscious rationalisation for the shortcomings
in activism. Unfortunately, what seemed to have got lost in such
defensiveness was the message intended to be communicated by the author
who is also an activist. However, there has been no contest over the
contradictions and the conflict of interests within activism which were
pointed out in the article. This only substantiates the point that by
and large the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ between politics, economics and social
activism in Goa is fast getting blurred. This in no way denies the
existence of some sincere and selfless activists who adhere to certain
basic ethical principles and believe in participatory processes.
The
complication in activism arises as the very term ‘activist’ is applied
loosely and tends to get easily abused like the term ‘social worker’.
When convenient the activist can claim being apolitical and the next
moment become political, and after elections back to being apolitical.
Even scoundrels in politics may confer upon themselves the title of
‘dynamic social worker’ or ‘daring activist’. Any citizen, who attempts
to campaign against any injustice or protection of rights, is broadly
dubbed as an activist. An activist group tends to get labelled as
non-governmental organisation (NGO) by the media even if unregistered
and not undertaking development programmes of the government.
So
just as abuses arise in new economic entrepreneurship activities which
are not covered under any regulatory authority, activism too being a
free-for-all enterprise may attract black sheep who disgrace the entire
fraternity. For this reason, there were attempts made by activists in
the past to bring NGOs and activist groups under one umbrella to help
build solidarity, exchange information and promote good practices, but
these initiatives were obviously short-circuited for vested interests.
It appears that even a People’s Symposium was organised by some social
activists and trade unionists in the year 2004 on the theme “The
Relevance of NGOs in Goa Today” to help take a critical look at the role
of NGOs in Goa. But as usual, safeguarding monopoly over operational
turfs and reservations over accountability and transparency in regards
to operations had derailed the well-meaning efforts.
The
end result of arrogance and selfishness is the vulnerability of
activists and civil society groups (CSG) to negative propaganda
unleashed by the State machinery and industrial houses to confuse,
mislead and infuse disillusionment in the public. Simultaneously,
selfish ambitions of some activists and CSGs may lead to hobnobbing with
the political establishment to secure personal interests by sacrificing
larger community interests. The unhealthy competition to maintain
monopoly and secure self-interests could lead to sabotaging or derailing
the interventions of inconvenient players in the activism circuit. This
is possibly why, like the politician, the root causes of Goa’s problem
are allowed to fester while the public is entertained with merely
tackling the symptoms.
The
need of the hour is for a dose of spirituality and a more clinical
approach in Goa’s activism. For sustainable development of Goa there is a
need for sustainable interventions and solutions to emerge. Sustainable
solutions can only emerge through participatory and unfettered
consultative processes with the community. Duplication of efforts and
competition for space over popular issues while ignoring less attractive
ones which could be as serious only weakens the realization of
outcomes. A healthy approach in activism would be to explore areas for
intervention which could complement the existing movements rather than
duplicate efforts. The community too needs to play its role by
developing some sort of basic parameters for itself in order to help
distinguish between what is healthy activism and what is not. The
community should not remain content with being mere guests at the table
where the menu is pre-decided and sponsored by a bunch of seasoned
activists. Sustainable development of Goa can only be ensured by a
sustainable activism culture which has the community at the centre of
its activities to begin with. Just like external swacchata (cleanliness)
can only be ensured by first ensuring internal swacchata of mind and
heart, the same also holds true in regards to promoting clean activism
in Goa.
Publsihed in Herald Review, dtd. 29th May 2016
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