Visitacao B. Monteiro
The annual celebration of Goa’s Opinion Poll as ‘Asmitai Day’ has become a mere empty ritual for Goans and a waste of time and money to proclaim our past ‘Distinct and Unique Identity’ – Our Goenkarponn – which is nearly dead and gone and nobody is making any serious efforts to revive it. In fact, Dr Jack de Sequeira would be very much pained to see that Goenkars are squabbling over his statue while they have forgotten the cause he and Goans fought all together.
Today, we Goans stand as a confused lot. ‘Susegado’ people as we are known have become a boisterous people, protesting at every major development issue since 1962. We are fighting every day and how long will we be fighting to protect our Goenkarponn?
At every election politicians swear to protect our Goenkarponn and once they are elected they are the first ones to sell our Goemkarponn for 30 pieces of Silver to the real estate developers, corporates and all others who long to have a piece of land or a flat in this place called Goa, a ‘paradise’ for all but a ‘hell’ for Goenkars. This happens because we Goans have failed to understand that our Goenkarponn stems from centuries old unique institutions of village governance or self-rule known as ‘Gaunkaris’ or ‘Comunidades’ where there is no element of State Landlordism over the Goenkars. Every ruler of the past, even the Portuguese, respected our distinct Goan land identity, but since 1962 our own country that had promised to uphold it, negated it to us and as long as it is not restored there cannot be any talk, let alone celebration of our Goenkarponn.
The MGP having failed to merge Goa into Maharashtra, enacted legislations which have interfered with our Goenkarponn as the Agricultural Tenancy Act and Land Revenue Code 1968. Since our land is not revenue land this latter act has no place in Goa. The Congress and the BJP who followed the MGP instead of repealing these nefarious legislations embraced them fully because the respective party MLAs thought they should rule over the people of Goa and not with the people of Goa.
Unless we Goans arise for a second liberation of Goa, there will be no end to our protests and demonstrations which have become a routine affair and we are already tired, exhausted and finished fighting uselessly for a nearly dead Goemkarponn. Will Goans arise?
