A few days ago, the BBC aired a story about a 58-year-old Indian grandfather who was brutally tackled by a 27-year-old police officer in Alabama, USA. The footage was grim and heartbreaking; the old man was left near paralyzed by the assault, his only fault being his inability to speak English. Growing up in India, I have always had respect for the Goa police; I have seen them work tirelessly to protect our way of life, I have read with pride about how they avenged the attack on their station by local goons, I have watched them stand with their backs to the public guarding the sons and daughters of babus hours before their motorcade arrives.
I remember with pride as then Panjim PI Mahesh Gaonkar cracked down on local tough guys whose acquaintances would lord their hallowed names in college campuses in my youth. I also recall with sadness the way they were humiliated by the armed forces personnel who waltzed into their station and threatened them for manhandling their companions; the way they stood helplessly as Nigerian nationals held Porvorim to siege and now I watch them being used as mercenaries to assault local mothers, fathers, sons and daughters like they have tackled drunk tourists so many times before.
There has to be a precedent here, the police would never treat elderly citizens this badly before. I believe they are disillusioned by the state of affairs at present. They are no longer working for the country, they realize they are at the beck and call of little men with big shoes to fill, and for this I sympathize with the police force and I ask them to remember that they stand for a higher ideal. Justice and fairness to all, and also to remember it is the God given duty of the strong to protect the weak..even if the weak are rude and undeserving of patience. Goa urges you to adhere to universal laws of uprightness at all costs, and to remember that it is better to suffer pain for doing what is right, than for doing what is wrong.
God bless the Goa police. Thank you your endless efforts to keep us safe. May you be forgiven for betraying the sacred soil that you and your children belong to.
