Last week’s incident, where KDJ Ashwin Alvares was manhandled by members of his audience, in
Colva, still rankles within the music fraternity in the state. Having been
bloodied and bruised, Ashwin has endured far more than any entertainer should
have to when they set out to entertain an audience. The two main accused from
the group of men, however, and very much seen in the public sphere, which has
many people outraged, as they wonder if there is ever any justice to be had for
victims of such cases. Many feel that the best way to handle such a scenario,
is the real-life equivalent of a social media ‘blocking’ of such individuals.
Chrystal Farrell, a recognised singer in the music industry, has
views that resonate with the same outrage at the incident that is shared by
many others amongst the fraternity. “These guys have to be blacklisted, on a
personal as well as professional level. If they are proprietors, as they are in
this case, then their organisations should be blacklisted too,” she shares.
Probed further on how she feels this should be accomplished,
Chrystal adds, “The management and staff should put up a wall of shame, and have
their pictures put up on that. And rights of admission should be implemented.
As for their establishments, artistes should be given a list of these kind of
people, and they should not be allowed to perform or associate there. Even tour
magazines and publications promoting restaurants and events should definitely
put up warnings to tourists and other readers, so that they are totally
deterred from patronising these places.
Lester Rodrigues, of the iconic band A26, has been very vocal
when it comes to this incident, making it a point to highlight that there are
certain measures that establishments need to take, in order to ensure that the
performing artistes have their basic safety assured at venues.
“The sad thing about the law taking its course is that it takes
the course of a full lifetime. If the law and the guys who are supposed to
uphold the law just did their jobs thoroughly and honestly, then no one would
commit crimes in the first place. The venue owner should ban the offenders. On
one hand, the venue gets a bad name, and on the other hand, they should take
steps to blacklist guests that commit offences like this, within or near the
immediate vicinity of their establishments. The safety of guests, entertainers
and workers are the sole responsibility of the venue owner, and he or she
should take adequate steps in this regard,” Lester elucidates.
The risk that is incurred is far greater by solo performers,
especially if they are female, points out Revellino Fernandes, a bassist with
the much sought-after band True Blue. “When it comes to offenders, I feel that
each venue that serves alcohol and provides entertainment should appoint a
person who is in-charge of security, or a bouncer to prevent any altercation
with the artiste/staff. I feel that they should be blacklisted, based on the
degree of the offence. If it’s verbal, then maybe they should be warned; if it
results in a physical contact, then they should be barred from entering the
venue. I also feel that since most venues are monitored by CCTV, there should
be a social media group connecting all the venues in Goa, where they post a
photo of the violator so that other venues are notified as well. Being in a
band, there’s less of a problem, because we have our band mates’ backs. These
sort of situations can easily arise during pub gigs, but solo performers,
especially female artists, need to be especially careful,” he shares, in
concern.
There
isn’t yet a fool proof method that ensures that all objectives can be met, but
it is perhaps better that some are implemented, at the very least, rather than
risk such incidents even potentially reoccurring.
