It has been quite a month in the country. Dominated by the political discourse on the pros and
cons of the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens
(NRC). The reaction from the average citizen has been one of anger and
frustration. Yes, there have been those who support this move but the general
sentiment has been against it. This has given rise to rallies being organised
all over the country. Led by the people. Goa has witnessed similar protests all
over the state. The turnout has been massive. This begs the question, has this
issue and several others being addressed in the state rekindled the activist
movement in the state.
If one looks at the history of the state, the people have always
been ready to go out on the streets to fight for their rights. The language
agitation, the battle against the CRZ violations was another issue that angered
the people and the recent decision to declare 56 villages in 9 talukas as urban
brought out hundreds on to the roads of Goa. And now the rallies against the
CAA has again generated a huge response. Blaise Costabir Businessman and one
who has been an astute observer of the political landscape in the state said “I
don’t think it has rekindled the spirit of activism, Goa if you have seen
through the ages has always been active. People are speaking up and there has
generally never been a lull in activism. If there is a problem then people
speak up”.
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Sherwyn Correia, a law student activist who has participated in
the rallies said “Activism in Goa is essentially a networking of like-minded
public-spirited citizens. Yes, the anti-CAA movement has reanimated activism to
some extent. Be that as it may, of late there have been no dearth of reasons to
rekindle activism in Goa ”.
An influential player in the social and political landscape of
the state is the church. Fr. Victor Ferrao, Dean of the Rachol Roman Catholic
seminary felt CAA had managed to unite all the activists in the state who
earlier were acting individually. He felt this was unintended by the government
and the people of the state and the rest of the country had united which was a
welcome development. “This is a people’s movement and no party can take
advantage of this movement”, he said
Noted painter sculptor and installation artist Subodh Kerkar
said “It was an accumulation of a lot of things done by the government not just
in Goa but also in the entire country. The constitution is under threat. My
children have been participating and the sign that a lot of young people have
been participating is a very good sign for democracy”.
Asked if the political class was worried about this development,
CleofatoCountinho, Lawyer and activist said he would not know about the entire
political class but he was sure the ruling party which felt it had a mandate of
a majority and reduced the entire process to electoral politics which was not
healthy. If people felt something was wrong, they would protest. He said “It is
unbelievable for the first time the government is mobilising people on the road
to show support for the CAA it is unheard of. What happened in Delhi is the
hate that came out of the division, has been encouraged”.
Political parties look to exploit each and every situation and
the general consensus was that the political parties of each and every hue
would try to exploit the situation. CleofatoCountinho felt the issue would be
exploited by the ruling party till the Bengal elections scheduled to be held
next year. Dr Oscar Rebello, social activist and one of the prominent faces of
the Aaam Admi Party in the 2017 elections, said this was a people’s campaign
and no political party was involved and the people were keeping it that way.
Political parties he said would try to take advantage but it remained to be
seen in the days ahead. Subodh Kerker said the political class is always
worried about any such problems but the issues he felt was that the
alternatives were not clear.
The sustaining power of the movement depended on the youth and
they had shown that they were willing to go the distance to ensure that future
generations would not point a finger at them and accuse them of standing aside
and doing nothing when the constitution was being tampered. Sherwyn Correa a
young law student said “The belief in the secular and democratic credentials of
our country enshrined in the preamble of our Constitution will always remain
the sustaining power of the anti-CAA agitation”.
Future
generations will hope this stands true.
