Lessons from Thursday…
As Goa limps back to normal after the traumatic events of Thursday when a mob of African-origin “guests” in the State ran rampant in Porvorim, there are a few obvious lessons the government must draw and Goans must learn.
Paramount among them is the urgent need to get Goa’s police force in a semblance of working order. While there is no doubt that there are many good men and women in the police who work tirelessly and honestly in less-than-ideal circumstances, as the arm of the state tasked with the crucial duties of upholding law and order, protecting the lives, free movement and property of citizens, and maintaining public order without infringing upon individual rights it has proven to be a letdown.
But the police haven’t reached this sorry pass overnight. Political patronage for goons and mafias is a Goan reality as much as the soft, white sands and azure waters on our coast, and there is no gainsaying denying that. The situation has been building for years, if not decades, and the most common reaction among Goans in the aftermath of the Porvorim riot was to reaffirm the public perception that the few good men and women of the force seem to be in a minority whilst a majority are either too scared or untrained or, indeed, on the take. That is neither a healthy sign for Goa nor for its protectors.
It is the police top brass, without depending on politicians, who must take in hand the undoubtedly arduous task of getting the force fighting fit, refining command and control responsibilities, streamlining communication procedures, making intelligence gathering an integral part of their subordinates’ jobs and looking at crowd control measures in a contemporary light. In this context, the Supreme Court order, also delivered perhaps providentially on Thursday, telling the executive to put in place fixed tenures for bureaucrats and making it clear the latter are not obliged to listen to verbal orders provides a positive signal.
In the absence of effective policing, the results for Goa were there for all to see on Thursday.
First, there seems to have been no local intelligence from Parra, where the murder of the Nigerian that started the confrontation took place, conveyed to other police stations or up the chain of command that the situation was getting restive and precautionary measures should be put in place.
Secondly, as the Chief Minister admitted, the “technical error” of not having an adequate police force to accompany the hearse taking the victim’s body to the Goa Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem provided an opportunity for the law-breakers to force the vehicle to a stop, and this relates to the first point directly.
Thirdly, once the situation took an ugly turn and the hearse was trashed, the body of the victim dragged out and dumped on the National Highway 17 and an, initially not too large, group of the victim’s co-citizens/ethnic compatriots started venting their ire, quick and robust police action taken by those on the ground may have averted the flare-up.
Fourthly, if reports of motorcycle-borne youth of African-descent racing from the Parra and Siolim areas through the Sangolda road to reach the O’Coqueiro junction to join the mayhem had been acted upon via effective communication within the police, rough-and-ready road blocks and diversions could have been created to prevent a build-up of the mob holding Goa to ransom in Porvorim.
Fifthly, the non-deployment of police personnel trained to handle riot-like situations some of whom were reportedly on guard duty at senior officers’ residences and the absence of cops experienced in crowd control techniques allowed the confrontation to develop into a riot.
It is necessary, perhaps, to make a couple of last points. As has been stated in this newspaper with regard to the riot in Porvorim, vigilante groups taking the law into their hands are on the rise in Goa primarily due to the failure of the state over the past two decades and on Thursday, once the rioters have spent their fury and the police finally gained control of the situation, the inability of police to prevent the assault by enraged locals on some of the rioters was unacceptable too and the CM is right in making it clear that the law will apply equally to anyone found guilty.
Finally, the idea is not to indulge in an exercise in police-bashing ~ there are many cops who work in terrible conditions and under various pressures to try and do their job well. It is our duty to insist that they be provided better training, working conditions, equipment and functional autonomy. On condition that it is understood that with greater authority, comes greater responsibility.
