All the snarled traffic and disrupted schedules notwithstanding, Panjim’s citizens have one big reason to thank Narendra Modi for today’s flying visit. It turns out the prime minister so dislikes the cheap vulgarity of the gambling “industry” that Goa’s administrators have hastily pulled down every scrap of tawdry casino advertising that usually blights the Mandovi riverfront. The difference is palpable and immediate. It feels like being released from mental torture, which begs the inevitable question: why is Goa being subjected to this punishmentin the first place? And what does it say about the so-called “leadership” that is racing to hidethegrotesque mess they themselves created, while transparently restore it all when the PM turns his head?
The long-overdue visual cleansing was alerted early on Facebook by the building conservationist, researcher and writer Poonam Verma Mascarenhas, who posted this message: “Glad to see that all posters of (brand name removed) casino that were put on both sides of the Miramar-Caranzalem road have been taken down. Also noticed that traffic barriers have new adverts and not of any Casino- at the Science Centre junction. Hope this is not just a fake makeover.”
Mascarenhas is one of India’s leading heritage architects, who has completed well-regarded projects all over the country, from Jaipur to the Shimla Town Hall. With regard to her home state, her commitment has been especially rich and fruitful, including co-founding the invaluable Goa Heritage Action Group over two decades ago (of which I am a more recent member). Back in 2017, she also edited and compiled the invaluable reference book The Mapped Heritage of Panaji, which comprises over 900 detailed entries for all the buildings of historical importance within our pocket-sized state capital’s 13 distinct neighbourhoods.
“It has been feeling like we are under siege from the casinos the past few months,” said Mascarenhas to me via email, after I reached out to ask her to elaborate on her initial post. “I have just returned from Ahmedabad, where I happened to visit the Sabarmati Ashram. That was playing in my mind, and it was reinforced at the Ahmedabad airport, where a side wall features historic pictures and inspirational quotes from Gandhiji. Then, from the moment of arriving back home in Goa, both inside and outside the airport on giant billboards, I felt assaulted, and aggressively exhorted to gamble, And I thought to myself with a sinking heart and enraged mind - this is what we have done, pinned all the truly important core values of simplicity, honesty, responsibility and collective harmony to one side, while mindlessly marketing crude hedonism in the name of entertainment.”
Mascarenhas told me ruefully that “not so long ago, talk was rife about rebuilding the “lost” templesin Goa, but now it feels much more like the ‘Yudhisthirs’ of the state are trying to enact the Mahabharata by gambling away all of our resources: the khazans, forests, beaches, rivers and seashore, along with every bit of the sanctity and security of the Goans.
Everywhere, in every direction, all is being sold to the highest bidder, and gamblingis the only the forerunner in this disgraceful auction of public space and community assets. The fact is the casino takeover has spawned a shocking reality: I can’t even think of taking an evening stroll on the historic and once upon a time most beautiful promenade of the Mandovi waterfront by myself anymore. It has already become an unsafe zone.”
This thuggish, illegal takeover of precious public space is only one part of “the siege” outlined by Mascarenhas: “We must acknowledge that it is not just a visual relief to see the casino signageremoved from the long Miramar-to-Caranzalem stretch, but something much deeper. The sight represented, and still represents, a glimmer of hope that our cultural devastation is not yet permanent. We all know every signage matters: that visuals impact neurons which shape the intellect, so just think about what message hascontinually been transmitted to our children from every ten metres on every road. Now, at this juncture, it’s very clear the taking down of casino advertising is an acknowledgement of wrongdoing by the city and state authorities. If they replace itall after the PM leaves, it will be an equally open proof of their apathy, and total negligence towards the society they have supposedly taken an oath to serve.”
To be sure, evidence of that last sad fact has long been in view from the most entrenched political forces in Goa, after (just one decade ago) the late chief minister Manohar Parrikar reversed his pre-election protestations against casinos, and revealed himself to be their most significant champion. Nonetheless, the long-time Panjim MLA and Modi confidant (whose long-dormant memorial on Miramar beach was also haphazardly raced to completion for today’s visit) had an inherently unshakeable wherewithal of personal integrity, which is conspicuously lacking in his successors. Crawling where he would have refused to bend, they have wholly capitulated to the casino lobby, and yielded up the heart and soul of the state’s governance without hesitation. What is more, they know exactly how rotten their actions have been, which explainsthe cheap cover-up in Panjim this weekend.
Goa’s abject failures are starkly highlighted by what Tamil Nadu has managed to achieve the past few weeks under chief minister M K Stalin. His administration held admirably firm in passing an ordinance followed by a bill that banned all online gambling and gaming. This is straight from the Justice Chandru Committee’s recommendations: ban the activity, forbid all associated advertising, and go on to make it illegal nationwide via Article 252 of the Constitution. The reasoning was simple: citizen welfare. Here, it’svery interesting to note that for identical reasons – health and wellbeing – the staunch BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has announced that it too will immediately follow suit. It’s nothing more than the painful truth that only Goa’s administration has prostrated and prostituted itself so disgracefully, to such an extent that Modi’s own men are now racing desperately to try and fool their leader.