Fifty years after Goa voted to retain its identity, it faces a threat to that very identity as the State and its people come to a crucial point of time when they have to decide which road to take ahead. Do we take the high road to development and ignore the special characteristics that make Goa what it is? Or do we work to retain those characteristics and still take the road to development? Those are questions that should play on the mind of every adult Goan, especially at this point of time, as the State comes close to another election that will decide who will govern the State for the next five years and the policies that will be implemented.

Opinion Poll Day, perhaps the most important of all days for Goa, as it was on January 16, 1967 that the people voted to have a voice and identity of their own is almost forgotten. Post Liberation, Opinion Poll was the first victory for Goa, in its fight for language and identity. Today is the 50th anniversary of that day, but except for a few sporadic groups that are valiantly striving to keep alive the memory of that day in 1967 when Goa voted to remain a Union Territory rather than merge with Maharashtra, Opinion Poll day, also observed as Asmitai Dis (Identity Day) in the State, is passing off without much fanfare. 

While celebrated as Asmitai Dis, January 16, should be a day not just to look back at the poll of 1967 and its result with pride, but to look forward to where Goa will be 50 years from today. The State has reached a major milestone today, and the changes from what Goa was in 1967 and as it stands today are immense, even unimaginable to those who voted in that historic poll. The face of Goa has changed and with it has its people. Should not the changes be reined in before it is too late? The Goa we now know will have changed completely not 50 years from today, but even perhaps just 50 months from this day. The rapid pace of change led by technology and changing needs leads to a sense of urgency in ensuring that we safeguard what we have today, even if we have lost part of what we had in 1967.

There needs to be a balance maintained between protecting our identity and change. One way of keeping what we now have would be controlling migration. In 2013, the State government in the representation on Special Status made to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stated, “The apprehension is that by 2021 the migrant population will outnumber the local Goans.” This is a fair fear as migration has brought about changes across Goa, where even the villages, the epitome of Goenkarponn have not been spared. The threat is not just of migration into the State, but grows because of the number of Goans leaving the State for foreign shores in search of better jobs and a better life. The challenge will be to retain those in Goa with fair employment possibilities so as to maintain a balance of population.

It is perhaps time that Ulhas Buyão’s song Goenchea Mhojea Goenkaramno that in 1967 became almost the theme song of the Opinion Poll campaign is played again to awaken a new generation to the cause of safeguarding Goa. This generation needs to realise that the idea of Goa that their forefathers had is far displaced from the reality of today. Goenkarponn needs a boost as much as Goa needs to be aware of its heritage to keep it for tomorrow. Let the Opinion Poll’s golden jubilee be the day when Goa takes the vow to awaken itself to the changes and stem them.