Wanted: A second Liberation of Goa; freedom unlimited

Thirty two years before Goa got liberated on December 19, 1961, on the same day another year (1929), the Purna Swaraj Declaration or Declaration of the Independence of India, was promulgated by the Indian National Congress. The Declaration resolved that Indians would fight for Purna Swaraj, or complete self-rule independent of the British Empire and stated, “The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually. Therefore, India must sever the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence.” Mark the words ‘deprived’, ‘exploitation’ and even ‘ruined’. Doesn’t the word strike nearer home? Isn’t the context quite similar to the times we live in? The ruin of contemporary Goa – economically, politically, culturally and even spiritually – is what we live with, live in. 57 years later Goa needs a Purna Swaraj redux from the current state of politics and governance. Time for a second Liberation of Goa.

Classical Greek philosopher Plato had said, “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.” In the sixth decade of our existence as a proud and self-assertive State, Goa realises that in a democracy we are no more than a flock of sheep that are being led by leaders that we choose – elections after elections, at panchayats, in comunidades, in municipalities, as MLAs and even Members of Parliament. That classic definition of democracy as a government by the people, of the people and for the people has now turned into a government by the captive voters, of the elected representative and for a purpose defined by the elected representative or his ruling dispensation. On this Liberation Day, we need to first ask ourselves, where do we exist in the scheme of a ‘liberated’ system? Somewhere in these six decades of Goa’s existence as a democratic Union Territory and then a State under the Republic of India, an average Goan has been reduced to the status of a vote, a number, a census digit. His voice lost in the din of democracy. Liberated? Yes. But at whose mercy?

Today, a State representative shall read out a well-crafted speech at a State function and hoist a flag with mechanical clockwork precision. Just like the way you would wind up those clocks of yore that would chime every year to remind us that we are a liberated State. Our government would remind us that we are free from our colonial past and that we should rejoice that historic moment of 1961. What they didn’t tell us was that only our masters changed, our value as individuals didn’t. Before 1961, we chose our masters in a foreign land 12,393 km away; after 1961, we chose our masters in Goa with the tacit approval of an unknown master in Delhi. Either way, we were just then another brick in the wall. The ballot (and EVM) in Goa has transformed from the right of a citizen to decide who is the best to represent his/her interests to the blind faith in the powerful. The zeal that we saw Goa winning an Opinion Poll is lost as weary voters trudge every five years to endorse the same faces. Liberated? Yes. But our fate in whose hands?

Prof Butler Shaffer, Professor Emeritus at Southwestern University School of Law distinguishes between Liberty and Freedom thus. He says, “Liberty is what the State (meaning over-weaning government) decides to grant you in terms of personal freedom. Freedom, he says, is your individual ability to do what you want with your time, believe what you want, think what you want. Freedom is in your core being and cannot be taken away, even by most totalitarian governments, although they may try. In other words, freedom is your free agency, given to you by the very act of being born. Liberty is a governmental structure that hopefully allows you freedom of life, liberty and property (but almost never does).” Dear Goan and Goenkar, did we get either – the freedom to be what we wanted to be as a resourcefully rich and culturally diverse land or the liberty to run Goem as a model for others to emulate? Our own are abandoning this land and departing. They are denied a chance to excel, divested of a right to choose what they want to do with their land and even deserted by their own leaders who promised them that Goa will be another world-class hub. Liberated? Yes. But strangers in our own land?

Vasco breathes coal instead of the salted breeze from the Arabian Sea, was this the Liberation promised when Indian soldiers drove down into what they now call Hutatma Chowk? Did we welcome bulldozers and JCB excavators to plunder our earth in Sanguem, Curchorem and Bicholim and create giant mining pits out of our virgin forests on this day 57 years ago? Or did we want our pristine and virgin khazans to be filled up to create hectares of real estate concrete jungles when we saw dreams of a liberated Goa on this day in 1961? Most tragically, did we embrace the mainland to first compromise and then kill our age-old gaunkaris, our comunidades in Sancoale, in Mapusa to create a landing ground for slums, vote banks and infrastructure projects that we didn’t need – all in the name of Liberation? Liberated? Yes. But at what cost?

This day, don’t just wave a tricolour at a government gig or spend time gossiping over cocktails and/or a succegad lunch with friends and families enjoying another winter holiday – ruing what’s wrong or right with Goa. Ask yourself, isn’t liberty about getting the freedom to choose what we want to do with our land, with our neighbourhood, with our livelihood? So why is someone else deciding our fate? Liberation did mean that we chose our own representative, our own Government. Liberation never meant that who we chose ruled us. This liberty was meant to be a celebration of each individual’s freedom. Why did we allow it to be hijacked by the conniving, conspiring few? The time is now for a second coming, a second liberation of Goa. Liberation from leaders who treat us as numbers and vote banks, liberation from unwanted projects that destroy our landscapes to nurture a chosen few, liberation from officials whose salaries are paid from taxes that we pay yet their loyalties lie with elected representatives, liberation from crony capitalists who pose as friends of Goa but sell it to marauding non-residents. The list is endless, how would you celebrate Goa’s liberation today?