SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa
Yesterday, October 24, Goans across the world united to celebrate World Goa Day. It was the 20th anniversary of this day that was started by a Goan in London, Rene Barreto, who wanted to reach out to Goans across the world. The idea may have been smiled at or frowned at in the beginning depending on how one thought of the idea. It was started to mark the day that Konkani was enshrined in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution of India as one of the languages of the country. It picked up over the years, and then cyberworld truly made it a hit. At a time like the present, when the COVID-19 restrictions have kept people across the world indoors, the World Goa Day programme, became even larger as it went online.
So on Saturday, Goans , depending on where they live, either slept late or stayed awake through the night or woke up before the sun could rise to beat the rhythm of unity on their ghumots or on whatever instrument they could lay their hands on. It was a wonderful idea, that made onw wonder that if Goans can be united with the idea of Goaness, why can’t there be some form of unity in the land itself?
Take a glance at what is happening in Goa today. There are a number of movements across the State that are fighting for Goa. They are either opposing projects or defending the rights of the people. The issues are many and the groups are even more. Are all these groups required, or can their efforts be used for more other issues. For illustrative purposes, take the double tracking and coal issue that has been dominating in the past weeks.
The opposition to the doubling of the South Western Railway line is gaining strength and it is not restricted to any one area, but involves people all along the railway line, which goes across the breadth of Goa starting from the west and going to the east before crossing the border there into Karnataka. It passes through some of the most scenic of locations – the coastal belt, the villages of Salcete, the forests of Mollem, the Dudhsagar water falls – being some of them. The opposition to the double tracking of the railway line has brought together people from these various villages and of diverse occupations. Most of them see the doubling of the track as essentially being for the purpose of transporting coal that will be unloaded at the Mormugao Port Trust and then taken by rail to other States. The coal is not for Goa, that is for certain, but the resulting pollution is for the State, and this is the main reason for the opposition to the doubling of the track. Remember that a wagon carrying coal can spill on an average 300 kg of coal on a journey of 600 kilometre that worked to half a kilogramme of coal every kilometre. You just have to multiply this by the number of wagons in a train, which is approximately 60 and the number of trains a day to get an idea of the pollution.
Why then, is the State government overlooking this loud demand to cancel the land acquisition process that is currently underway and the entire project too? The protests have been ongoing for months, with even a ruling party MLA consistently standing alongside the people on the issue. Yet, the government has refused to budge on the matter. Could the reason be that there is no unity among those who have taken up the cause? There are too many groups fighting the same projects. Yet, if the goal of all these various groups is the same – to stop Goa from being used as a corridor to transport coal – then all these people’s movements have to come together and under a single umbrella which will bestow upon the movement greater strength and perhaps force the government to take a decision in favour of the people. The big challenge is if all these groups – and so many others – can rise to the occasion and find that unity which is currently elusive.
History is rife with example of battles having been lost because of the lack of unity among those fighting. All the groups that have their goal as stopping coal transportation through Goa have to come on the same platform to strengthen the fight. When there are so many issues affecting the State, is it advisable for so many different groups to be fighting the same issue, in the process dividing energies that could be utilised in other struggles? Of course, each group is fighting from a different angle but pooling the resources will also ensure that there is no duplication of the tasks at hand.
The coal issue is just one of the many that Goa is facing at the moment. It has been depicted here in some detail as an example of how a movement can gather force if there are numbers but could get derailed otherwise. In the past couple of years, there have been a number of organisations that have sprouted across the State, and many of these appear to have the interests of Goa at heart. But what they lack is unity across the spectrum. If that union does come about, it could give Goa a fighting chance at retaining its identity, culture and more importantly force the political system to fall in line with the aspirations of the Goans.
This is not just about coal, it is about much more, it is about Goans fighting for their land and coming together to defend it. Movements need more than statements to achieve their goals. They need unity. Goa has seen that unity missing, not just in the instant case but even in the past. Is it that only celebrations can bring about unity? Even when the celebrations are across the world? If the people are divided, the land will also remain divided, and that will not achieve the goal.The 20th anniversary of World Goa Day could serve to bring about the unity that is missing in Goa.
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa is Editor, Herald. He tweets at @monizbarbosa
