THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
The chronic Goan Denial which is at the root of Goa’s social and political curse is one issue which will never get space in the public discourse on saving Goa. Overcoming societal denial has always been the biggest hurdle faced by community workers, social reformers and HR managers when attempting to bring about any change in thinking and behaviour. Crossing this barrier of denial is the gateway to tackling any community issue and bringing about change. It is denial which breeds escapism, scapegoating and cynicism. It's this trap of denial that ultimately lands the victims into losing their self-respect, dignity and comprehension of what is normal and abnormal. Goans may complain about their miserable plight and curse the politicians but will remain psychologically bonded to the same abusive and exploitative political system.
Denial has made Goans vulnerable to all sorts of political manipulation. Empty rhetoric, irrational and reactionary outbursts, instead of cautionary, proactive and pragmatic responses, have become the new social and political order in the State. There may be no better description of the fatality in ‘denial’ than what gets described by Astrologer Suzanne Wagner who says,
“There is a great danger in denial.
Within denial is a legendary doom.
Denial is allowed to grow because of those that refuse to see,
those that refuse to take action, and
those that believe they know better.
Denial births horrors and unleashes darkness in the world.
Denial eats truth and swallows light.
Denial festers fear and cultivates shame.
Denial is the virus that will take over, take life, and
take over the goodness that has been created over time.”
It is chronic denial which refuses to admit that Goa now faces a bankruptcy of credible and charismatic social and political leaders. It is this denial which cries hoarse against intrusion by ‘outsiders’ but in the same breath has no problem with the political dictation by Gujaratis, Delhiites, Biharis and Bengalis. Goans remain blinded to a simple truth that the political dynamics and culture of Delhi as a Union Territory and West Bengal as a large State cannot be compared to a tiny State with a susegado culture, which has now been further reduced by the rest of the nation to simply drugs, wine, song, food, women and casino.
Unfortunately, the politically short-sighted Goan is shameless and blind to truth. We see how the Parivartan in 2012 and Goykarponn in 2017 which got embraced blindly by the ded shano (over-smart) goykar has backfired horribly. The Goan hosts do not mind playing pimps and touts in their own house for a little flattery and a few pennies while their guests from Bharat call the shots and set the rules. No lessons are learnt from repeated political betrayals of trust. The double speak Goan will have no qualms of conscience to sell his/her land to outsiders and surrender the vote and also join the crowd on the streets to save Goa.
The Goan resistance to admit the truth and embrace pragmatic political solutions arises from warped thinking processes and attitudes driven by a ego, half information, gossip and manufactured truths. The activist-politician nexus selectively picks trivial issues by playing down more serious and interconnected issues to distract, divide and further their monetary interests. NRIs cheering the Goan revolution is another cruel joke. Goa with its miseries and lack of political alternatives has now become the playground for opportunistic national players to exploit and realise their ambitions for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The devious designs in selectively targeting and carpet bombing some of the coastal constituencies for elections and social movements over the years, under the guise of protecting or liberating Goa from the destruction and the political mess, are so very obvious for anyone with a little bit of common sense.
Toxic politics aided by a capitalist economy will never allow the emergence of collective initiatives for change, and will do all it can to ensure Goans remain vulnerable to manipulation. We already see how unemployment and price rise are increasing poverty and vulnerability of citizens to the manipulation by politicians and industrialists. With the claim of making people swayampurna and atmanirbhar what is actually being promoted is a culture of slavery, with empty promises of jobs and a dependence on doles and freebies. What we do not realise is that the social welfare policies of the government or the CSR programmes, which are made to appear as philanthropy from the personal wealth of politicians and corporates, are actually the public’s money squeezed out through ever increasing and exorbitant taxation coupled with liberal tax concessions and waivers granted to industry.
For the moment, the future of Goa looks scary. We can hardly be sure as to how many Goan revolutionaries parading the streets actually have a vote in Goa. It's only when one consciously breaks away from this typical regressive Goan psyche, or resists getting sucked into the society's dysfunctionality, that he/she will recognise the factual truth from manufactured truth. Pope Francis says, “one of the faults which we occasionally observe in sociopolitical activity is that spaces and power are preferred to time and processes.” Goa can only be saved by Goans who stay put in their homeland, cultivate the humility to admit the shortcomings, remain honest, persistent and consistent in political action, speak truth to power and exercise their vote prudently.
(The author is a Social Activist who has worked in creating awareness on the issue of local self-governance.)
