FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024
Joel Morais
The prime responsibility of any elected government is to ensure the safety and security of its own citizens and their precious land. Sadly, every elected government after Liberation of Goa sold the territory’s pristine land to the highest bidder. The first ever elected government after Liberation had almost sold Goa to Maharashtra, but fortunately the Opinion Poll of 1967, saved Goa from merger. A decent amount of Goans voted for merger but niz Goemkars outnumbered the ‘Maharashtrawadis’ and our Goa was saved from merger.
Then the Congress came to power in 1980s and started selling off Goa's precious land. Today, it's a combination of the Congress and the BJP selling Goa even as the BJP is officially running the state government.
Hill cutting has become a daily affair in Goa. People running the state of affairs were even heard terming hills as slopes to benefit the destroyers or so called developers. Our Goa is governed by heartless politicians and shockingly to justify some deeds the Margao MLA even claimed to have direct contact with his God.
Our government speaks about ‘Green Revolution’ on one side and thousands of fully grown trees are cut, and forests areas are destroyed. This includes destruction of wild life sanctuaries in the name of so called development. Is it all about human convenience or greed? Don’t the other poor helpless species, living in the forest and hills have any rights over the so called Liberation of Goa?
Climate change is very much evident in Goa and the way we are treating nature in Goa, very soon this one time beautiful state may witness something called as climatic terror. Nature has been very kind and patient towards Goa till now. Let us please stop testing the patience of nature.
Our beautiful beaches are ‘sold’ to samadhis, our rivers are blindly signed off to corporates. Sharing with the needy is always good but selling one’s own resources to others for political benefits is the worst one can do. Hasn’t Mhadei been sold? Hasn’t our priceless islands such as Vaxim sold by our own religious leaders, for reasons best known to them? Illegality is a different name for legality in Goa and that is the reason why the illegal bungalow is still standing untouched at the World Heritage site, at Old Goa. The real Goa is basically sinking in the ‘well of illegalities’. Development is very much required but one must understand the simple difference between development and destruction. It’s the responsibility of every niz Goemkar to stand for the protection of his/her identity and the identity of our Mai Goa. The elected government should and must stand for its people and cannot be the agents of the Centre. It is hard to believe that our own elected government was supporting the illegalities of the Railways with regard to the double tracking against the wishes of its very own people.
The worst is yet to come and if all Goans don’t change their attitude towards nature instantly, inspite of being warned, then even God will not be in a position to save us all. Our ancestors protected the beauty of this very beautiful Goa. We have destroyed enough. Let’s protect the surviving beautiful remains of Goa for the generations.
Somebody has rightly said, politicians cannot be leaders since they work in the interest of the next elections and real leaders work in the interest of the next generation. Sadly, real leaders are no longer existing in Goa.
Viva!
