SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
At a time when the much-needed narrative of “political robbery” and loot, especially about the mining loot, is being talked about, a video on social media from a South Africa based channel has gone completely viral because it apparently resonates with the politics of Goa.
The video, whose source isn’t very clear, is on the Youtube page of Alhaji Abdullahi Al – Hassan, probably from Nigeria. This video was uploaded to set the internet on fire with the potency of the words of the speaker. Take a look at some of the key points mentioned. Each point hits your heart like an arrow:
A robber robs small things and he goes to jail, but political robbers rob you of your future
He goes on to say, “An ordinary thief steals your money, your watch, your jewellery, but a political thief steals your future, your career, your education and your health and your business. And the hilarious part is that the ordinary thief chose who to rob. But the political thief is someone we chose to rob us.”
Yes, in Goa we realise that we have a mountain of dreams but that mountain is getting destroyed. The peace of the villages has gone, the fields have been encroached. Megaprojects have affected the water of the villages. Roads are destroyed. In gated communities, there are no Goans. And they can’t afford to buy the castles called villas and apartments that are inside. The politicians come and softly threaten you that the money and freebies. The mountain of dreams which is inside you and the mountain of nature, beauty, and wealth that you have is sold for hundreds of crores.
What is it replaced by? Concrete jungles. Do you want people to say, this is Hubli instead of beautiful Goa. We mean no disrespect to Hubli but people come to Goa to get the Goa vibe, its beauty, simplicity, and charm. This vibe is getting destroyed.
The catchword is winnability. Anything goes in the name of winnability
Is winnability all about winning votes? Instead of choosing the right people who will fulfill your dreams, you continuously chose the wrong people. Can winnability be achieved with money? Or by delivering for the people? When you choose robbers, they rob your future. And they are the ones who buy your votes by selling one mountain. But they will never tell you that they will make hundreds of crores by selling other mountains. And the money he earns from this sale is stashed away somewhere.
So what happens when Goa is sold?
Big tenders given to those close to power will take away your rights to the village-level government contracts. With no jobs, you are forced to leave your land and migrate elsewhere. When COVID struck, didn’t many of you lose your family and loved ones, some of them who died gasping for breath in cars as there were no hospital beds?
Didn’t any of you have the life changing experience of not getting a bed in a posh private hospital because there were no beds only to find that MLAs and ministers got admitted the same day while you were waiting in the car park, of the same hospital? Didn’t you then feel that you could have chosen better? Is this the winnability you wanted?
Machines and medicines were bought by the government from fixed suppliers bypassing many tender processes. There are pharmacies all over the state but when you were struggling to get oxygen to breathe, it didn’t come to you. Did you vote for this winnability?
THIS IS THE GREAT GOAN ROBBERY THAT IS HAPPENING. And we are not seeing it
The shocking part is we fight to defend those who are stealing our future. And this is what the man in the video said.
Across constituencies, you bite when you get freebies and money you not only vote for them but you fight with others to defend those who steal your future
The call has come to think deep. Think and do think deep. You cannot be an onlooker for too long.
Goans must be a part of the decisions-making process. The video said, “They must be where decisions are taken. They must, as the video said, be in the kitchen to know what is cooked and know where the fittings are.”
You say it (politics) is a dirty game. But if you stay away, the result is always dirty on you, your health your future, your career, and your business. And the dirty guys get into the game and you are not showing up.”
Don’t these words ring true for every Goan. Then please act.
It is not just about voting for the right horse but finding one and you can’t find one by staying away or making a choice based on favours and funds. You must be ready to use your hands in the plow and be part of the process.
Remember, staying away or making the right choices, or simply letting the dirty forces play is a crime against yourself, your future, and your daughters and sons and their unborn children. Do you want to go to the grave with this guilt?
