THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
The words, our land, our identity, our culture, and our environment come so easily to us because we have a sense of belonging. We see these as our own. There is a sense of belonging and protectiveness. People should also say this is “my government” and get the same sense of belonging .
The road to justice: From the people’s court to the judicial court
And taking this further, one may ask do the people of Goa feel that they chose this government? Of course, winning an election with such a majority gives an electoral legitimacy that will challenge these questions. But daily, from the remotest corners of Goa to the bigger towns, the people of Goa are out to seek public justice. This is important. We are talking of battles that the people of Goa are fighting. From saving the trees in the Mollem forests, to the fight to protect Goa’s coastline, to stopping construction on beaches, citizen groups have fought this battle in the people’s court and in the National Green Tribunal, the High Court right up to the Supreme Court. When iron ore was being illegally transported through villages or when thousands of cashew trees were felled for the Mopa link road or the sand mining mafia continued to erode and rape the river bed, leading to the destruction of our river banks, it was first discussed debated and highlighted in the court of the people. And then when their voices were not heard the people’s crusaders took charge, teamed up with legal activists who then went and knocked at the doors of the judicial courts.
If the government meets in the people’s court, people won’t be forced to go to the judicial courts
People are willing to engage with the government. In fact, they want to do so in a spirit of mutual understanding where it is not People Vs Government but People “with” Government. In this week’s panel discussion on Herald TV on the Major Ports Authority Act and the larger issue of how people’s movements have made the government face a degree of accountability, one of the panelists remarked: “We do not meet the government during public hearings, we are increasingly meeting them in court.” And this is not about a particular government. This reflects the system of governance and not about any political party rule.
But it is not difficult to meet and join hands with the people
A government will be the happiest if people’s issues are discussed at public hearings and public forums, by understanding that people are not against projects provided that these projects do not leave the land in a state which is worse than what it was. In very simple terms this is the core of the issue.
If the people and the government cannot meet, then Goans are compelled to take their quest for justice, for their Goa, to various courts and other public forums. Lawyers fight cases free and activists travel by bus to Pune where the Green tribunal is located and gets the maximum number of cases in its jurisdiction from Goa. And for whom? For their Goa. Not for themselves or their families. But certainly, for the future of all Goa’s children.
In Ireland, the environment minister is from a network of NGOs
Let’s take Ireland for example. The environment minister is a former member of a network of environmental NGOs, who announced a 70% increase in the funding for environmental NGOs to enable them to do the work of climate change. Ireland realised that the government cannot do everything and that is why its government funds NGOs to do research on such an important environmental topic. A perfect example of government-people partnership through NGOs.
If such a happy partnership takes place, there will be no need for any activism or going to the courts
It will bring a lot of happiness to governments if people do not have to do this. But understanding has to come first and there is hope it will. Activists are one’s own people and never the enemy. And Ireland’s example can be followed in Goa, for everyone’s benefit
When people are not hurt and satisfied with the government there will be all-around people’s development and not development for the few.
And then finally, the people of Goa will be able to feel that Goa’s hills and fields, its palm-lined village roads, its ponds and rivers and its hinterland and coasts, its beaches and bunds, belong to all, as assets that they have control of and the ultimate say over. That is true belonging.
