Protest, Parrikar and Digubab
Chances would have looked bright if our politicians weren’t so smart at using others, writes FREDERICK NORONHA
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Suddenly, the politics of protest has changed quite drastically in Goa. Ten to 15 years ago, villagers not wanting the Konkan Railway to pass through their backyard were termed “communal”. If the Church took a stand against the impact of mass tourism on Goa, it was seen as deeply suspect. Even campaigns over companies like Metastrips were not taken at face-value.
Today there is a different dynamic in place.
The Opposition will welcome you with open hands, and smilingly. See the manner in which a Parrikar plays to the galleries and village groups, though who can forget the quality of pro-people (or should we say, the absence of it) decision-making in his own administration?
Protestors in today’s Goa are caught between the ruling party, the mainstream Opposition, and chances of getting a whole lot of lip service for their causes but few solutions. So are they going to be used as a political football, made use of to garner votes, and then gloriously dumped? Or, on the other hand, will they simply manage to squeeze out some space between competing political interests, and create some breathing space for themselves? Chances would have looked bright if our political class was not so smart at making use of others, instead of trying to deliver the goods, to throwing up solutions that their voters expect them to do.
The problem with their approach is that they are very good at reading people’s sentiments, and equally good at doing nothing about them.
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For some time now, there are signs to suggest that politicians realize that land alienation means a whole lot to Goa. Large number of Goans have been away from home for long, due to migration. In the 1960s, many got battered by questionable homestead and agricultural tenancy laws, which targeted the middle-class and Communidade structures, while failing to yet bring in land-ceiling laws. Someone could claim tenancy to a whole hill, while a small home rented out trustingly and for a pittance, could well be lost forever.
Fear also holds the key. It’s easy to get someone’s attention by selling a “you are under threat” perspective, rather than take up more serious, if slow-moving concerns.
So, today more than ever, talk of a “Russian mafia” will cause alarm (we just might find out one day that one gang might be behind the ‘exposures’ of drug peddlers of another gang, through the You Tube campaigns). “Warnings” to “property owners” in Goa can still stoke up fears, more so if you’re far away from home.
One Goan resident in Mumbai wrote to me recently: “Attaching an article that frightens me, really frightens me. Would I be right in thinking that my children and grandchildren in a few years will be considered foreigners in Goa? Is there nothing that can be done by the people of Goa and the government in power to prevent what I see? Namely in a few years we will have a chief minister and a Cabinet that consists of Russians, Israelis, Germans and Brits and of course …
[the owners of plush places]?”
It’s both politicians and sections of the media, who are gaining votes or audiences by circulating such a message. Newspapers are taking stands not just on the proximity to the politicians of the day, but also linked to their circulation interests.
The bitterness of the battle is obvious from the manner in which campaigners who are seen as politically “inconvenient” – probably they won’t play the game certain politicians want them to – are targeted and discredited. Earlier, GBA’s Dr Oscar Rebello was the target, and more recently it was people like architect Dean D’Cruz.
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The politicians are not necessarily gaining votes. But they’re smart enough to realise that if they can’t manage gaining votes, at least they can prevent the ballots from going to rivals.
Politicians like Digubab are occasionally smart enough to realise that they can’t ignore their voter ad infinitum, without someone else cashing in on their alienated supporters. But they’d like to achieve something without taking any hard stance.
Things become a little easier for the political class though, because the alienated Catholic has politically painted himself a trap by restricting his support largely to the Congress.
If he goes ahead and votes for some smaller party in Salcete, based on anti-Congressism or caste, there’s no guarantee that the handful of legislators thus elected would not end up supporting the Congress itself. Or, worse still, support every party in power, jump across parties at the right time, benefit the most personally, and do hardly anything for the voter. This is not just restricted to Salcete; the example of Mapusa MLA Francis D’Souza, who spanned the Willie factions, Congress and is now a long-time BJP resident, is a case in point.
Complicating matters is the fact that Digu’s style of pleasing all while achieving little is hardly helpful. Agitators protesting over various issues could do well to work more with their heads, rather than with their hearts (or feet and palms) by keeping track of the promises made, and how these are working out in real life. Someone could write an entire book about promises made by politicians, issues taken up by people in Goa, and how little or nothing was delivered on these.
The Opposition has been successful in stoking up protests for its own purpose, garnering headlines and generally creating a stink. That they hardly care over any long-term solution to such issues — whether it is Romi Konkani, the water crisis, affordable English-medium education at the primary level, or the irresponsiveness towards issues which really affect the people — hardly matters. They know that if they stoke up enough anger, they could just alienate a sufficient number of Congress supporters to win those few seats that have been eluding them ever since the 1994 elections. This is hardly a new trend, except that with the BJP it’s far more organised. In a section of the media, headlines will continually focus on the misdeeds of the party in power, same conditions apply as above.
In the late 1970s, the arrogance of the government of the day (the Shashikala-led MGP government) combined well with fatigue over having a single party in power for so long. This was then shrewdly built in to the protests the followed, the Ramponkar and students’ campaigns among others ). Finally, all this lead to a change of regime at the turn of the decade, i.e. in 1980. It is time politicians like Digubab saw the issue for what it is. This is not just a small group of people protesting, but an emotive issue which means a lot to many. People have a right to define the kind of lifestyles they want to lead, and the kind of development paradigms they choose to follow. Playing on divisions within Goan society to push through just about anything controversial is a dubious policy at best, and one which could lead to political advantage for those waiting to get back into power.
While so many ruling ministers and politicians have their own stakes in pushing through contentious, cash-rich initiatives — the open support for mega-housing projects in small villages is another case in point — it’s time for the Congress too to realise its own long term interests. Alienating voters beyond a point is indeed going to fall costly.
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Mumbai ka jhatka
By Charlane Pereira
I was in Mumbai recently for some official work…. I had to stay there for a fortnight The place is not definitely new to me. The need to complete my post-graduate studies, about 7 years back compelled me to bid a tearful goodbye to my dear ones at home and explore the metropolitan city of Mumbai. No regrets. Those years taught me a lot-travelling, shopping, banking, fending for myself in a new land. This time, I looked forward to the visit. I had some adventurous experiences that I will always remember.
Armed with my ticket, I boarded the ‘Konkan Kanya’ train bound for CST Mumbai (formerly VT). The journey was like most journeys… I had ‘me and my thoughts’ for company. Ample time to reflect and ponder on different aspects of life. And compensate for the months that I wasn’t able to engage in such introspection. Time stood still or so I thought for the whole journey…finally, I gladly got off at the last station (CST). My happiness lasted for a short five minutes- that is what my destiny had outlined for me. The local trains were on strike. A situation common to Mumbaikars, but I have never encountered such a situation before. After making inquiries, I suddenly heard an announcement of a local train on the Central Railway line, that I could board a train. I hurriedly bought a ticket and rushed to the platform to catch it. Phew! I thought to myself, ‘What a lucky escape.’
Well, in Mumbai, if you need to get to a place, you need to know the buses and of course, the bus numbers. All the BEST buses can be identified by the numbers. And don’t try out Columbus’ stunts of exploration unless you are a braveheart or have company, or enjoy the thrill of getting lost. Well, I assumed that I knew the place pretty well. This assumption proved to be wrong when I realized that I had crossed my destination and reached one stop ahead. I got off the bus coolly when I read one of the signboards on the shops outside. I should have panicked , but I guess I don’t have any panic genes in me which is quite unfortunate. I stopped a rickshaw and told the driver the name of the place I wanted to go to. At his nod of assent I , quickly jumped into the rickshaw and we rode on, until I realized that it was quite some time that I was in the rickshaw. I felt fear creeping in my heart and I said a silent prayer. I felt happy. You might think it was the effect of the prayer. Maybe. should be. I think it’s because realization hit me hard that I had some panic genes in me. And, ah! We had reached the place. What a relief!
Ah! How could I forget travelling by the local trains? Have you heard the term ‘sandwiched?’ Well, I think that’s not the right word. If you have to travel by one of those local trains, you better be fast, or be ready to be tossed, squashed, pushed or pulled out from the train. Fortunately, I think I was fast enough but not this one young lass who was lugging a big bag. She missed her station, and she was caught up in a big crowd at the train door. With a few sympathetic passengers who threw sharp instructions at the people near the door, the lass was finally given a push so she could get off at the next station. Whoah!
Well, the city is a great place for many. It’s a fantastic educational centre and employment hub. Name it and you get it. Shopaholics can pamper their whims and fancies. Mumbai with its fast paced lifestyle has enthralled many. The days flew by, and it was time for me to return home.
