Our Chief Minister Parsekar seems to be acquiring new attributes every day. The latest is his ability to spot mirages, which is a very fine art by itself. His statement that the desire or expectation of Goa getting a “special status” is a mirage, may well be a reality, if people like Mr Parsekar have resigned themselves to it. Peoples struggles have culminated in countries getting freedom, apartheid ending in South Africa, the formation of new states like Uttarakhand, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and now Telangana in India, and new stringent anti-rape laws being introduced after a massive nation-wide agitation. All transformation such as these happened because some people believed and then more did till the belief culminated in a mass movement. Those who didn’t believe saw these ultimate transformations as mirages. The non-believers did not win. The believers did.
Goa’s Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is a non- believer who sees mirages. And to most people in Goa passionate about protecting Goa’s identity, Parsekar is already a loser.
But the Chief Minister is treading on another slippery path. A resurgent Alina Saldanha has, like a racehorse that has bolted and is galloping beautifully, become the leading light of a peoples movement called the Goa Movement for Special Status. Unlike the time when Mr Parsekar asked Ms Saldanha to “shut up”, for her opposing to the having a marina in her backyard of Sancoale, he will not quite manage that with the GMSS. If the Chief Minister thinks, this movement will “shut up”, someone should tell him that it is he who is now looking at a mirage.
Parsekar’s Environment Minister Alina Saldanha is clear “The state has been demanding special status to protect its identity, culture and also the land which is getting exhausted every passing day. We are not only demanding economic special status but we want the special status which will preserve our identity, culture etc,” she said at a press conference under the banner of the GMSS.
Lest we do not realise this, a Minster in the Goa government said this, “The statement of Parsekar (that Special Status is mirage) is his own opinion. It is not what government feels. We are still waiting for the resolution passed on the floor of the House to be adopted in Parliament”
Irrespective of all criticisms against Alina Saldanha, including an attack on her by sections of the media calling her a gungi gudiya (dumb doll), her emergence from the zone of silence to support people’s sensibilities is commendable. This is a different refreshing Alina Saldanha, who seems more and more like a true Mrs Matanhy Saldanha, on a couple of very emotive and sensitive issues. The jury is still out but on the marina and on the issue of Special Status, she hasn’t taken a single wrong step.
Meanwhile the Movement for Special Status is bound to gain momentum. Right thinking people of Goa are aghast that a resolution passed by the assembly on April 15, 2013 for the grant of special status still holds and this Chief Minister calls it a “mirage”. If these are his views, he should have the guts to call a special session of the assembly within the next fortnight and debate the issue threadbare and move a proposal to withdraw the April 15 2013 resolution. He and his ruling MLAs should be able to convince the assembly that Special Status is a mirage, and even if he doesn’t, he can put it to vote and use his brute majority to get the resolution withdrawn.
The people of Goa are waiting to see, if he bites this bullet and takes the issue to the assembly. If he cannot, and we know that he cannot, then he should apologise to the people of Goa for insulting not just them but all the elected representatives of the Goa assembly for calling a resolution they passed, a “mirage”. Well, he too was in the assembly when this was passed and stands guilty of humiliating the august House by his remarks.
His stand on Special Status, is yet another blunder. He has given up without a fight. Therefore when he approaches the 2017 elections, telling people of his achievements, he is likely to be told that his governance was a mirage. And that will hurt,
Mr Parsekar.
