The basics that eluded Goa in 2014 are needed now. And keep Modi’s boys out

A year is a lifetime in politics. And while a Happy New year is a perennial wish which is nothing but a microcosm of  life's desires, it takes a whole new meaning  in the universe of politics, policy and governance.

2014, though has been a watershed year  for India, Hindustan and Bharat as it has been for Goa and Goem. The Himalayas and the Hindukush mountain ranges have looked down at the phenomenal tectonic shifts in the Indian political space.

At the turn of last year, India was ruled by a presiding deity of the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi and her trusted diwan Manmohan Singh. This year we have a man called Narendra Modi who conquered our imagination and our thinking, to become a runaway train which runs only with his imagination and thinking.

For many, Goa may be completely insignificant  to the lateral changes taking place in the manner in which a country is led and the space the government creates for the people, but little do they know that Goa will be a key state in Modi's overall programme of influence and control. What Narendra Modi is trying to do is not merely capture political space because that is given but regain cultural and social space for the majority population. The phrase ghar wapsi or home coming is being used for the reconversion of those hindus who went to other faiths.  In the social space this has become a twitter hashtag and a trend and the spectre of reconversion of the minorities is being bandied. While the social fabric of Goa has remained rock solid, what disturbs a society which is seen by the outside world as an e'pitome of inclusiveness, worldliness laced with liberalism in its truest definition, and experienced by India's most cosmopolitan people; are  systematic attempts to change it. The feeling among the minorities, which brought the BJP to power in Goa is of unease, not confidence. The language has changed.  While continuing to promise "collaboration" to the Government,  Goa's Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, laced his promise with clear conditions  the Church would collaborate "as far as we are allowed by circumstances and, above all, by what we believe". The Archbishop said that there were signs which were causing grave concern, "particularly to the minorities, and which threaten to breakdown the fibre of our nation"

While the Archbishop drew a line between the State vs Church relationship nationally and in Goa, he indicated his serious concern. The Modi government has roped in Amitabh Bachchan and others to launch a nationwide campaign led by its Minority Affairs minister, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi -there to provide lip service- to ask people not to be bogged down by religion but focus on development. The irony couldn't be more stark. it is the Modi government which allowed a free run to its fringe communal organisations to start a reconversion movement, when it was completely uncalled for and done mainly to give some work to the mates and their boys and make them feel relevant.  So you have  the Bajrang Dal and the VHP which coaxes, nudges and pushes conversion to Hinduism and Amitabh Bachchan and the Muktar Abbas Naqvi dal which asks people not to ride on religion but development. This is classic Modi doublespeak.

It is important for Goa to stay clear of these confusions and more importantly keep the government on course to deliver and be accountable  to its promises. For Goa, nothing and nothing else should matter but these. a) Ensure that this becomes the loved destination for all travellers by giving them a clean, litter free Goa, where the sound of the waves can be heard and the sands can be felt without cutting your-self by a broken beer bottle b) Revive the economy by bringing manufacturing to the state and that is the only way to create jobs c) Stop the hypocrisy of  the BJP government that they are serious about giving Goa a just honest Regional Plan and not keep it hanging so that projects can be cleared in the absence of a notified land use plan d) An above all, officially state that it will drop the sham commitment of zero tolerance to corruption and at least say that they will bring it down by fifty percent. From the panchayat, to the Zilla Parishad to the mamlatdar  to the police to the collectorate, to the government departments and institutions, all are corrupt. And how do we know this? Partly from the former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who said in the Assembly- no less- that the entire Town and Country Planning department was corrupt. When he was asked why he was not taking action against errant policemen, accused of grave violations against women, he said "If I start taking action against all corrupt and errant policemen, I will have no police force left".

In 2015, Goa does not need fixing. It needs a complete restructuring. We need to live simple, live well, live happy, live with means and have a future for our children. Your brand of religion indeed has no place Mr Modi, but tell that to your communal outfits not the ordinary folk of India and Goa. We will deal with our Government, if you let us live in peace.