Politicians have borne the brunt of the Konkani stage artistes and also benefitted from them. At every tiatr, it is the song or rather the ‘kantar’, belted out between the scenes and acts, that draws the loudest applause and if the song is critical of the government, the wolf whistles get the singer back on stage with an encore. Politicians are well aware of how such songs can make or mar their reputation. They have invited them to sing at their birthday celebrations and there have also been instances of a singer even being held for singing at a tiatr against a politician. In the latter case, which was quite recent, the tiatr had to be then held with police protection.
So, knowing how important a role the kantar plays in Goa’s socio-political scene, could the government be far behind in trying to use it to its advantage?
For the first time the State’s Department of Information and Publicity will be organizing a Konkani kantar competition, where the competitors will have to sing songs that should be ‘based on the achievements of the present government and emphasizing the schemes implemented by this government for the welfare of the State…’ Note the emphasis on ‘present government’ and ‘this government’, where the department is making certain that no competitor comes along and sings a song praising the previous government. Ingenious, no doubt, but also quite scheming, but then coming from a government that has survived because of its schemes, that is hardly cause for surprise.
To further entice entries, there are cash prizes to be won, with a first prize of Rs 25,000, a sum big enough to draw lots of entries. So now, the kantar that for decades has been a mirror to society and attacked the government for its follies, and for its sins of omission and commission will now do just the opposite, at least for a day if not longer, when the competitors gather at Institute Menezes Braganza. But will it serve the purpose?
If the government believes that its biggest critics, the kantar singers are going to change their stance because of this one competition and the prizes being offered, it is sadly mistaken. The competition’s theme has already drawn criticism, with tiatr lovers saying the theme goes against the essence of the tiatr. There are calls for Konkani singers to boycott the competition or go up on stage and sing songs against the government and win the hearts of the people rather than winning the cash prize. But, more than that, this competition is also being viewed as an attempt by the government to clamp down on a platform known for dissent. Just over a year ago this same government had attempted to bring in a censor board of tiatrs, but pulled back when Herald had taken up the issue and exposed the government’s designs.
This is the second time this month that the government has attempted to rein in criticism. People’s memory is not so short that they will have forgotten how floats depicting coconut trees were taken off the carnival parades earlier this month. Following that we now have this kantar competition that offers rewards for singing in favour of the government. It is difficult to imagine a tiatr without songs critical of the government and its policies, just as its difficult to imagine a carnival that is devoid of fun. The latter is happening because the government has come in with funding. Is this kantar competition the first attempt to bring in some sort of control on the Konkani stage? It didn’t succeed with imposing censorship on the Konkani stage. Here it comes not as an aggressor but as a collaborator with the Konkani singer but with an agenda of its own. And that’s something that Goa doesn’t need, a government stepping into the cultural arena with its agenda.
