A rejoinder to Sudeep Dalvi’s open letter to Alina Saldanha dated 9/10/15.
If only Matanhy Saldanha and the other activists were backed by their electorate in their passionate and selfless revolutionary movements against the corrupt establishment and dislodged them from 1970’s onwards when the cankerworm of corruption had just struck the social fabric Goa would not have suffered such a jolt, gradually to be divested of its pristine glory with its natural resources declining exponentially. Because honest, intelligent and responsible leaders of vision and foresight were necessary in the government to carry out fruitful administrative decisions to give the electorate a smooth sailing else the electorate along with the activists have to linger on the streets forever fighting with no voice in the establishment as we were witnessing then and now too.
And Matanhy had this bitter experience for three decades. And at last in the year 2002 as if by divine providence Matanhy made a debut in the Assembly but only to be disqualified unlawfully and not only to suffer mental trauma but a greater agony to be deprived of good work for the electorate whom he had represented. And thus Matanhy resumed his school work in Don Bosco simultaneously spearheading for peoples causes and being relieved of his mental agony only after winning the case just before he left for his eternal abode.
So who should be blamed for all the mess we are in? Electorate of course. Corrupt electorate get corrupt government..
At this critical juncture when Alina is considered to be a thorn in the present dispensation she ought to continue her battles (though stripped of environment portfolio) to protect the environment from further degeneration with the external support of the activists and the electorate who elected her to do their work because in a participatory democracy none can fight the battle alone. But to resign would be a blunder making a leeway for further environmental tragedies. Being in the cabinet she has power to address the grievances with the backing of the activists and the electorate else it will be a continuation of unending agitations inconveniencing everyone.
A sea of electorate can definitely engulf the government but not just a section of electorate with few activists. It is mandatory for the entire electorate to be active participants in the functioning of the government because elections involve lot of expenditure from the exchequer which should be recovered by getting the work done from the elected representatives.
