There was a time a decade earlier, when most of the ruling dispensation was steeped neck deep in corruption. Like now, then too nothing stirred without greasing palms. What was worse then was the fact that the ministers were not even clandestine about it but openly flaunted their corrupt procedures. Almost all the ministers were a law unto themselves, each vying for the CM’s chair and all of them wielding considerable clout with their High Command. Who can forget that era when brothers, personal assistants, middlemen, end even daughters doubled up as bribe collection agents? Alas the same continues even to this day.
In the midst of all this loot and plunder came a mega scam in the form of land allocation for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Some people chosen by us to represent us forcibly stole our land and arm-twisted anyone who resisted. Land was acquired from the people for a pittance and sold to these SEZ companies at a premium even before a SEZ policy was in place. The concerned ministers, chairman and the bureaucrats involved in the Industrial Development Corporation connived to plan this sinister plot of minting from the plots.
The social media was not so prevalent then and educating and awakening the general public was no mean task. Credit must be given to the people from the affected areas coming under the umbrella of Sez Virodhi Manch to oppose the gross irregularities and expose the corruption and the corrupt, by holding various rallies, demonstrations, morchas and dharnas. This resulted in tremendous public participation, forcing the corrupt authorities to stop any further work on the project and declaring the SEZ project as null and void. And as expected, four of the seven industrialists who aided and abetted all the irregularities moved court and the case was on. The case of the politicians involved in this scam was given to the Vigilance Department in 2012 under The Prevention of Corruption Act. The people of Goa were elated as they had won the battle and were all set to win the war when the guilty would be convicted and punished.
And now to the King of U-turns. The then leader of Opposition was very vocal and came out with facts and figures. When in Opposition and just before the 2012 elections, the then Leader of Opposition met the DIG and demanded an FIR against the then CM, the Industries Minister and the IDC Chairman for conspiring and conniving in the SEZ scam for personal gains. What Vigilance Department did in the last six years is anybody’s guess. During this time there were knee jerk reactions from our government like wanting to return part of the land. If something is illegal how can part of it be legalised? It became apparent to all as to whose side the government was on.
In the meantime the apex court asked the SEZ petitioners to seek an amicable solution with the Goa government. At a recent meeting the CM decided to return Rs 256 crore to the SEZ petitioners. This can be understood as, if you have accepted money and then retracted your contract, you need to return the money. But what came as a bolt from the blue and a jolt to Goans was the declaration that the cases against the people involved were also retracted.
How and why? One group of politicians conspires and connives to loot huge tracts of land. They flash their authority and flex their muscles. They intimidate, threaten and take control. They then sell it to pliant buyers at huge premiums and make fortunes for themselves. A lot of effort and participation of the public was taken to blow the lid off this scam and to cancel the project. A lot of money must have been spent to fight this case thus far in the apex court. Who is responsible for this? What is the logic behind closing the cases on the perpetrators of this scam? Are we extending an invitation to all the powerful and mighty saying “Please come and loot us. We assure you that there will be no action taken against you?”
Our CM has gone into the annals of Goan history for taking the maximum U-turns over what he says while in Opposition and what he does when in ruling. His record is now bettered by a fellow who took such a big U-turn so fast that he is now backward instead of forward. The same CM as leader of Opposition who exposed corruption and rot, filed cases on alleged criminal politicians and promised to clean the system with zero per cent tolerance to corruption if voted to power, all with an air of authority, is now, as CM, busy telling us how his exposed corruption and rot is either non-existent or cannot be acted upon or how it has disappeared after the perpetrator changed political sides. He further claims that the cases on rogue politicians cannot be taken to their logical conclusions and appears to be fully convinced that our corruption-ridden State has reached zero per cent corruption. And all this with an air of authority! And the treasury benches had no reply then and as Opposition, have no reply now. What more can you expect?
And what about the Opposition? They stalled two days of the Assembly proceedings to show their love for Goans who were being given drips of poisonous formalin. We appreciate their love for us. Now we want to see you raise the issue of closing down of cases against the looters and plunderers of Goa in the SEZ scam. Of course you must do it or your duplicity will show. You cannot afford to allow the government to get away by allowing those involved to get away free in the SEZ scam. We want further proof of your love of Goa and atonement of your sins.
Here’s giving out a clarion call to all the good people of Goa and their organisations which have done remarkable service for Goa in exposing the politicians and putting them on the mat. Goa needs your yeoman service now. You have stood solid as a Rock of Gibraltar in safeguarding the interests of Goa be it in mining, the Regional Plan, SEZ, ad hoc forming of additional PDAs, turning Goa into a coal hub, nationalisation of Goan rivers and others. And also giving a call to all fledgling political parties espousing the cause of clean governance.
It isn’t enough to cry match fixing. What are you doing about it? What do you have to show the people in 2019? We need you to ensure that the process of natural justice is not throttled and killed. The people responsible for all the illegal dealing in the SEZ fiasco must be brought to book. Goa will not rest till then.
(The writer was involved in the SEZ Virodhi Manch)
