Joseph Lewis D’Silva
Goa is a unique place with its tasteful temples and its charming churches. The whole world has been mesmerised with its winding rivers and twisting streams. Some foreigners laze around in spell-binding solitude of its hills. Others bask in the crammed atmosphere of its surf-lapped beaches and bathe in its blue sea. Goans are gradually leaving their native nest as there are no proper job opportunities for them in Goa. Jobs in the public sector are subjected to favouritism and reservation of caste, although we harp about equality. Employers in private sector pay peanut salaries. Therefore, there is mass migration of Goans, away from corruption and favouritism.
There is classic destruction in Goa due to a ‘destructive force’, in the name of development. So, our verdant forests are damaged; our hills are flattened, miners ruin our ecology. Sand dunes protecting our coastlines have been razed to make way for rich hotels. Our plains are polluted by countless shanties and plastic bags along the roadsides; our cattle which used to graze and bellow in meadows are now grazing in garbage bins for want of grazing land; even our trees are being cut down for un-necessary widening of roads at different places. Even our tranquillity has been shattered. The old-age charm and character of Goa is rapidly vanishing.
The exodus of natives from Goa is evident from empty houses that were built with the sweat and blood of our ancestors. The influx of people from other states is noticeable from the slums at different places that have filled our ‘Dongors’ like army fortress, ready to take over Goa.
According to the law of change “… a man was different yesterday; he is different today; he will be different tomorrow”. When the number of non-Goans increase, so also their force; and when the number of genuine Goans decrease, so also their power. Then the winning force, numerically, will be ‘baille’, with their increased number. So, one fine day these “baille” will say that they are Goans and our panch, sarpanch and ministers will be non-Goans.
I remember when Portuguese were here we did not have electricity but had honesty; we had beautiful bungalows and no real estate developers that swallow the dilapidated and even our good cottages. The Goa of our grandparents where peace once reigned and where we slept with doors opened has now been practically extinct.
Therefore, Goans should come back and vote like kings to select servants who will keep Goa for Goans, where our children and our children’s children feel safe. So, come back genuine Goans to your native land. Let us have a state where our children and our children’s children feel safe, a world which is fair and where we have a future.
