Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Indians. Our forefather’s struggled to ensure we can wish each other on this day, a proud day for each and every Indian. Let us continue that struggle so that we strive to reach that heaven, Rabindranath Tagore wished for.
Returning home after two weeks and scanning the papers to catch up on all that was happening in Goa, my attention was drawn to a few situations.
The first thing that caught my eye was a news report which highlighted the fact that the employees of a Municipal Corporation had driven away all the illegal mushroom sellers from the footpath. One must first compliment the workers for doing their job diligently. However, if one looks closer, why did they pick the mushroom sellers, were they the only illegal hawkers occupying the footpath? By nature of the product they were selling, they would have left in a short while, having sold their mushrooms. They are seasonal produce and these sellers usually come from the hinterland and return as soon as possible. They do not put a gadda, and subsequently a full fledged illegal kiosk.
So is it quite unfair that they were targeted to show that the workers were doing their work diligently, rather it just shows that illegal gaddas, kiosks are only possible if one oils the machinery enough to make it look the other way.
Another news item was the fact that the Government was planning do an out of court settlement with the allottee’s of GIDC’s SEZ land. The Governments argument is that if an out of court settlement happens then the land will revert to GIDC faster, as courts take too long. What is the hurry, Goa is going to need land for industry after 10/15 years. Today, so much of land is locked because the units are closed for one reason or another. Can the government, not find a solution to free this land, just like they did in the case of Meta strips land. The Meta Strips land was transferred against the rules to one party who is not even manufacturing. So if the government feels there is no demand for manufacturing why is it going for an out of court settlement? The Government should review this decision to go out of court and the decision to transfer Meta Strips land, based on the criteria that was used to review IPB projects, “due process not followed”. Are these rational decisions or whims and fancies?
The choice of candidates for the bye elections or rather those who did not make it for one or another reason caught my attention. Party affiliation or ideology does not seem to matter. Let us consider two aspects, the first is that today we are in a situation which has been created by the Congress parties relentless pursuit for pelf. Almost all their leaders subverted the system to ensure that their writ was supreme and pockets full to the brim. Today, despite that brand of politics being rejected, the congress is almost extinct in most parts of India. We see that the ruling party is ensuring there is no opposition by absorbing all the Congress elements into their fold, or should we say any opposition is being embraced and thus almost no opposition, “democratic dictatorship”.
The second and more alarming method to remove any opposition is the fear or holding the Damocles sword for past misdeeds over the politicians head. In most parts of India we are trying to figure out how we handle stone throwers, especially if it is against the uniformed establishment, police or paramilitary forces. In Goa, a police station was stormed and stoned and nothing is done for years. Another politician has misused his position and caused huge losses to the exchequer, yet no action is forth coming. These are just a few examples of how the political establishment is manipulated to achieve the goal of ruling at any cost. Should these decisions be political in nature or should they be addressed for what they are, criminal acts?
This is not what Tagore had in mind, he would be ashamed too, he was looking for something different, something acceptable to all. A place without prejudice, a place where we feel safe. With this kind of politics which is basically self before all else including country, we are seeing the effects across the social spectrum it does not effect only the political landscape.
As India celebrates her Independence, let us not let the selfless sacrifices of our leaders in the past go to vain. Let us push and speak up against these politicians who are attempting to enslave us with their false promises and fake opposition. Today’s politicians will do anything to win. It is up to each one of us to act now, if we wish to ensure that our children have a chance to awake in that “heaven of freedom” that Tagore envisaged. Jai Hind.
(The author prefers to write rather than chat in a balcao)
