During his latest of by now his regular weekend trips to Goa, the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar seemed eager to address questions about the reasons for his visits which are raising many an eyebrow. He gave the excuse that there is nothing to do during weekends in Delhi as all government offices remain closed. But how can this apply to the offices of the country’s defence establishment, considering the security ramifications? Should not its offices be open and working 24/7? And should not the Defence Minister lead by example? By making frequent trips out of the capital to be in Goa every weekend, is he not setting a poor example to the officers and jawans of the armed forces?
While nobody would grudge him his right to visit his home town, he seems oblivious of the fact that as Defence Minister of the country he has to subordinate his personal interests to that of the country. By stating that all offices are closed during the weekends, is he not giving out unwittingly crucial information that even the offices of the defence establishment take break at weekends? Could this piece of information which he let slip out of his mouth be used by the enemies of the country to commit mischief during the weekends when every one is taking a break? But the most amusing explanation given by Parrikar is that he is acting as intercessor for the Goa government with the Central government of which he is presently a part? How can he be interceding for the Goa state government when he is a member of the Union government? And it makes for sorry reading that even after having governments both at the centre and the state belonging to the same party, in this instance the BJP you still cannot get things done.
And that excuse raises more questions than it answers. If he is truly interceding for the Goa government, how come none of its requests have been granted by the Central government? The demand for special status for Goa, which Parrikar had assured was a done deal if Narendra Modi became PM, has been outrightly rejected. The issue of treating Goans who have registered their births in Portugal as a special category and not let them be disenfranchised has yet to be resolved. And with the mining ban lifted, hopes of mining resuming soon,after a gap of over two and half years have been dashed by the Central government turning a deaf ear to the Goa government’s repeated pleas to reduce the duty on export of ore from the state to compete globally.
So all in all, Parrikar has failed. He is not doing justice to his duties as Defence Minister, neither is he being honest about the real reasons for his frequent jaunts to Goa. One has to only recall that the Defence Minister under the Congress led UPA government A.K Anthony was accused by PM Modi of being a Pakistani agent during his election campaign last year. Could we now say that Manohar Parrikar is unwittingly playing into the enemy’s hands by his lackadaisical and laisssez faire attitude? Or is it an indirect admission by him that he is not comfortable in Delhi and is yearning to return to Goa?
