Sebastian Noronha
Have we become such a poor-minded set of people? Is there no sense of discipline that we have left inside us at all? One after the other we have been facing problems after problems, and how! Simple issues are being blown out of proportion. Looking at the country as a whole we seem to have engaged the reverse gear. Groups after groups are being formed to resist any kind of advancement that the country seems to be making; as if to say we are bent on steering the vehicle, which is our country, back into the dark ages.
Women and children are getting sexually abused every day, daylight murders are committed in the name of religion and of moral policing, and public property is destroyed in the name of revolutions. But yet we seem to have all the time to protest and spend time trying to solve questions like whether a movie should be released or not. Issues that need to be urgently addressed on a war-footing are being placed on the back-burners and trivial molehills are being transformed into mountains. It seems like our cultural diversity, that we have been so proud of, is slowly becoming the death of us.
Let me narrow this down to the issues we are facing in our own little state of Goa. One would think, looking at the relatively peaceful outer facade and at our history of being a harmonious state, that we are facing no issues at all. Being the smallest state in the country anyone’s guess would be that we are far better-off than the others. But sadly this couldn’t be farther away from the truth.
Today the circumstances in Goa are that we do not need outsiders to come and conquer us to make us struggle. The poignant truth is that we have taken up that task ourselves.
Take for instance the recent Taxi Union strike that brought the state to a grinding halt. Who are these guys? The answer to this question is very painful! These guys are our own Goans. I wouldn’t refrain from calling them not Goans, but goons.
A strike becomes a successful strike when the discussions and proceedings are discussed and mutually resolved towards the benefit of all. But the recent happenings show that what the taxi union fellows were doing is only dictating their own demands without wanting to give scope to any understanding or any compromises.
In my view there needs to be a system purge, a cleansing that needs to be done using military-grade force to vehemently drain out all these dangerously threatening elements from the system. Yes, it will create a temporary blackout. But I think that is what required today.
The Taxi-Mafia today is like a gangrene-affected limb. Instead of continuously treating it and dressing it, and yet getting nowhere, a more drastic but permanent solution needs to be administered. Amputation!
The Government should disown these guys and turn a complete deaf ear to their silly and childish demands. And a new system that is beneficial to all should be established. Only when these guys are left in the lurch will they realise that everything cannot be done only keeping their demands in the forefront.
Dear Government please put your foot down! It is high time we show these goons their rightful place!
