The Dhavalikar brothers have become walking talking symbols of polarization and cultural mayhem. While there is indeed a method to what this can only be called “madness”, the collateral damage of the double blow of a Pramod Muthalik going unchallenged and Cooperation Minister Deepak Dhavalikar’s confidence of a “Hindu rashtra” under Modi, is the biggest blow to the relationship between the Chief Minister and the minorities of Salcete. For the first time, elements within the Church, especially the powerful pastoral arm, which was a catalyst of the change which brought a BJP government to power is clinging on to the last straws of relationship whose best days are over. SUJAY GUPTA analyses
The recent elections in Goa are greeted as the second opinion poll in many quarters. The sheer high turnout of the people is itself indicative of the aspiration for change that one can see in the results of this democratic process. This aspiration for change that was embedded in the electoral process is not merely change for the sake of change. It is not just a change of some major players. It
entails a change of game itself. It certainly exhibits a Goa-centric telos. Goans almost did the impossibleand the unthinkable. They stood together, rising above their religious, social and the political divides only for the sake of Goa. The people of Goa appear to have risen above the narrow, exclusionist and divisive politics practiced by the political parties and eschewed by some pseudo-activists and
have come together to build a Goa on the unifying power of Goan-ness, outwitting all the political pundits-Extract from Fr Victor Ferrao’s
seminal essay ‘Reinvention of the BJP in Goa today’ justafter the Assembly elections. Fr Ferrrao is one of Goa’s most distinguished Catholic scholars and is a Professor at the Rachol seminary. If anyone understood what Fr Ferrao meant, when he said “Goans almost did the impossible and the unthinkable. They stood together, rising above their religious, social and the political divides only for the sake of Goa,” it was Manohar Parrikar Between the 6th of March when the election results came and before he was sworn in as Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar met his new neighbour, the Archbishop of Goa, their first meeting since the election campaign started. The incoming Chief Minister thanked the Bishop for the support of the minorities who delivered him the resounding mandate. And then he spoke of his personal gratitude to the Catholic Church.
According to one of the
senior priests who the Bishop
spoke to later, “I was a student
in a Jesuit institution and it
was priest who selected two
students in my class including
me, to encourage us to sit for
the IIT entrance exams. I’m an
IITian because of a Priest and I
will never forget that.”
It was this meeting that
put Parrikar in the comfort
zone of the Bishops palace,
a fifty meter walk from
his official residence. The
shortness of this distance
became real and literal after
this meeting. Which is why,
at a time when the Church
and the faithful are looking
inwards and asking questions
about their decision of
2012, the Bishops Palace
and certain sections of the
pastoral arm, are still drawing
on the strength of the
relationship in the hope that
the Chief Ministers inaction
on several contentious
issues that traversed religious
dynamics and yet affected
the Catholic dominated
Salcete, is a passing blip. The
Bishops palace remembered
with gratitude Parrikar’s
stand on the Medium of
Instructions and the grants
he has announced for
Catholic schools which
would have been on a brink
of closure. Then during
the national convention of
Christian Communities, the
government gave a grant of
Rs 65,000 and help in the
form of KTC buses for the
travel of participants, facilities
for WIFI at the media center
and the deputation of senior
Catholic bureaucrats like
Sanjith Rodrigues and Bosco
George, to help out with
security and logistics. The
Bishop is still grateful for this
support.
Yet there is a churning
happening in Salcete and
parts of even Bardez and
Tiswadi which has gathered
its own momentum and the
Bishop House does not have
the levers to control this
momentum. This churn can
be understood only through
prolonged conversations, on
sleepy monsoon afternoons,
on languid walks through
villages, at stormy gram
sabhas on Sundays. An this
churn, even after countless
conversations doesn’t find
any articulation better than
this, which yet again is an
extract from the Fr Ferrao’s
essay: “The overwhelming
majority that is enjoyed by
the BJP is born as a result
of what can be called the
politics of trust practiced by
the people of Goa. It is indeed
surprising that the minorities
were able to re-imagine a
new BJP. It is even more
striking given the past of
BJP, its links with the Sangh
Parivar and their controversial
ideology of Hindutva. It is as
though the saffron stains of
the BJP are washed clean by
the electorate. The innocent
trust of the people of Goa has
almost challenged the BJP to
transform itself.”
To shift the semantics
from the real nuances of this,
one must understand that the
trust was not a religious one
but a belief that that Parrikar
would touch on the issues
that were fundamental- a
proper land use plan and a
system for land use, their
participation in the future
development of their villages.
It is surprising how Parrikar
inspite of being one with
social uprisings against the
previous government, hasn’t
realized that land and the
possession of it is critical
to every Goan. And this
possessiveness goes beyond
individual land and extends
to the waddo and the village.
Rafael Viegas of Curtorim
scholar and Goa’s best book
keeper of history had said a
conversation “Land is linked
to identity and the sentiments
attached are not economic”.
Therefore Parrikar
was seen as an anti-dote
to the reign of corruption
and usurping of identity of
the Congress. But what is
unknown is how deeply the
Church was helped in arriving
at these conclusions, in a
systematic and process driven
manner. A month before the
elections, a team from the
pastoral arm of the Church
travelled throughout Goa,
often not returning home,
meeting countless people
and realised that the loss
of land was the core issue.
In Canacona the farmers
spoke of land being taken
away for five star hotels.
In Borda, in the heart of
Margao, even a simple local
issue of land acquisition for
the new market was raised.
But also came out, and that
too from farmers and other
locals, was how the character
of Margao and places like
Borda were changing, where
new buildings and people
made those staying in the
fast vanishing old homes,
seem alienated. In Benaulim
and Navelim the same angst
was expressed, this time
against the new swank gated
complexes. In Calangute
villagers who met at the
Church hall told priests how
their wells were dry and there
was no ground water due to
construction. And they also
spoke of how their village had
become a den of prostitution
and the home of drug
peddlers.
In another conversation
with a group of people who
once lived in the village
of Ugem, now literally
submerged, they spoke of
their childhood in Ugem
and the fact that when they
moved they took with them
stones from their homes and
broken utensils, as symbols of
their past. Each year on May
30, before the monsoons
start they still go to their
village and cook and eat. With
each passing day, Goans felt
that the Goa was going and
the push for Parrikar was a
desperate leap of faith and the
placing of trust.
After the 15 day journey,
the Priests placed their report
which was finally circulated
to various Churches for the
priests to dwell upon and
communicate in their own
way the findings. Therefore
the conclusion that was
reached was that the trust
deficit not religious, it was a
deep sense of the “degoanisation
of Goa,” and
the trust placed in Manohar
Parrikar was to get the Goa
back.
“The people of Goa have
transformed the BJP into
custodians of their trust and
effectively challenged the BJP
to be responsible stewards
of this trust,” Fr Victor Ferrao
wrote in his essay.
In placing this trust,
there was another belief. That
the mistrust with Manohar
Parrikar during his earlier
term as Chief Minster which
was clearly on religious lines,
could also be a thing of the
past if he repaid the trust by
getting the Goan identity
and way of life back. The
message that was conveyed
was that he would be the
“Anti dote to the disgraced
Modi”. Instead what happened
was that Parrikar was the
first in the country to back
Modi for Prime Minister and
the pitched himself as a key
member of team Modi.
In the past four weeks
the old fears have come back.
Te utterances of Muthalik
which went unchallenged,
Sudin Dhavalikars remarks on
the ban on bikinis and pubs,
largely perceived as a anti
catholic jibe and top to it all
Deepak Dhavalikars belief that
Narendra Modi would make
India a “Hindu rashtra” have
pulled out all the ghost and
the fears of Catholics, out of
the wood work.
