For all his trappings of power and wealth, the occasional and fleeting ministerships, and the self appointments
as president of parties and the ‘supremo” of all he surveys, Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco has never
really managed to shake of the perception of being a reckless delinquent. And like all reckless delinquents, he
has carried his vulnerability on his sleeves, or his bandana – the boy from Betalbatim, who has met the world and
came back, without losing an iota of his recklessness. It is his recklessness and his vulnerability that has forced him
to pack his bags for a six-month fully paid government sabbatical, in jail, for an act which lesser mortals have
committed hundred times over and got away with – assaulting a government servant, while he was a minister.
Questions will always be asked. Yes they will. For the
all the acts of omission and commission, of all the charges
of corruption and criminality, Goa’s politicians have never
had a greater hiccup than visits to the police stations and
sometimes the court. And if memories serve us right, apart
from Churchill Alemao and Rudolf Fernandes and his
mother Victoria, no one has quite spent nights behind
bars. Even Jitendra Deshprabhu, former MLA, arrested on
charges of illegal mining, didn’t quite “go to jail”.
While there may be truth and merit in the conviction
of the offence of Pacheco assaulting a junior engineer of
the electricity department, the punishment to crime ratio
in the relative context of those who have gotten away with
more grevious charges.
It is too early to judge the life and times of Mickky
Paceho but he has covered a fair ground to be able to claim
that his bad boy tag should be shared with that of an unlucky
boy. And while history may not ever call him a role
model. In the villages of Betalbatim, Benaulim, Nuvem,
Loutolim and other parts, he has touched lives. Which is
why he wins from any party and from any constituency in
these parts and spends time getting in and out of government
or the cabinet. And while the law and the courts and
the police have been his shadow companions for years,
so has a legion of loyal supporters. His birthday celebrations
on December 12, has become a bit of a landmark on the
politico-social calendar of Salcete, with a turnout that
shows that his personal constituency remains intact.
It will perhaps be a tad much to describe Pacheco as
a tragic hero in the manner of Hamlet but he is certainly
an anti-hero, perhaps in the mode of Jay Gatsby in The
Great Gatsby, the literary classic of Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby
is an anti-hero with relatable flaws. Like his undying love
for woman, hanging with the wrong type of people and
building a life with a fake name and a life story. Gatsby, in
the classic, always seemed to have another life. Pacheco,
we are reasonably sure, hasn’t heard of Gatsby, but he has
led several parallel lives
He is not a traditional hero of classic literature but to
his people, he is the boy, who was a bully at times, but
made it to positions of high governance and power, the
bandana-clad motorcycle lover, who went for leather and
toppled governments. But he has never quite been in luck.
For all his fast cars, his alleged love interests and his flamboyance,
permanent power and position has been denied
He has been in cabinet three times in 15 years, without
once managing to complete his term. In his first stint as
cabinet minister in the BJP-led coalition in 2002, he was
appointed as Tourism Minister but was dropped due to
“non performance’ by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Pacheco then withdrew his support from the government
on July 31, 2004, giving a major shock to then Parrikar
government that was finally toppled in February 2005.
Political loyalty has been alien to him. He fought on NCP
ticket in 2007 and won from Benaulim and became minister
with the same Tourism portfolio. The Congress had formed
the government in coalition with NCP and MGP. But he had
to resign after the suicide of his close friend Nadia Torrado
in May 2010. He went into hiding after a case of abetment
to suicide was registered against him and in the meantime,
he had sent his resignation letter to the then Governor bowing
to pressures from political rivals.
In 2012, he floated the Goa Vikas Party for the assembly
elections and during the campaign, he kept his options
open as far as supporting any party was concerned before
finally backing the BJP. But from Churchill Alemao to
Aleixo Sequeira, Pachecho has contested against and
won, upsetting set equations, making it evident that he
could be both – controversies favorite child, and his electors’
favourite legislator.
Through all this, there has been a different narrative
in the background. A national newspaper had reported
that US’ bureau of diplomatic security had connected the
former minister to a massive immigration and money
laundering racket.
The news report mentioned that the bureau had got
in touch with Indian Ministry of External Affairs with the
relevant documents and case was being referred to CBI.
They stated that Pacheco had $ 15 million in his account
in US and had recently transferred $ 2 million to India. The
former minister said the boys who are working abroad, at
times, deposit their money in his account which he withdraws
and gives back to their families back in Goa.
The irony couldn’t be more stark. Advocate Radharao
Gracias, of the UGDP who has had a blow hot blow cold
relationship with Pacheco says “The irony is indeed evident.
There are various other cases of very serious nature for
which he would have had to face judicial custody, but not
for a slap on a government servant. Prima facie, it seems
that this case was not handled well by the defence as statements
denying any assault were not brought on record.”
Many lawyers in Margao affirm this and say – without
holding any brief for Pacheco – that a sharper defence
could have saved him the ignominy of going to jail.
This is not about whether Mickky Pacheco is guilty or
not. This is about how, in the world of power, real politic
and manipulations, the politicians responsible for large
scale financial crime, blatant violations in their own construction
and hotel businesses, and running corrupt departments
have moved from incident to incident as life
goes on while Betalbatim’s most famous resident continues
to court controversy whether in power or out of it.
In that sense, his imminent arrest in this case of assaulting
Junior Engineer Kapil Natekar, makes him a candidfate
for ‘Anti-Hero’ according to philosopher Aristotle’s
definition: “A (anti) hero’s downfall is his own fault as a result
of his own free choice, but his misfortune is not wholly
deserved”.
