I write this with disillus i o nme n t , with an
empty feeling in my stomach and a sick feeling in my guts. I did know that
politicians stoop very low to achieve their clandestine and often, very corrupt
goals but this low was a new low. I do not see any low lower than this. I feel
completely cheated and helpless. Together with me, all right thinking people of
Goa will bow their heads in shame for having elected such a breed of people to
represent us. What can we do other than being mute spectators when our utterly
myopic, selfish, conceited and stubborn MLAs and MPs do everything except
follow the rule of law? We know that jungle raj exists only in some corrupt
unruly states, but were not aware that it had crept into our tiny Goa.
How many
more times must our stubborn politicians have to be told that the mining mafia
of Goa in cahoots with the governments (meaning themselves) cutting across
party lines, and the bureaucracy has defrauded Goa of thousands of crores?
Justice Shah had quoted thirty five thousand crores, but the latest figure is
sixty five thousand and counting. The state was asked to investigate and
recover the loot. Every single Goan knows who were the big fish involved in
this loot and plunder. Only our government and its agencies feign to be
clueless and are still groping in the dark. We thought that the apex court’s
castigation and humiliation of the government and its agencies for abetting the
fraud would have shamed these politicos. It was befitting the then dispensation
(and its two terms mines minister and chief minister) together with the
colluding and conniving ‘babus ‘, miners and traders to be safely caged at
Colvale.“ Kotti borun udkant naak buddoipachem”. Alas! That was not to be! The
obvious culprit at whose door the buck should have stopped, being the minister
concerned as well as the chief minister, got re- elected and is a free man
today. The state can’t touch him. Five years of investigation netted the
director of mines and two small fry traders. I understand that the director has
been reinstated. Whoever says crime doesn’t pay deserves to be punched!
The apex
court allowed mining to start with severe strictures. The mining leases were
not to be renewed but tendered afresh so as to derive maximum income for the
state. And here begins the sordid saga all over again. We had heard a lot being
said about the nexus between the miners and politicians of all hues and colors.
It was said that politicians were on their payrolls. It was said that miners
financed elections of political parties and could make or break governments. It
was said that the miners, the politicians and the bureaucracy were a cozy club
who thrived on the “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” adage. All this was
proven to be nothing but the truth, when instead of being once bitten twice
shy, our government promptly went ahead and renewed the leases of the holders
against all the court’s norms. And ironically this was initiated by the same
man who when in the opposition brought out a PAC report screaming that illegal
mining was rampant in Goa. Shame.Shame. When he left to join the union cabinet,
his successor renewed all the remaining leases most probably on the logic that
“Bhain poilem kelem ani thea mulle hanven kelem”. Then too, Goa Foundation was
screaming that this was contravening the Supreme Court guidelines but it fell
on deaf ears. Result : These renewals struck down by the SC last month.
Who was
responsible for the earlier fraud and stoppage in 2012? Obviously it is the
then government who actively participated in the loot. Why is it so difficult
to put that government’s head on the block? Has it not left a trail behind? Or
is it that the authorities do not want to follow the trail for fear of
skeletons tumbling out of their clothes store (wardrobe is too small)? And who
is responsible for this latest fraud and stoppage? The present CM and the
defeated ex- CM of course! How did they go ahead renewing leases contravening
the SC strictures? Who was the legal brain that gave the green signal? Did this
border on contempt of court? We want their heads on the block.
Although
we always knew it, we now have the proof that most of our elected members of
assemblies as well as Parliament are myopic, selfish and do not have the
State’s interest at heart at all. Unless their personal interests are being
jeopardized, our MLAs will pamper and pander to their vote-bank. We saw the
classic case of the taxi operators strike demanding roll back of all policies
which were in the passenger’s interest. We were surprised and applauded when we
heard the Transport minister talk tough to uphold the law but soon saw him
giving in to all their arm twisting and threats. And the MLAs of the coastal
belt were shamelessly mollycoddling and supporting the arrogant taxiwallas who
were aggressively and abusively pursuing concessions which were against the
interests of the people of Goa. So what if Goans felt betrayed? This is my
vote-bank and as I want to stick to my chair, I will support them in anything
they do even if it is against the law. After all the rest of Goa doesn’t
re-elect me, my vote bank does.
And now
the case of mining. The mining dependent people of Goa comprising of truck
owners, barge owners, garages, employees of mines, grew in numbers and actively
contributed to the booming mining market in the early 2000. Just as IT
flourished in Hyderabad/ Bangalore, pharma in Himachal, steel in Jharkand, so
did mining in Goa. Little did the stakeholders know that the people elected to
oversee the flourishing trade were slowly but surely slitting the throat of the
goose that was laying the golden eggs. The goose is now dead and the killer
must be punished. After being continuously castigated by the apex court to the
extent of calling the government brokers of the miners, we thought that good
sense would prevail. But it appears that all politicians, cutting across party
lines have decided to actively support the existing lease holders and
themselves by citing interests of mining dependents. If you were so concerned
about the mining dependents why did you flout the SC directions and bring doom
over them? Although we sympathize with the mining dependents we denounce the
miners who have defrauded the state. They must pay for their fraud committed on
the Goan people. But hey wait a minute! I thought our MLAs were elected to
safeguard the interest of the state or so their oath says. Then how come they
are pushing the cause of the miners in spite of knowing that thousands of
crores have been siphoned off by them. If this is not nexus, what is it? And
they want an ordinance to circumvent the SC ruling! In other words, I loot, you
loot, let’s all loot the state, but if anyone objects let’s legalize looting.
That’s the gist of the arguments of these guys who went to Delhi and were
almost jailed by Union minister Piyush Goyal. He seems to be a sensible
minister as that’s their rightful place. Some legislators cited the Jallikattu
protest in Tamil Nadu and the subsequent ordinance. That was a movement where
the entire state rose in unison to legalize a sport. There was no mass
corruption involved. The mining dependent people are only a part of the Goan
population and do not represent all Goans. No sane Goan will support illogical
reasons being dished out by our politicians to continue the loot and plunder of
the state. And what a pitiable sight our opposition makes! Except for the
Curtorim MLA, not a whimper of protest from the others to denounce the devious
and dubious plans of the government of circumventing the apex court ruling. And
the president of the largest opposition party props his head out for a PC,
makes some feeble noises, and retreats into his cozy shell. And the LOP has the
Damocles sword above his head so he will nod at anything the rulers say. Next if
the court cracks down on matka, we may have our “honorable legislators” goading
the Centre to issue another ordinance as so many people will lose their luck
game, so many people will lose employment and so many high profile people will
lose business. And the issues go on and on. Where does it all end? Isn’t it
high time that the ordinance route is abolished once and for all and the apex
court’s ruling deemed final?
But who
will bell the cat? Our MPs? Forget it. If they start wasting time in
legislating when will they have time for sloganeering, slandering, abusing ,
running to the well of the house and disrupting the Parliament?
