www.navhindtimes.com dated May 7, 2002 Goa is an idea and not a geography or history
By PETER RONALD DE SOUZA Any discussion on the politics of Goa, in the run up to the elections, must begin with the recognition of the following four fundamental truths. The first truth is that there is a class of people in Goa who are more powerful than the politicians who govern the state. They rule Goa and do so from behind the scenes. No political party can go against their interests. Parties may at best cause them some discomfort but can never, never really, trouble them. The story of the River Princess illustrates this simple truth most graphically. To see a huge rusting ship sitting on Candolim beach for nearly two years, in spite of the state having all the agencies and all the regulatory structures to check maritime pollution and disasters, tells us a lot about the impotence of the state. The ruling class rules. All governments dance to their tune. The second truth is that the political class, i.e., politicians, bureaucrats, party functionaries, are a ‘rentier class’ living on the wealth produced by the state of Goa. Politics in Goa is a rent-seeking activity. Politicians comprise a class of rent extractors. They are like the absentee bhatcars who cannot climb coconut trees, or plough paddy fields, yet live off the wealth produced by the land only because of an inherited right. The more rent the politicians can extract from the land, they will extract, and we will have to pay. That is the law of governance. The third truth is that one can reduce the rent we have to pay. Democracy as a form of government has the potential to be the least rent taking. But that requires, (a) competition among political leaders, this we must ensure, (b) a media which is vigilant and committed to exposing the abuses of power, this we must strive for, and (c) an active citizenry who are continuously demanding, protesting, challenging, exposing, organizing, mobilizing, and most of all treating the political class as their representatives and not their masters. Continuous protest is an end in itself. It checks the abuse of power. It makes the political class and the ruling class more circumspect. The fourth truth is that Goa is an idea. Not a geography, not a history, not a religion, but an idea of living together while living differently. Itis essentially a secular idea that has evolved through a troubled history. Multiple influences, from the Arab traders, to the Portuguese colonialists, to the charter tourists, to the migrant labour, and so on have shaped the culture of the land. We are a coastal people, accommodative, forward looking, cosmopolitan, non-aggressive. Our people have gone out from Mumbai to Mombasa, and brought back traces of the lands and culture they have visited. Others have come from distant lands, from Bengal to Bahrain, and incorporated Goa into their lives. Goa is a syncretic idea and any political party that seeks to undermine this is a party that looks at a rainbow and sees only a single colour. Goa is like the gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan adorned by a diversity of flowers. Even the roses have a variety of colours. Like a garden Goa has to be carefully nurtured. These four truths must be the starting point of all evaluations of the promises that politicians will make in the next three weeks. The last one, of the idea of Goa, was prompted by a comment made by the present acting Chief Minister, Mr Parrikar who informed the state that this year was the only year when Goa’s ‘true culture’ was presented at the Republic day parade. ‘True culture’ Mr Chief Minister! Does that mean that all the trophies we got in previous years were based on a portrayal of a ‘false’ culture? That the national selection committees had been fooled. That all previous contingents from Goa had gone to Delhi to mislead the nation. When a Chief Minister talks of a ‘true culture’ there is a chilling message for believers in diversity. Imagine a rainbow with only a ‘true colour’. But more about that later. Now for an evaluation of governance in Goa. The answer is clear. No party has been able to give us good governance. In the last fifteen years there has been a steady erosion of our democratic institutions and conventions. In addition to this, erosion of democratic practices, there has also been an atrophy of the developmental activity of the state. I have no place to go into all the details here. A simple cataloguing of the ills of governance will make the point: jumbo cabinets, repeated defections, a questionable dissolution, a bad precedent setting expansion of the contingency fund, political blackmail of political opponents and allies, violation of security norms by politicians at airports, destruction of urban habitats, etc and most of all taking orders from extra-constitutional authorities. The news item that appeared the other day in the papers is a measure of how far we have fallen. I read with sorrow (not because Khalap had resigned but because Parrikar stated without apology) that the resignation letter of Mr Khalap from the Council of Ministers to the Chief Minister had been forwarded, not to the Governor for acceptance, as is the convention, but to Mr Pramod Mahajan for acceptance. Who is Mr Mahajan? What is his de jure status in the system of Cabinet Government in Goa. What does Indian Federalism mean? Both the Congress and the BJP take their orders from a High Command. In the former case Delhi, in the latter Nagpur. How about these parties taking their orders from the ‘Low Command’. From us. Send Khalap’s letter to his constituents, Mr Parrikar. But are you listening? Let me now talk about just one aspect about the performance of government these last few years. Let me talk about education about which I know something. About the University. Both Mr Luizinho Faleiro and Mr Manohar Parrikar have publicly attacked the University. This is unbecoming of a Chief Minister. For a Chief Minister to use the language they did, ‘white elephant’, ‘degree producing machine’, etc about the only university in the state, about an institution that has given a whole population of middle castes and classes an avenue for upward mobility, about an institution that has more women students then men in most faculties, and thereby by that single fact contributing to women’s empowerment, about an institution that has been rated highly by the UGC evaluation committee, about an institution that is producing knowledge about Goa that is sorely required, about an institution that gives an aspiration to 18000 young persons, is terribly sad. Mr Faleiro’s comments were based on a lack of understanding. Mr Parrikar’s on too much understanding. He repeated them on every occasion, and most offensively at a function when retiring teacher’s were being felicitated. So much for Guru dakshina! And one final word. Sitting in Goa amidst a population of tourists, migrants non-resident Goans, Bengalis, Tamils, Kannadigas, Chitpavans, Deshasta Brahmins, Marathas, Kshatriya Marathas, Gomantak Marathas, Chardos, Shasticars, and so on from caste to religion to language to food habits to dress to taste in music etc; all I see are minorities. And so I am puzzled by the statement of the RSS that “The minority must remember that it exists on the goodwill of the majority”. Must the lovers of Bharat Natyam be warned that they exist on the goodwill of the majority. Or the lovers of fish. Or those who enjoy football. Or those who listen to Ustad Bismillah Khan. Or those who wear safari suits. Or those who wear white kurtas. All I see are minorities. Many flowers in the Mughal garden of India. Where is this imagined majority? Show me such a group and I will show you difference. Isn’t this diversity the real Goa? Then where do statements about ‘true’ and ‘false’ culture of Goa belong? To the dustbin of history where they truly belong (Peter Ronald de Souza is Professor and Head of Department of Political Science, Goa University). _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
