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TRI Continental Film Festival - Dona Paula, Goa, Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2007 http://www.moviesgoa.org/tricontinental/tricon.htm For public viewing Registration at The International Centre Goa Ph: +91 (832) 2452805 to 10 Online Media Partner: http://www.GOANET.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > From: "Rajan P. Parrikar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Goanet] Calling All Goan Chauvinists > To Goanet - > > I have received an email asking if I advocate Shiv Sena type > violent tactics to deal with the influx of immigrants into Goa. > The answer to that is: No, I don't. Great! And finally, we have some concrete suggestions on how to deal with the problems that Goa is facing. Such concrete suggestions present a set of issues for debate and enable the process of evolving a plan of action. How nice it would be if we could stick to these rather than engage in name-calling and stereotyping of individuals and communities. > Already the government and its administrative machinery > have at their disposal the devices necessary to immediately > present a first line of defense: stop the ration card fraud, What exactly is this ration card fraud? Are ration cards being issued to fictitious people? It that is the case, of course it must be stopped. In the past 20 years I have lived in 5 different towns in 4 Indian states. In each of these places, within a year of moving to that place I obtained a ration card and enrolled myself on the electoral roll, both perfectly legitimately and legally. These are basic rights of all Indian citizens. Irregularities, illegalities and frauds in these matters must certainly be acted against. But basic rights cannot be denied. > slow down the pace of construction, I would most emphatically agree with this; it is probably the one single step that can make the biggest difference. Freeze all land conversions for a certain period, permanently scrap any plans for SEZs, allow constructions only strictly as per the law and as per plans which are made with people's participation. This is the kind of thing the GBA has been talking about, and more power to them! One should add here -- put strict controls on the growth of tourism. While this industry is touted as bringing multiple benefits to Goa, it is an unmitigated disaster. JGF was on the right track 20 years ago; it is time to rise again and oppose the kind of tourism we are seeing in Goa. > demolish the illegal slums Yes, there are proper procedures and laws to establish the illegality of slums, and once these are followed and the case made, and rehabilitation provided as per the law, certainly slums can be demolished. The problem with the demolitions in Baina, to take one example, was not the demolition per se, but that the agreed-upon rehabilitation measures have not materialised to date (as was confessed recently by the Chairperson of the Goa State Women's Commission), resulting in a problem worse than they claimed to solve. > tighten enforcement of civic laws, order the police > to do its job honestly, and so on. Most certainly. I would add that honestly also means fairly, i.e., applying the law equally to all, not selectively targeting particular groups or communities while sparing others, as our politicians and the police are wont to do. As you say, there are many things that can, and should, be done. Unfortunately, after one short paragraph devoted to meaningful suggestions, the rest of the post again descends into the now-familiar and sickening abuse, prejudice and bigotry, effectively putting a stopper on further discussion. -- Question everything -- Karl Marx