The Accidental Activist - Desperate People By Venita Coelho
I have been following the fight in Lalgarh closely. Even more so because a dear friend was right in the heart of it. He went in to do a report for a paper - and found himself stranded with no way to get out. The naxals had dug up the surrounding roads, burnt the bridge and barricaded exits with trees. Helicopters dropped leaflets telling people not to side with the naxals. Television gave hourly updates on how the police and special forces were poised to move in and take back the area that had been defiantly taken over by the Maoists. How he got out is a saga in itself, but I found myself sharing a cup of tea with him and chatting about the whole experience. And I found myself wondering - will the naxals ever come to Goa? On the face of it the answer is 'No'. They have proliferated in the areas where the poorest of the poor live. Where years of awful governance have stripped dirt poor tribals and villagers of even the little subsistence they had. Ignored by the administration, exploited by the local authorities, bullied by the police, the villagers have seen the naxals as one last chance to fight back. As their land is signed over to mining and other interests, as the forest is declared out of bounds for them, as their livelihood vanishes before their eyes they have become desperate people willing to take up arms as a desperate measure. Surely that situation will never happen in Goa. At the end of the day we are a rich state. The standard of living in Goa is high. It regularly features in magazine polls as the place to live in. On the face of it all is well in Aparanta. Merely on the face of it. I have asked the question 'will the naxals ever come to Goa?' to several activists. And nobody has ever replied with a firm 'no'. Each has thought long and hard. As I have to. And my opinion is that the mining belt will tip us over. That and the corruption. Goa features as the state that is the best to live in. It also features high on Transparency Internationals list as the single most corrupt state in India. You would imagine Bihar or Jharkhand would make it to first. Goa beats them hands down. For decades Goa has been sold by our politicians. Finally the scales are poised to tip over. The seething activism all over the state should be viewed with great alarm. It takes a lot to rouse a Goan. But if across the state people are willing to come out and fight then there is something seriously rotten in the state of Goa. And it has come home to the ordinary man. Activism in Goa is the tip of the iceberg. Looming under the surface is the dead weight of years of frustration with watching helplessly as generation after generation of politicians sold the state shamelessly. The scales are most likely to tip in the mining areas. The rest of Goa lives in a world that is far removed from the reality of those living in close proximity to the mines. Ignored by the administration, exploited by the local authorities, bullied by the police - is an apt description of what is happening right now in the mining affected areas. The mining business turns over hundreds of crores. These find their way to the highest corridors of power. The might of state machinery, police, administration is all geared to keep the money rolling. The villager who stands up to protest finds that he is slapped with police cases, arrested, harassed. Make no mistake. The villager is fighting because his livelihood is vanishing before his eyes. He is a desperate person. It is this desperation that will finally drag us over the edge. It is naive and uninformed to see the fight in Bengal and elsewhere in India as the state versus the bad guys. Naxals are not terrorists despite all efforts to label them so. It is the state that has created the climate for them to thrive. They move in on years of frustration and despair. It is the common man in Lalgarh who has taken up his bow and arrow to stand against the might of the well armed police and forces. Take away the ring of jargon from 'peoples fight against oppression' and that is exactly what it is. Will the naxals come to Goa? If our politicians continue their rape of the resources of the state - yes. If mining is not checked, nor any controls put in place - yes. If we continue to be the most corrupt state in Goa - yes. We have our own desperate people edging closer every day to desperate measures. Our very own Lalgarh is waiting to happen. (ENDS) =========================================================================== The above article appeared in the June 23, 2009 edition of the Herald, Goa
