Source: Goan Voice Daily Newsletter 10 Nov. 2013 at www.goanvoice.org.uk FULL TEXT:
We were promised a grand Clean-up in Goa. But over the last 19 months of the vicious misrule by this government, democracy stands totally subverted and buried. The current government is a Hindu right wing (RSS) controlled set up where any voice of dissent is intolerable and sought to be crushed in the bud. The communal venom being unleashed is destroying Goa's secular fabric. We officially have a 12 member cabinet. But every department and all decisions are controlled by Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar. The eleven ministers are symbolic jokers who Manohar Parrikar prefers to frequently send on outstation and foreign jaunts to keep them content. The ruling MLAs have also been silenced and banned from speaking out their mind on the wrong doings of the government. In a very tactical move almost the entire local press has been muzzled to play to the will of the government and have conveniently surrendered their independence. The fear of vindictiveness and retribution by this RSS driven government is there for all to see. Ordinary citizens from fear of being targeted are dead scared to speak out. The fright is so intense that it even deters people from commenting against the government on the social media like Face book with fear of facing the wrath of the saffron freaks. To suppress the facts and truth from emanating and coming to light Manohar Parrikar has gone all out to weaken the implementation of the Right To Information Act. Everything is being done to keep the rampant prevailing corruption and maladministration under closed wraps. On the pretext that the government websites have been hacked most of them are non-functional and the rest not updated. Does it take so long to get the website up and working again? Has anyone seen a website surrender to the so-called hacking? Has the Government seriously attempted to track down the hackers? Or is this simply a ruse to pull a bluff to shut down the websites? The entire bureaucracy is also towing the government line, with officers who dare to speak out being marginalised. This can be seen from the very frequent shuffling and transfer of officers. At the Goa Legislative Assembly which should have been the pinnacle of democracy the scene is all the more agonizing. With the hard-core RSS Rajendra Arlekar as Speaker the functioning of the Assembly leaves much to be desired. >From the 1960's we have watched and witnessed Speakers of the Goa Legislative Assembly but Rajendra Arlekar cannot grace the walls of the august Halls as one of the erudite Speakers as of the past. Many Speakers in the past may have at times been partisan but members of the public have been commenting that Rajendra Arlekar has utterly disgraced the august Chair of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. The role of the Opposition in a democracy is vital. In Goa with an already decimated Opposition it needed to be fairly given an opportunity to articulate views on the floor of the Goa Legislative Assembly. Over the last two assembly sessions, Speaker Rajendra Arlekar has high-handedly been silencing the Opposition. It has repeatedly been "Tum bos" even before they stand. It is good that the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly are being conducted in Konkani. Is it because of Arlekar's love for Konkani or because of his lack of command over English? So why incur all that astronomical expenditure in having those Assembly sessions if open debates and fair deliberations are not allowed. Besides, there's no point having those meaningless cabinet meetings. Let Manohar Parrikar and Rajendra Arlekar along with their Swami At-marop run the show till there is some divine intervention to restore democracy in Goa. Goa is by the day getting more in the news for drugs, sex and sleaze. God save Goa. Jai Hind! For the Goan Voice profile of Aires Rodrigues, go to http://bit.ly/Kc2nbb