Sujay Gupta's Open Edit has gone overboard by saying that Goa's police is a new megaphor for "loot and deceit" in India. Other states have had their share and some still continue to be caught in the criminal-police nexus. The central government is also not immune to such scandals. The Russian drug mafia's connection with the top brass of Goa's police and politicians has been exposed before. This new Israeli drug racket involving top policemen should be taken as just one more episode in the unfolding drama.
I don't think Gupta should worry that Goans have no shame left or the fear that there would be no Goa left because of the behaviour of its ruling class. Check the history of the ruling class and there are hundreds of instances where the ruling class has shamed us, the common folk, and, as Gupta himself admits, Goa is larger than its ruling class. Goa has survived the mistakes of its past "ruling class" just as India has survived the blunders of its many governments. The "larger Goa" that Gupta means the people will continue to ashamed and be angry at the way things are going on in Goa. We have the Mickey circus, we have the Churchill show, we have Dayanand scandal and now the Cipriano Fernandes case of police brutality. Together, they all result in a great Digamber act. All this may show Goa in a negative light, very different from the tourism spotlight. On the face of this new scandal, Gudlar may be the scapegoat. But in all such cases, scapegoats or the fall guy is part of the equation. How the case cracks wide open and exposes the higher-ups is what we can hope for. But will it? Goans should not "aim higher", but "aim right" in bringing those responsible in the mess that is Goa today to the public court of justice. We have said such things before and we have witnessed the same people come back to power. So, it would also be right to aim in creating a sense of civil justice among Goans themselves so as to see what is just and how among the "ruling class" need our support. A misplaced metaphor, as Gupta has done, also does not serve Goa well. Eugene Correia