In 1959 the first series of ‘Astrix’, written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, was released in a French magazine called ‘Pilote’. The series was about a remote village of Gauls who successfully resist conquest by Roman emperor Caesar. This they accomplish by imbibing a secret potion concocted by their druid which makes them invincible. The series of 36 comic books are about the exploits of this tiny village led by Asterix and his pal, Obelix.
When Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, referring to the opposition to the IIT, said that one village cannot take a decision for the rest of Goa, it reminded one of Asterix. Loliem, like Gaul, is the remote village in the State which has taken on Caesar, in this case the government, which is determined to bulldoze the project through. The magic potion for the people of Loliem is grassroot democracy and the right to protest.
Like the Gauls, the people of Loliem want to protect their village and its environment. They also want to protect their way of life, while Casear thinks he knows what is best for them. They want answers to two simple questions: How does Loliem benefit from the project? How does Goa benefit from the project? All that Caesar has said is that we took a risk in starting the National Institute of Technology and we will start an IIT.
The 12 lakh sq meters that the IIT has demanded for construction of the institution is virgin land. And in a State like Goa, where land is in short supply, the use of every square metre of land must not happen without proper scrutiny. The coastal areas have been taken over by the tourism and real estate industries. So unless there is a compelling reason to utilize land in the interiors, saving it in its virgin form is more desirable. And the irony is that the people of Loliem understand this principle better than Caesar.
There is difference between the National Institute of Technology and the IIT. In the case of the NIT 50 per cent of the seats are reserved for Goans. The IITs do not make any such concession. They are looked upon as national institutes of high learning. An IIT is a national project to create engineers of a very high caliber and hence a noble undertaking. However, Goa already has several national institutes of this caliber -- National Institute of Oceanography, NIT, Goa Institute of Management, BITS Pilani, ONGC, ICAR and National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Studies. The State is also home to INS Hansa and HQ 2 Signal Training Centre. Isn’t that enough for a small State?
While the rest of Goa sleeps, Loliem is the only village asking the right questions and the government has, thus far, chosen to ignore them. The Gauls will have to fight Caesar in order to save their village and Goa.
