Days after the gruesome murder of a 4-year-old child at a Candolim service apartment allegedly by his mother over a custody dispute with her estranged husband, attention was diverted to yet another suspected murder of a 27-year-old lady from Uttar Pradesh over a marital discord.
The body of the lady was found at Rajbagh Beach, Canacona on January 19, moments after she was seen making a splash with her husband in the sea. The suspicion of murder stems from the fact that the husband walked out alone from the waters without his wife. While the Cuncolim police were quick to arrest the husband after booking him for murdering his wife, the incident has left bitterness and many questions. The story doing the rounds is about an alleged extra-marital affair of the husband, a man engaged in the hospitality sector, that triggered the extreme step of murder.
The police and the entire government machinery could be rendered helpless in a scenario where an ‘outsider’ plots a murder of the spouse or kin, but the sheer fact that the State is becoming a hotspot for executing such crimes is worrisome and once again raises fingers at tourism.
The police have done nothing wrong in both cases, in fact, they have acted swiftly. But that’s not going to change anything and neither it is going to set a deterrent. These cold-blooded murders committed by ‘outsiders’ -- tourists, visitors and settlers, will continue to pierce the hearts and souls of people, and above all, send out a wrong message to the outside world -- it’s happening in Goa. It is a concern that Goa is helplessly drifting towards organised crimes, with criminals hiding under the guise of tourism. The question is, whether Goa can change.
On Monday, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the grand Ayodhya temple amid tremendous religious fervour and festivity, a report by brokerage firm Jefferies spelt out what it means for tourism for the State and India. The firm projected a spike of around 50 million tourists that will also create a multiplier effect on development across the State. Jefferies highlights that religious tourism is the predominant segment of tourism in India and cites several popular religious centres attracting annual footfalls of 1-3 crore despite shortcomings in other infrastructure.
As long as Goa is stuck with its sea, sand and surf catalogue, it will continue facing the toxic side effects of crime, abuse and violence. The State will continue to be horrified about murders like the 4-year-old and the one at Rajbagh. A transformation can happen if there is a change in outlook and diversification beyond what is being done.
While the State is at a crossroads with communal tensions occasionally flickering in the background, replicating Modi’s spiritual formula in Goa could prove to be a win-win situation. The State has a rich religious heritage that if explored to its potential can create a meaningfully large economic impact, and Goans, in the bargain could also find peace within.
We need to look at Ayodhya from a religious and tourism perspective and in the larger interest of the State, make that conscious switch going forward. Shunning the party culture is by no means an easy task, and rest assured in the next few decades we could still find cops sporadically chasing drugs and people bitterly complaining about loud music happening till the wee hours of the morning. Perhaps, things will get worse. The point is about changing direction.
It’s time to look back and look forward, and unlock the spiritual tourism potential of the State.
