The recent Church advisory which was read out in several parishes urging people to raise their voice against Planning and Development Authorities has got several politicians especially those of the Goa Forward and Michael Lobo worried.
The emergence of a hastily made video that is being circulated on Whatsapp, that questions the Church’s opposition to several infrastructure projects in the past, is undoubtedly the ruling establishment’s way of hitting back and seeking to nullify the effect of the Church’s circular against the building resentment against the government.
Make no mistake, the Church has the right and the responsibility of speaking up against policies it believes are unjust as well as to guide its flock in taking a stand on issues of public concern and importance.
Many others are questioning the role of the Church in issuing such a circular urging people to come out and protest against the stand of the government. The right to protest peacefully is a fundamental right and an essential part of democracy.
Only if the Church was deliberately fomenting unrest could one have a legitimate grievance against the role of the Church. This isn’t to say that the Church itself isn’t guilty of at times going against its own preachings. But that is for another day.
Resorting to whataboutism and questioning the Church for its stance on other issues, like that of opposing other projects or regarding the alienation of its lands, are only an effort to divert from the issue at hand.
The political leaders who know that vocal public sentiment is fast-turning against them can have no complaints. It is beyond doubt that the recent governments and especially the current set of MLAs and ministers are resorting to arbitrarily bringing large areas under PDAs not because they want planned development, but because by doing so, it gives ‘them’ the power, authority and discretion to accept or reject zoning changes and consequently development permissions. In other words, it allows them to do what ‘they’ want and not follow a fixed set of guidelines or independently drafted map.
The issues that have been raised by the people first, which the Church then lent its support to, of large tracts being opened up for development of flats and complexes which are out of the reach of Goans are as valid today as they were a decade ago when the movement against the Regional Plan 2011 and mega projects took off.
These are issues that the current ruling parties, when they were in the opposition were only too happy to lend their voice to. It must be remembered that the Goa Forward party, in particular can have no complaints about the Church’s latest circular.
Many of the issues raised by the Goa Forward Party coincidentally or otherwise found their way into the ‘guidelines’ issued by the Church prior to the elections. That the party turned its back on those very issues not just by joining the BJP led coalition government but also by reneging on those issues -- like river nationalisation -- has left the people of Goa in general and the communities that supported the Goa Forward’s candidates against the BJP candidates, feeling betrayed.
It’s time the government listened to the voices demanding greater accountability and devolution of powers as was promised.
