A strong team of policemen descended on Seraulim village in Salcete to stop a scheduled cultural concert hosted by Seraulim Against Coal. The programme involving skits centred around environment, coal and Mollem projects on Sunday finally never took off. Police refrained the organisers from going ahead with the concert on the premise that there were no sound permissions. The truth was authorities feared that the concert may escalate into an Arossim-type rail-roko agitation.
Cultural performances during the festive season are common in villages. In the true spirit of Goemkar and Goenkarponn, such events continue to entertain audiences right through the year, more especially the festival season of December. The Carnival folk-plays that dot villages, running late into the night entertaining massive crowds with striking scripts and provocative songs are a shining example of Goa's folklore.
Authorities cannot bring down events with a mind to pre-empt tension, it violates the very essence of a free democracy. In the Seraulim case, the police argument revolved around sound permissions while locals alleged that their application was rejected. Villagers have a right to peaceful protests, be it a song or a skit. Using police force to scuttle such voices of dissent shows the high-handedness resorted to by the authorities.
If we may recall, the Supreme Court, in its recent observation on the agitating farmers, has acknowledged the right of farmers to hold non-violent protests. It held that a protest is constitutional till it does not destroy property or endanger life. In Goa, the government machinery is infringing upon this fundamental right of citizens. A conscious attempt is being made to silence voices against projects. The Liberation Day swoop down on people reciting songs next to the Panaji church and dragging them into police buses was another example of arbitrary action.
Dismantling a peaceful concert on mere intuition that it may provoke violence, is downright undemocratic and unacceptable. The police could have assessed the tempo and intervened only if it had strong reasons to believe the show is provoking violence. When the police descended at the venue there was hardly any audience, and there was nothing to believe that this village concert would snowball into something catastrophic.
By pressing machinery into service with brutal authority overlooking democratically followed norms, the anxiety within the administration lay exposed. By no figment of imagination could skits and one-act plays trigger violence. At best, these are only meant to pass on a message to the audience, a message that in all probability will not go down well with the powers that be.
The police action in Panaji and Seraulim are direct attacks on freedom of speech and expression and set a bad precedent. These instances smack of an authoritarian regime which is completely insensitive and ready to trample upon anything and everything that comes in the way. Such disdainful ways will only strengthen people’s resolve to stand up and fight for the issues before them.
