E Sometimes under the garb of “locals” at other times misusing the name of the “people”, many so-called NGOs in the State of Goa have out of ideological motivation or on occasion plain extortion depending on the provenance of the organization succeeded in impeding democratic politics. That, at least, is the allegation.
And it is being made, increasingly, not just by those affected by the arm-twisting but by the Ordinary Jai. The latest example comes from Ponda but it is only the latest of a long list. Here, the Federation of Rainbow Warriors and United Goa Foundation have with some local sympathizers gone to the Town and Country Planning officer alleging illegal
hill-cutting and (illegal) conversion of land-use category by a
developer. Due process has been followed by the TCP and police
authorities, as is correct procedure,
and an FIR lodged.
Now hear, for a moment, the citizen
of Goa who sold the land and
the citizen of Goa who purchased
it and is developing it. Owner: “We
decided to sell the land and we
gave it to a developer. It is our own
land, there is nothing illegal about
it and even the tenant has no objection.”
These are facts that can easily
be checked. Developer: “Some
of those who are protesting want
to extort money from us. But I will not give them money under
any circumstances. Let anyone prove we have cut the hill
beyond the permissible limit. There were no huge trees.” As
usual in such cases, political agendas are never too far away
and a sotto voce campaign claiming the local MLA has a stake
in the land in question. To which the developer replied: “Why
are these activists linking the MLA, who is a good friend, to
this development project? The land is not owned by him as
can be seen on Form I&X-IV.” Again, these facts can easily be
checked. But does anybody want to? Or is it whoever shouts
loudest gets heard and damn the rest? Especially, when the
500-odd UNELECTED activists who are holding Goa to ransom
have perfected a template of dominating social media and pretending
that a consensus among the faithful has anything to
do with the reality of Goa and Goans! They may have the time
and luxury for such pastimes while the rest of us ordinary,
everyday Goans are busy working hard morning to evening
to make a living and a better future for our kids. But in the
process, they have brought the entire voluntary sector into disrepute.
And that’s truly sad because there is no denying the
fantastic work many NGO have done and continue to do across
sectors including where governments can’t.
All parties and institutions have used NGOs to settle scores,
whether to push their own ideological agenda, vilify/defame
individuals or to extort ~ and now they have created a monster
that threatens to devour them. Elected representatives,
like them or not (and if you don’t, vote them out), are the bedrock
of our liberal-democratic system not NGOs. Sure, a participative
democracy is about more than voting just once in five
years. But agenda-driven activists and their near-fascist vigilantism
can never be allowed to trump due democratic process
in terms of representation, law making and law enforcement.
