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.
