Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who has been facing flak over the spate of crimes in the State, had very little to defend on Wednesday but took solace in last year's criminal record to justify that the situation is better off this year. Strangely, the crime detection rate is believed to be the highest in the country. The million-dollar question, however, is what the police are doing to prevent crimes and what are the deterrents it is setting. Incidentally, a day earlier, Panaji constituency MLA Atanasio Monserrate came to the defence of the men in khaki and said they were doing a fine job in solving crime and booking culprits. The issue, however, is not about solving crime. It is essentially about saving lives.
On another count, the National Crime Records Bureau data has shown an alarming 62 per cent increase in offences against senior citizens in Goa in 2021. That includes four cases of the elderly hacked to death and others like criminal trespass, grievous injuries, cheating and kidnap. The State reported 50 cases in 2021 against the 31 cases in 2020. The sad part is that there has been no conviction in any cases involving senior citizens. At a time when Goa is on a boil and crimes are becoming rampant, the data released by NCRB paints a grim picture, especially when senior citizens look forward to the police to give them justice.
The kind of crimes happening in a peace-loving and harmonious State like Goa, let alone the frequency, is something to ponder. The insider versus outsider narrative that the CM consistently drives cannot be a subject where Goans can find peace. Crimes are reported in their most brutal forms, which is why the State leadership and its machinery have to focus on deterrents against crimes.
The State has regularly witnessed peace shattered amid an environment of unease. If we consider Goa's vibe as a peaceful State, such crimes have a terrible influence on society hence the need to treat all forms of crimes on a war footing, irrespective of the origin of the victim and the accused. The determination shown by the chief minister in the Sonali Phogat death case to take it to a logical conclusion should also extend to other criminal cases. The glamour attached to Phogat and the sheer fact that she was a BJP leader cannot merit any preferential treatment.
We only hope something productive emerges from the series of high-level meetings conducted by the chief minister and there is a sustained effort to put deterrents in place against crimes. But unfortunately, history tells us that our system is emotion-driven. If we were to recount the tragic accident at Zuari bridge last month and the subsequent drive against drunken driving that ended as briskly as it started, one would question the sincerity behind the intent that the government is initially showing.
Instead of handpicking crimes, every effort should be made to restore the common man's confidence. Policing must be intensified, night nakabandis need to restart, and police must reconnect with the villagers. Goondas charging in with daggers and koitas and murdering people in the open is not what Goans want to see.
