It seems Goa is well on its way to becoming another communal cauldron much like UP, Bihar, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat and other saffron-ruled states. Recent statements by our CM are bound to rip apart the syncretic culture that our beautiful state is known for.
First is his exhortation to counter imaginary religious conversions taking place in Goa, his unwarranted statements during the Holy week of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are a blatant attempt to polarise the community and sow seeds of disaffection amongst us. Second, his contention is that the Portuguese destroyed many temples in the past and it is time to regain Hindutva glory. This is besides the fact that no one seems to know which are the temples that had been reduced to rubble by the colonisers. Third was the CM’s claim that we Goans are poor in Hindi and should learn to improve our language skills. This statement came close on the heels of union home minister Amit Shah announcing that Hindi should be a substitute for English all over the nation. This is nothing, but linguistic imperialism. This begs the question: why do almost all of our political leaders send their kids to English medium schools and then abroad for higher education where the medium of instruction is largely English? The CM is treading totally as per the Centre’s playbook of ‘divide and rule’.
