Recently both the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant lauded the people of Goa for living in social harmony. Columnist Jug Suraiya says that he comes to Goa, 'Little India' as he calls it, as often as he can where he feels at home with the unique character of friendly Goans, its great diversity and as acknowledged by our top politicians, where all castes and creeds harmonize.
Notice the example of Qatar arbitrarily sending eight Indian naval veterans training their navy suddenly to the death row after facing unknown espionage charges. I am sure we will never know the real reason.
It was only on the personal intervention of our Prime Minister and the power of the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to pardon that they were released. Neither the Qatar authorities nor New Delhi have made the charges public.
At the lower level rat hole miner Wakeel Hassan, hero of the Silkyara tunnel rescue witnessed his own house in Delhi being bulldozed and family helplessly thrown on the roads. There must never be a powerful government/king without an independent proactive judiciary.
Our freedom fighters have had to fight hard against our erstwhile coloniser with many sacrifices to get our much cherished independence, establish a democracy and we can only take it for granted and watch it slip away at our peril.
We need to see through the mask of diplomacy and deceit from those governing us and stop it before it is too late. Prevention of misuse of power at all levels is what true democracy ensures.
In an answer to reporters on the question “Does rise of Hindu nationalism concern the US during the Modi regime despite the country’s economic growth?”, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reportedly replied, “We do it in different ways in different places. Maybe because of the relationship we may have with a country with a government”.
Despite media headlines and political masks, we have to see through them and face the truth. Hindu rashtra persecuting minorities is as unacceptable as Pakistan persecuting Hindus and Christians.
Spiritual guru Sant Rajinder Singh reportedly world renowned for his work in bringing spiritualism and harmony back to humanity visited Goa recently. Besides many religious leaders, we have had many other world renowned gurus like Sri Sri Ravi Shanker, Swami Vasudev Sadguru, the Dalai Lama visiting Goa. I remember the big crowds at Kala Academy for his discourse where I couldn’t even get close to see the proceedings on the big screen put up outside! The front rows were filled with politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists.
All of the gurus preached love, peace and harmony. They were feted by the VIPs in our establishment and citizens.
Goa was always a spiritual land of relative unity, peace and harmony. Violence was minimum and tranquility the norm. But there is slowly building up communal disturbance in little India.
The government is responsible to ensure equitable justice, law and order, peace and harmony where patronage to hardliners and vigilante groups should be taboo and anyone fermenting/ imposing their ideology or religious intolerance should be harshly dealt with and such machinations nipped in the bud if the preaching of all these gurus have had any meaning.
The Prime Minister is a self-confessed world pujari and is the force behind the BJP election high voltage “ Viksit Bharat Modi Ki Guarantee”. The PM and his party exudes confidence that they will get 400+ seats and all those international ratings classifying us as an electoral autocracy are all conspiracies to bring us down.
The home-grown voices stating unpalatable criticism are mostly ignored or declared as anti- national. With the Congress Yukt (filled) BJP and most of the opposition safely ensconced in the ruling party or battling FIRs/corruption charges or behind bars, the ruling party's alleged corruption, communalization and human rights violations have no chance of becoming an election issue.
The population of Goa during the last census in 2011 was 14.4 lakh and is predicted to touch 15.5 lakh in 2024. There is a big demographic change as the Goan Christian population has considerably decreased especially in south Goa which had helped keep the power balance with dominance of Hindus in north Goa. There is an increase in Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and population from other states settling in Goa.
The majority of Hindus may not like Hindutva and like everyone else is fearful of the polarization and communal discord being fermented by some, but are in a dilemma because Modi has indeed brought back Hindu pride, modernized temple facilities and traditional values for the most part. Not to discount the positive aspects of development. How do we bring back peace and harmony in this atmosphere?
It is not too late for the people of tiny Goa to set an example in word and deed as preached by Sreedharan Pillai, the erudite Governor of Goa. The people friendly CM Pramod Sawant, together with the just appointed Lokpal Justice Ajay Khanwilkar, the post which was vacant for two years, needs to ensure equitable justice as misuse of power becomes unacceptable in our democracy.
Violence be it anywhere, in Hatras, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Sandeshkali, Bilkis Bano, women wrestlers, etc. must be condemned by all Indians, media included and people must vociferously shame the selective political approach and double standards. The people of Goa consciously need to boldly vote for democracy, humanity, peace and harmony in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
