Title: 119. Who the Bleep cares about freedom of speech, women and ghantis? By: Selma Carvalho Source Goan Voice Daily Newsletter 24 Apr. 2011 at www.goanvoice.org.uk
For all those who voiced their opinions about my last column, thank you. Your views were almost invariably contrary to mine but you had the right to voice them. One Goan-American writer said my views were Utopian. So be it; I'm a misguided follower of Thomas Moore when it comes to this. The example of the Hindu Right's treatment of our very own Dr Jose Pereira was cited as the reason why we too must protest. But that is precisely why we must not protest. I was vocal when Dr Jose Pereira's work and hands were so glibly threatened by the Hindu Right wing; it hardly behoves me to keep quiet when it is predominantly the Catholic Goan who is making a brouhaha over what is essentially a debate about democratic rights. Women's groups are up in arms that a movie will distort the image of women. Let's look at how well women have fared in Goa in recent history. When a young woman alleged that she was raped by a wanna-be politician, he had enough clout to delay his own interrogation, the powers-that-be asked what she was doing out so late. When Scarlett Keeling washed up on our shores, so obviously physically brutalized, the case was dismissed as one of drowning. Only Fiona Mackeown, her mother's relentless intervention forced the government to re-open the case. The Government insisted Fiona Mackeown was out to tarnish the image of Goa. In fact, all she wanted was a mother's justice for her daughter - a woman's justice. When a nine-year old girl was allegedly molested on the beaches of Goa, the Deputy Director of Tourism, Pamela Mascarenhas declared, "you cannot blame the locals, they have never seen such women," and promptly followed it up with a ban on the bikini. Never mind, the absolute infringement of women's rights in this action, never mind the belittling of women, but the grotesque irony is that the ban on the bikini was not upheld by the Tourism Department itself, who sought it fit to feature bikini-clad women in their up-coming promos. I have nothing against women wearing bikinis be it on the beach or the billboard. I have a problem with hypocrisy. It is Goa, who has sadly treated women poorly. Not a Bollywood movie. Movies don't create images. Our realities create images. Our interpretations of these realities create images. We are a liberal society. Our women have long enjoyed a far more equal footing with men then other more orthodox Indian societies. We dress in Western attire, we drink in public, we fall in love, date and have relationships before marriage. If Indian society sees this as loose behaviour, they also see our women as brave, educated and liberated. Are we seriously saying that Indian society sees all those Goan teachers in Convent schools, those nurses in hospitals, those secretaries in their Bombay offices as loose women? Just how many women in Bombay have been mistreated because they were Goan? Just how many men have been denied jobs in India because someone watched Amar, Akbar, Anthony and thought all Goans were drunks? Are we, unnecessarily creating bogey-men to blame? How unfairly has India really treated Goans? These Indians who we feel no guilt whatsoever in calling illiterate, uncouth Ghantis when they cross the border and come into Goa. These same Ghantis who gave us jobs in Bombay and made chefs, seamen, tiatrists, writers, artists, advertising gurus, journalists and doctors of us when no such outlet existed in Goa for our potential. Please, let's not "cry wolf" too often. It will come back to haunt us. When we set out to contravene democracy, it is a slippery slope. If the courts do not uphold whatever outcome we wish for, in this case the banning of the movie Dum Maro Dum, then we call upon the Central government to intervene. Perhaps we are unacquainted with how fair and strong democracies work. One pillar is the judiciary, the other is the legislature. What we are doing is asking the legislature to undermine the Law. Just how much disdain do we as Goans have for democracy that we must resort to this? This is atrocious behaviour by Goans and we should be ashamed of it. Do leave your feedback at carvalho_...@yahoo.com Selma Carvalho is the author of the book Into the Diaspora Wilderness http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/