To Goanet - The crass, unthinking remark attributed to Manohar Parrikar where he likened the ordeal of a rape victim to the tribulations faced by an entrepreneur has drawn howls of indignation. Turns out that he did not say what the press report has claimed. Now, Manohar-bab hasn't exactly shown himself to be sharp in his choice of words or metaphors. At times it has revealed something deeper about the man. Such as when a few weeks ago he referred to a bribe as an “investment.” This misreporting is a distraction for it draws attention away from more important issues.
The Goa Industrial Policy approved last week is a pile of garbage that is being sold to Goans disguised as “policy.” If you think it will do what it says it will, Manohar also has a bridge to sell you. O wait! This doodie was laid by people who have ‘botate’ for brains and reads like the babble of 10 year olds. But its consequences will be far less funny. The immediate effect will be to flood Goa with even more outsiders and enable extravagantly criminal destruction of Goan resources of which the proposed Mopa airport is but one instance. It is surprising that nobody in the Goan media has been investigating this piece of garbage. If I, sitting here in California, can know things how come the local patracars can't? For instance, has anyone asked why “Light Engineering” is part of this ‘policy’ and for whose benefit it has been inserted? If you think that Goa has today become an unpleasant, crowded, squalid jumble of migrants, slums and concrete, wait until Manohar Parrikar is done with it. He now wants an IIT in Goa. Why? How would flooding the state with more outsiders and handing over precious Goan land serve the interests of Goa and Goans? If there had been an integrated vision 40 years ago to parlay Goa into a centre of academic and research excellence with things planned towards that end, we would have been in a very different place today. But that ship sailed long ago! Today, what would having another techie degree factory get us Goans? Look at what we would have to give up - large tracts of precious Goan land for outsiders to come park themselves in an already overflowing Goa. For 2 years we have witnessed this haphazard, schizophrenic flailing by Manohar and his ragtag crew. Goa cannot be all things to all people. Instead of severely narrowing the areas of focus, tending to critical infrastructure and Goa-centric policies, Manohar’s latest ‘policy’ is a free-for-all, calculated to benefit cronies, builders, and assorted land grabbers masquerading as entrepreneurs. He is dismantling the final threads that separate Goa from fully submerging into the Indian swamp. Meanwhile, Goa goes to the dogs. Literally. You have dogs strolling in the corridors of the hospital in Bambolim while Manoharwa has wet dreams of A380s landing at Mopa International Slumdog Hawaiadda. (God, what an ugly word Hindi has for airport.) The evidence is now in. Manohar Parrikar has failed Goa. He wants to hand over pieces of Goa to the Centre and to his builder cronies. The Mandovi river was long surrendered to the casino/real estate king. Instead of telling India to keep its distance, he is piloting us right into the swamp. You don't need Mopa for this craft to land. The Chief Minister has his glide slope pointed squarely at the Indian sewer. Manohar-bab, thank you for nothing.