People's Democracy (Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Vol. XXIX No. 07 February 13, 2005
Goa Under Saffron Government Nalini Taneja FLEXING ITS MUSCLES The Panaji Nagrik Kruti Samiti, an RSS linked organisation, has been flexing its muscles at the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP). It has asked the civic body to rename 14 streets in the capital that bear any record of the Portuguese presence in Goa. Targeting Portuguese street names like the �Rua Armada Portuguesa� and the �Rua 31 do Janeiro�, the saffron group renamed them �Vithal Rakhumai Marg� and �19th December Marg� (Deccan Herald, June 2, 2004). A group of over 30 people led by some BJP councillors stormed into the compound of the Bishop's Palace on Monday, after a sponsored rumour had it that an excavation had unearthed a �shivalingam�. There is no excavation on in the palace precincts, and the flat, granite slab with a chiselled spout which is suddenly at the centre of attention, has been lying in the compound for over 35 years). The state's director of archives and archaeology Manohar Dicholkar who arrived at the spot on his own, actually arrived to take over but was stopped from �taking possession�. The Bishop's Palace is across the road from the chief minister�s official bungalow at Altinho, Panjim. Spotted among the crowd of agitators were the chief minister's staff and policemen in mufti� According to Fr Pereira, the Bishop's Palace was built in 1894 at the meagre sum of 36,000 escudos (Rs 90,000). Stone similar to the pedestal was carried from Old Goa and Divar and used for the palace�s archways. (Deccan Herald, January 3, 2004). WHAT KIND OF TOURISM And what is the kind of tourism this government has been promoting? Saffron clad sadhus, om shanti chants, hash from Manali, and Israeli tourists, Hebrew banners, restaurants serving Israeli food on Goa beach shacks. But, the predominance of Israeli vacationers in Goa does more than just� �lend a hedonistic international flavour to the scene - there's an unmistakable stench of racism that filters through all the ganja and patchouli. Despite the warm fuzzy hippie rhetoric, clearly, Indian visitors are not welcome at Israeli-hotspots like northern Goa, �and can only be treated as second class guests.� (Anjali Kamat, Shalom Goa, on South Asian Literature and Arts website, Winter 2003). In many small guest houses Indians are told they are full, while Europeans and especially Israelis get taken in just after. Anjali Kamat goes on to describe further: �It's New Years Eve and the DJ war at one of Goa's beachfront shacks is taking on distinctly racial shades. The Europeans and Israelis are easily united in opposing the growing Indian presence at the shack. "This is OUR place. We don't want this fucking Indian playing Bollywood shit." An irate English folksinger threatens the DJ before she storms out. The rival French DJ sulks in a corner because he has been replaced by this New-York returned Delhi-wallah wanting to play some African music. "The ambience here is just not good anymore," warns an Israeli armed with a beautiful guitar. He returns half an hour later, this time with a group of tough-looking fellow Israelis. And heads towards the DJ behind the bar to settle the music question in a 'peaceful' way �for war-weary Israelis in particular, there's no messing around with their post-service vacation. Goa's beautiful beaches, drugs and music offer the perfect ambience to recover from the trauma of serving in the army - especially if one was unlucky enough to be posted in the Occupied Territories. Peace, aggressively marketed through drugs and kitsch spirituality, is the buzzword.� On the other hand Mongini pastry shops and specific hoteliers and NGO workers are targeted for representing the Portuguese in India! So much for BJP�s espousal of promoting bhartiyata! POLITICAL DISCRIMINATION On the administration front, the BJP government in the State has been systematically and consistently discriminating against the minorities in recruitment to government jobs including the police force. (Goan Observer, March 25, 2004). There are numerous times that Parrikar has upgraded a post or changed the recruitment rules to ensure that a secular candidate is denied the rightful promotion. Scores of computer programmers were brought in from Mumbai to analyse the electoral rolls, and interpret them with the help of the BJP and RSS cadres at the constituency and even the booth level. The BJP formed booth level committees formed during the elections play a crucial role in the Hindutva campaigns. �The booth level committees are armed with detailed information�The community and caste-wise break-up of the voters. In the case of minority community voters, details have been provided as to how many are away in the Gulf, how many are at sea and how many actually exercise [d] their franchise. The few Muslim minority pockets in Margao and elsewhere have also been identified� �The cadres of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar at the constituency level, the taluka level and even the booth level, have precise data on the number of migrant workers, the number of slums, the identity of the slum lords. The number of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe workers. The number of voters who have benefited from the Dayanand old age pension scheme. The names of those who have been given jobs in the police and other departments in the recruitments carried out since Manohar Parrikar became the chief minister. The names of those who have completed their pre-employment training and the others who are in the process of being trained. No party in Goa has bothered to keep itself as well informed of the minutest details of the electorate as the BJP has done.� (Goan Observer). The data has been used to woo/buy/intimidate/prevent voters from exercising their right during voting, and in campaigns thereafter. These details go to show why BJP must be defeated in every state, and why we need to support other political groups even if we do not like them, to defeat the BJP. (ENDS)
