Agony, not Ecstasy The Indian Express Saturday, December 31, 2005 at 0011 hours IST
On the last day of 2005, catch a moment to mourn what Goa has suddenly lost this holiday season. On its beaches of hedonism, creative anarchy and plain old good cheer, the moral police have spread their wet blanket. The seaside state's top cops have confirmed their decree. No more raves on the so far wild and libertarian stretches of Anjuna and Vagator. At least not after the clock chimes the bewitching hour of ten! Their logic is simple in its absurdity. The fear of recreational drugs roams the corridors of officialdom. Goa's elected and civil officials are so consumed by this fear that they believe it warrants pre-emptive action. Where, they must wonder, can in 2006's opening hour's pills of Ecstacy possibly pop up? Where else, they figure, but on Goa's famed trance circuit. So, they say, ban the party. This is becoming too much the way with the Congress's state governments. >From Bombay to Bangalore, its leaderships have been stifling local cultures. To address the exploitative side-businesses that append themselves to dance bars, for instance, they have closed down all dance bars. It's a convenient way to harness the strains of orthodoxy that lie dormant in most communities for immediate political gain. It also, very significantly, acquits the administration of the democratic responsibility of allowing individuals the right to conduct business or just have fun while enforcing a just law. In Goa, then, this ban order will not simply gift an easy night to the cops. It will not just drive away the party, and its creative energy. It will not simply threaten the collateral gains that come with tourism. Even greater dangers come with this kind of moralising by politicians - watch Goa's Tourism Minister say, "Who cares about those tourists who want the rave experience?" The danger is this. Goa has been valuable proof that a mostly traditional society can create agreeable spaces for innocuous revelry and creative eccentricity. Goa's government is rupturing this calm. That calm cannot be put back in a hurry. Crack down on drugs, by all means. But not by placing a curfew on its beaches. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Goa - 2005 Santosh Trophy Champions | | | | Support Soccer Activities at the grassroots in our villages | | Vacationing in Goa this year-end - Carry and distribute Soccer Balls | --------------------------------------------------------------------------
