HEART TO HEART (March 12, 2006 - Herald)
By Ethel Da Costa
Goa, it's time to cry tears of blood
I've had a harrowing week. Grounded by a nerve racking flu that confined me
to bed, doctor, anti-biotics and much less out of action, while the
`seemingly' peace-loving folks of Sanvordem ransacked their neighourbour's
homes, shops and integrity with a blood thirsty cry on their lips. There's
a shiver running up my spine as I write this, and so should you worry as
well, dear reader. The bubble has just burst, right over our faces.
A Kashmiri lands in Goa with detonators and RDX. He claims familiarity with
the State because he has been on off on this sunny coast (like so many
other criminals who treat Goa like a free port. Goa mein subkuch chalta
hai). Meantime, where all have the explosives landed? I'm amazed you're
surprised. Didn't you know that Goa is a docking station for AK 47s, bombs
(since the Bombay Blasts and I know this firsthand) more guns, more drugs,
more sex offenders, more twisted minds while we have wasted precious time
gossiping about our neighbour and his wife? Goa provides the perfect
camouflage. A multi-cultural society which loves foreign exchange, no? Hang
your heads in shame.
We have a priced specimen in Ingo Grill (I don't know him, don't want to
know him), who thumps his chest, as if he owns Goa, and will not quit his
bull-shitting (like half of the Russians in Goa hiding from their law in
Morjim, Arambol and Palolem, using Goa as a money laundering port. Goan
tour operators, resorts, boutiques and local pimps they patronize all know
about it because they get paid in hard cash, no matter what the price tag.
The police don't know this? Are you trying to kid me?
I stopped visiting the Saturday Night Bazar after I smelled through Ingo's
operations. Instinct, gut feel and a very curious nose honed by years in
the media (qualities that don't let me down about people) screamed things
were fishy. Very fishy, indeed. This was three years ago. Sure, Ingo will
take recourse to the law today to fight his deportation (under the
blessings of his political godfather), while you and I would want him to go
home for disrespecting the law of the land. Fattened on bribes since the
onset of the Saturday market, Ingo believes he has the law in his pocket,
since he has the cops in his pocket. That it took the Goa Police this long
to nap a finger on his activities baffles me. Allegedly, Ingo Grill is not
above the law if sources abroad as to be believed, requiring further
investigation by the Goa Police. Of course, you and I can't go to Germany
or elsewhere and set up a roaring flea market and not invite the attention
of the authorities to check into your background. Much so, if you're a
foreigner. Everybody knows Ingo is not so clean as he would like us to
believe (that its just a harmless market he runs. Sure). There's enough
hash, cocaine, LSD, Extacy that changes hand freely during his Saturday
markets with pushers all over the place. Didn't the media and police know
about this all this while? But in Goa we tend to sleep over things, till
the froth boils over. Goa is a red dot for the Interpol who have been
keeping a watch on for years. But the Goa Police? Less said the better.
They would sell us all ten times over.
Events in Curhorem-Sanvordem is just the beginning of things for Goa. The
direction is murky and its time to be alert, not to trust the hand-folding
montri at your door-step, the local leader who knocks on your door for
votes, the ministers and MLAs who are now pointing fingers after their
sordid deeds are done. There's only one way to rise above the mess under
our noses. Take charge of your destiny. Arm yourself with information. Seek
answers, do not be fooled by what the politics of today wants you to
believe. A vigilant population will mean a vigilant media (you have that
much authority over right, accurate, unbiased, secular information). Ask
questions, do not take anything for granted. The times are a-changing.
Unfortunately, they are not changing for the better.
