https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/gandhi-vs-rane-on-toilet-cleaners/articleshow/65360222.cms
Mahatma Gandhi believed everyone benefits from cleaning toilets, and routinely did so himself. His grandson Tushar recalls, “In Bapu’s ashrams, the first task entrusted to new entrants was the cleaning of latrines. Every Satyagrahi went through this initiation, which is the reason why even today when one meets a freedom fighter or a true Gandhian the first thing one notices is their dignity and humility.” To the “Father of the Nation” the logic was overwhelmingly simple, “so long as you do not take the broom and the bucket in your own hands, you cannot make your towns and cities clean.” Pratapsingh Rane was only nine years old when Gandhi was assassinated. But Goa’s veteran Congressman surely knows his party’s greatest leader would be angry and ashamed about his derisive comments in the legislature earlier this week, about “toilet cleaners” in London who dare to express opinions about what is going on at home. The slur came across scathingly worse in Konkani, with the outrage compounded by MLAs pounding desks and hooting with approval. Here, another maxim of the Mahatma is unerringly pertinent, “uncleanliness of the mind is far more dangerous than that of the body.” In a way, it’s unfair to single out the 79-year-old six-time chief minister of Goa for unguardedly saying what all his colleagues firmly believe. Rane’s comments succinctly reflect a flourishing set of prejudices that are deeply rooted in the muck of politics in India’s smallest state. First and above all is the conviction that functioning democracy is inconvenient to the business of graft. Second, the interests of the people are a mortal threat to be thwarted at every turn. Also, the only desirable voters are those entirely dependent on you (which disqualifies most native Goans, whether in Swindon or Siolim). Always bubbling through are the twin deadly toxins of Indian culture and society: class hatred and caste bigotry. Actually, there are good reasons underlying the aversion Goa’s politicians maintain for the state’s extraordinary diaspora. They know that new migrants immediately figure out how badly they have been let down back home. Older generations of transplants become increasingly angry and hurt about the epic destruction of their homeland, which occurs rather conspicuously at the hands of the identical cast of dubious characters who have occupied the corridors of power for a full generation. They know very well that fealty is quickly replaced by fury in the expatriate mindset, which leads to the inevitable dangerous question, “who is responsible for the criminal mismanagement of Goa?” Recall the context of Pratapsingh Rane’s caustic innuendos. They came during an extraordinarily rare moment of lockstep harmony in the state legislature, as every MLA of Goa happily agreed to demand that all existing Indian laws be bypassed, in favour of restoring regressive Portuguese-era mining concessions that were granted under the colonial dictatorship almost a full century ago. This is a transparent attempt to bypass both letter and intent of successive landmark Supreme Court judgements, which have halted mining operations precisely because of the egregious incompetence of the state. Earlier this year, the High Court once again reprimanded Goa’s administration for its abject failure to perform its sworn duty, in a judgement that perfectly summarizes the political economy of the state. “We are surprised at the vehemence at which the State has asserted the right of the mining lease holders…We got a feeling that the dividing line between state and the mining lease holders was blurred…We had to literally push the State on every date to do something to alleviate the suffering of the innocent mining affected. This sharp contrast in the State response in respect of these two ends of mining spectrum, the Mining Affected and the Mining Beneficiaries, is too stark for us not to notice. We write it here because it pains our conscience.”