[Posted on Goa Speaks] I have been writing about this topic on Goan forums for the past 13 years. That it was to come to a head was obvious to anyone who cared to think about it.
Let me dispose of one item right away: No Goan should be intimidated into silence over expressing concern, disgust, and anger about the situation we are in. Typically, they will try to pin on you epithets such as “xenophobic,” “racist,” “hateful,” “bigot” and so on. This is a well-known tactic the world over, practiced by the Left/Progressives. To them, only the migrants have rights. The host population has to stand by quietly and watch their countries/states be taken over by outsiders. (Something similar is playing out right now in the USA and Europe.) If you, the resident of the land of your forefathers, dare to so much as complain politely at your demographic annihilation and the erasure of your own people/culture, you are all of the above (xenophobe, bigot, racist, hate monger, etc). Don't fall for it. It is understandable why Indians of all stripes would want to come into Goa. It was the last surviving idyll in India. Goa was the closest to something like the First World in this part of Asia. If you had a choice between some godforsaken village in Bihar and Goa, what would you do? It is a natural human instinct to seek a better life for oneself and one’s children. I do not blame the poor migrants/ghatis for coming here. I blame us Goans and our leadership for (a) incentivizing it, and (b) doing nothing while our land sinks deeper and deeper into the Indian sewer. There are easy steps within existing law to discourage the migrants from coming here but the vote bank calculus and greed of those who stand to make money of off these poor mean none of them will ever be implemented. In 1961 the seeds were sown when Goans of the time did not put into place any protections for our land and identity. We are a speck surrounded by a gigantic ocean of humanity (1.3 billion). The floodgates opened around 2000 when the dear departed Eye-Eye-Tea genius leader brought in IFFI. Pigs from Delhi suddenly realized that here was a pearl free for the taking. The dear departed leader also threw open land conversion and gave the green light to his builder buddies, fueling more influx of the filthy pigs. With that came the migrant poor invasion as well. In other words, we got it from both ends of the Indian spectrum: the upper crust Indians escaping their filthy toilet towns, and the Indian poor escaping desperate conditions in their own villages. Few Goans have seen what I have seen. Because few have traveled the length and breadth of Goa in the past 10 years to the extent I have. All I can say is… …Goodbye, Goa.
