C'est la economie ... s'il vous plait Governments will find it increasing ly hard to dodge anti-people policies
By Oscar Rebello [Gomantak Times, January 7, 2008] I SAT ON MY balcao, the other day, and pondered as I plucked the petals off a flower ... "Will SEZ really go?" "Will SEZ stay?" "Will it go?" "Will it stay?" Centuries ago, generals would come riding on horseback or with an armada, equipped with their armies to invade our identity, our dignity and our land. Nowadays, it's simpler. All you need to do is get onto a flight, fly club class, sip champagne and smoke a cigar and descend on to Goa with ammo in your suitcase. You'll find enough traitors here and, for a song, you can molest the identity, the dignity and the future of the natives. The more things change, the more they remain the same. But, there's a catch to that. Then, there was feudalism and princely dictatorships. Today, invaders have to deal with the formidable bulwark of Democracy. So, how do you buy off all the people, all the time? The writing is very clearly on the wall. According to a HT editorial, one of the major reasons the Congress bit the dust in Himachal Pradesh recently was this: "The erstwhile Congress regime proposed giant ski resorts, mega hydroelectric power projects jeopardising people's lives and the environment. The people in the area, which were affected by the projects, roundly rejected the Congress and rooted for the alternative, the BJP. In UP recently, the rampaging mafia raj of the Samajwadi Party was decisively rejected in favour of the clever alternative, the Bahujan Samaj Party. Also, in a brilliant piece in The Times of India, Lord Meghnad Desai analyses the Modi magic in Gujarat. Despite his appalling human rights track record and remorseless politics of hate, Modi, he claims, will continue to govern because he is perceived as a non-corruptible, can-do, will-do, will-deliver force. (He compares it to the hugely successful Margaret Thatcher era in the 1980s -- authoritative, iron willed and "manly".) With the explosion of the media and information flooding us; with the RTI Act and a surge in an educated and demanding middle class, the governments in India are going to find it increasingly difficult to deflect and dodge opaque, anti-people policies and are going to be hard pressed to come clean on opportunity. And the deluge will only get worse. No way are the folk, who work like cattle to make ends meet and pay their taxes with due diligence, going to watch this charade of corruption and criminality go unpunished. Shining and glittering, Indian cannot happen over the unmarked graves of the destitute in India. As George Bush, in a rare moment of wisdom once said, "It's the economy, stupid!" Neither the BJP with its new-found bravado should believe that their recent victories are a referendum on 'Hindutva' (MP, Rajasthan are round the corner) nor can the Congress hope to win all elections on the promise of 'secularism'. The issue, as always, is about the economy and our quality of life. The super rich and corrupt are the greatest beneficiaries of the rising Sensex; the uppermiddle class is sailing along fine but the large underbelly of the lower middle class and the deprived classes are seething with rage at the vice-like grip of bad governance and corruption. The latter two are the ones who come out and vote, and you know how an angry voter votes. It may be wise to recall that a rising Sensex is inversely proportional to an electoral success. PS: Now that the SEZ magnum opus is sort of over, it would be nice to roll out the credits and record our eternal debt of gratitude to: * The Congress-NCP-SGF government, headed by a valiant, forthright and amazingly far-sighted Digambar Kamat. Chicken xacuti and beer can take you this far. A vision for Goa and genuine pro-people policies will help you ride a star. * The Opposition parties. Whatever else, the idealism and romantic anti-establishment courage of Matanhy can never die and even if one virulently opposes the BJP ideology, one can never doubt that the BJP voter/worker in Goa loves Goa's identity, her beauty, her culture and her history as passionately as anyone else. (Okay, cancel the history bit.) * Needless to say, all NGOs -- the SEZ Virodhi Manch in particular with their dogged homework and non-violent determination, galvanised the Vox Populi into sublime articulation. * And most importantly, our thanks to the gallant, beautiful, divine and noble people of Goa. As Jay Leno, the American wit once remarked, "Leaders would be nothing but empty gas bags, if ordinary people didn't salvage them in the nick of time." Happy Near Year and God Bless Goa (whatever's left of it).
