---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 International Goan Convention
Toronto, Canada
Early Bird Discount Registration closes March 31, 2008
http://2008goanconvention.com/registration.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In defence of politicians.
By Jose Maria Miranda
Herald March 13, 2008
Strange as it may seem that I could ever write in defence of politicians, one
needs to admit, as I have recently pointed out, in these very columns, that we
ourselves are largely responsible for the type of politicians and elected
representatives that we have.
Politics is today perhaps the most profitable profession in this country. It
requires neither education nor merit, only some willingness to sell your
conscience. And the better you are at the later, the more qualified you are
for the job. And that is perhaps the reason why capable, upright and honest
people rarely join politics.
Like all of us, politicians too have their own weaknesses, which are often
fuelled by us by placing unreasonable and unfair demands on them. Our easy
going attitude, our reluctance in asserting ourselves, our servile and selfish
behaviour have led us to the doors of the politicians, wasting hours and days,
sometimes for the smallest jobs that could have been easily done by ourselves,
without the need of any intermediaries.
At the time of elections and even much before, we expect sumptuous meals from
the, occasional or regular doles, payment for our vote and most of all
donations for our clubs, youth groups and other associations. We assume that
the politician knows where to recover this money from or that he would recover
it anyway whet her their demands or expectations are met or not. Here the
vicious circle starts. No doubt, there are selfless social workers and
activists who spend much to their money on issues of public interest. But most
politicians do not belong to this category of people. Frankly, I see no reason
why a candidate should spend lavishly on his voters. On the contrary, in my
humble view, it is the voters who should spend in getting a good candidate
elected if we have the trust in the capabilities, sincerity, honesty and
especially character, to work for us and for the State.
There are many other issues where the politicians get battered mainly due to
our demands, which are sometimes accompanied by lucrative financial offers.
These are with regard to illegalities, conversion of land, parking spaces,
increase in FSI, etc. One politician once publicly remarked that his voters
expect him to support and even get illegalities sanctioned for them. We care a
damn how these illegalities will affect the common man, the State's ecology
and infrastructure or even put people's lives at risk, so long as our personal
interests are served.
'Tum boro monis pun tum amchim kamam korcho nam' is the common refrain
generally heard by good people who dare venture into politics. It is obvious
that for most of us, 'amchim kamam' have priority over the interests of the
State, of the Goans in general, the lives of the people and the character and
integrity of the candidate. Our selfish attitudes lead us to vote for the most
unwanted and detestable people, just because they have developed their
constituency. We are totally unconcerned about the damage these very
politicians have caused to Goa and Goans by their decisions and attitudes and
the extent of corruption and illegal wealth they have amassed by selling Goa to
outsiders.
No doubt , we have in this State a few undesirable individuals as our
representatives, a bunch of greedy and self-seeking individuals least
concerned about Goa and Goans. But before we can blame the politicians for all
the ills and evils in this State, we need to apportion part of the blame to
ourselves especially for falling at their feet to get the wrong things done.
Let us realize that we are largely responsible for the corruption and other
sins of omission and commission we accuse the politicians of . Unless we change
our mindset, stop being selfish and show regard and concern for others and for
our State and for our future generations, it will not be fair to always
complain about our elected representatives and their behaviour.
Comments:
Mr. Jose Maria Miranda is a person who, through his writings, has consistently
shown his concern for Goa and Goans. He has attended every worthwhile meeting
that has taken place on socio-political agenda, even at odd places. And a
commitment like this from a concerned citizen is to be very highly
appreciated. Thank you Mr. Miranda for this sensitive write-up.
We talked to him at length about this article and asked him just two relevant
questions: -
Q1: Why did he omit mentioning the Church and/or the Parish Priests connected
to various Churches in Goa when he has mentioned donations for clubs, youth
groups and other associations? "As far as we know", we told him, "Parish
Priests of churches have extorted more lacs from the candidates than any other
group or institution".
Q2: Did he mean 'all' when he said "we have in this State a 'few' undesirable
individuals, as our representatives?
His answer to the first one was that of regrets for not having included the
Church or the Parish Priests. "I wanted to say that, but something held me
back. Perhaps you can say that in your comments" was his response.
As for the second question, he just laughed it off.
We do believe that perhaps Jose Maria Miranda had Goa Su-Raj Party, its
procedures and its programmes in mind when he wrote the above article. It is a
fact that the use of modest amount of money is required to enter into the
electoral race. However, since this party is never going to compete with
others in spending lacs and perhaps crores of rupees on elections, it has
preferred to declare its candidates much before election are declared,
believing that time is of essence if one does not want to rely on the use
money power. And as a rule 'money power' beget 'muscle power' and this party
is built in such a manner that both are of no consequence to its agenda which
is a 'long term solution' to the ills of Goa and Goans. The system employed
is that the persons who are elected as the Presidents of the CWC
(Constituency Working Committees) will be the party candidates for the ensuing
elections with the secretaries filing-in as substitutes. Therefore, the
candidate in
any of Goa's Constituencies is declared as soon as he/she is declared elected
as the president of the respective CWC.
This party's resolve for the immediate future is:
(1) That it will generally not want to field candidates in the next Assembly
elections if its CWCs are not established. The party sees it as a waste of time
and vital resources to go into the election mode without grass-root
organization. And for this grass-root organization to be sincere, it has to
evolve voluntarity. The writing is on the wall. 'People's participation
required if end results are to be obtained'. This simply spells that this party
is inviting conscious and educated Goans to come and join the ranks of the
fighters for Goa who have formed this party.
(2) That given enough time between the declaration of the party's candidate
and the elections, money is not required to be spent on vehicular
announcements, distribution of voter's cards, having public meetings etc.
(3) That this party will emulate the stealth working of a 'white ant'
generally called the 'termite' The devastation will be complete and result
oriented if each termite (educated and conscious voter) is serious enough about
protecting its own hungry belly and that of its ofsprings.
The other point to note is that Goa's unique problems cannot and will not be
solved by 'national parties' but by Goa's own regional aspirations.
floriano
goasuraj
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOA needs a 'REVOLUTION' if it is to see better days.
Goasuraj is that revolution. Support it.
Website: www.goasu-raj.org
