Village Panchayat Republics
Swaraj is still the birthright that is 'colonized'!
By Miguel Braganza
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was not called "Lokmanya" Tilak for nothing. We continue
to celebrate "Sarvajanik" Ganesh festivals, and even add the flavour of the
Goan spirit to the 'visarjan' by the many rivers in Goa, but we have well
and truly forgotten that all this was started to promote the concept of
community living and self-rule, not 'gated' colonies. "Swaraj is my
birthright and I shall have it." Do those words sound the bell? If yes, do
we know for whom the bells toll this Sunday as many of Goa's 186 Panchayats
plunge in to the garma-garam Gram Sabha meetings?
At the valedictory function of the TSKK Silver jubilee celebrations, KBM's
President Purnanand Chari said, "Sanz zalea. Igorjent ghantt vazta,
kopelani ghantt vazta, divlant ghantt vazta. Vingodd, vingodd ghantti, punn
tancho sur ek!" [meaning "It is evening. The bells ring in the church,
chapels and temples. Different bells: one sound."]. So it will be in the
Gram Sabha meetings across Goa this Sunday: different people, but speaking
in one voice! Vox populi, vox Dei. The voice of the people is the voice of
God himself. He has always spoken through his people and his prophets of
good news to all who repent and mend their ways. Whether we recall Gideon
and his few men or Krishna and the Pandava brothers against a multitude, we
know who won the battle of the "Crook"shetra. Incidentally, KBM has also
scheduled its elections for 27 April.
My friend, Cecil Pinto, has a wonderful take on the situation in Aldona in
his contemporary Goan fairy tale of "Three little pigs" [GT 17 April, 2008].
Do not mistake his "Barranv" [the new Romi lipi spelling of the Portuguese
word "barrao" used in Konkani for a boar] with what another columnist wrote
about. There is a specific difference between a Barao and a barrao, though
both could be equally pig-headed and bores.
As in the case of Aesop's fables, there is a lot to be learnt from a second
reading of Cecil's fibs and reviews of imaginary books. A lot of research
goes in to Cecil's writings and it is not uncommon to hear that he had
confirmed some details from knowledgeable persons before he filed his 'story'.
What was that saying again? "Mighty oaks grow from tiny acorns" is it? There
was one acorn being planted on the hillside by some Pedru [the Konkani form
of Pedro, meaning "rock"], who seemed to be making the Biblical verse stand
on its head by trying to cut the rock to build on, till someone rocked his
boat with Section 17A of the TCP Act, 1974.
A parallel debate is raging on who is "We" when one talks about swaraj or
self-rule by "we, the people" in the context of Goa. I intentionally not
used the term "Goan" because it still defies a commonly acceptable
definition. We know who is an ante-Liberation Goan and we have a doctor's
prescription for an "anti-Goan" that is available in audio-video format on a
popular TV news channel for those who have learning or reading disabilities
as well as for those who are "challenged" visually. I would settle for the
well-reasoned descriptions used by a seasoned doctor from Margao and fellow
GT columnist, Dr. Francisco Colaco, save the addition that I am willing to
call a "Marathi Manoos" as a Maharashtrian, if that is what he is proud to
be. Large investments in iron ore mines do not compel one to call the
Aggarwals as "Goan". Why should it be different for a Chaugule or Joshi,
even if sugar coated by a mound of sugarcane jaggery?
So, while this debate of Go-on and non go-on, pro-Goan non-Goans and
anti-Goan Goans, non-resident Goans [frittered eNRGs] and resident
Non-Goans, expatriates and repatriates, ante-Goans, antique Goans and
neo-Goans goes on, so does the construction at the pseudo "Aldeia de Goa",
the mining in the real aldeia de Goa [or the Goan countryside] and
industrial "development" of all the semi-rural, suburban Goa from Asolna to
Zarme. It is not only Aldona, Bicholim, Carmona, Colomb, Cuncolim, Dabal,
Morpirla, Nuem, Santo Jose de Areal, Mormugao and Siridao that are waking up
to the harsh realities of life in the third millennium. The people of the
villages and towns in Goa are as confused about what is happening as the
students of English were with the alliteration "Borne by butchers but by
bakers bred."
In the quiet village of Colomb, near Fatorpa, the heavy mining equipment has
been silenced by the exemplary courage of the village women. That no one
will recommend Dumen D'Souza or Parvati Gaokar for an Ashoka Chakra is
another matter. Their courage is palpable, not pulpable. At Cuncolim, the
CCCF is living up to the name of its parent organization: GOA CAN! Roland
Martins and Lorna Fernandes are not Goan anti-Goans. If the LPG gas is
delivered free to your doorstep, it was not without the mobilization of the
people and the authorities by GOACAN. If the helmet you wear is authentic
ISI certified or the milk packet contains 500ml of milk, it was not without
the intervention of this band of Roland and his merry men and women.
What Wendell Rodricks had left unsaid about Goa today, fellow columnist
Jason Keith Fernandes has written [GT 23 April, 2008]. Being an alumnus of a
National Law School, he has avoided being in 'contempt', while expressing it
just the same. It is we, the people, who have to move beyond words and act
according to our conscience to stop the rape of our motherland. The rape
does not vanish because there is a lack of admissible evidence.
If in doubt, ask Fiona Mackeowne. Her daughter was found dead on Anjuna
beach, mysteriously. The truth will never be known. For my two paisa's
worth, the Police Sub-Inspector will be re-instated in service and promoted
shortly thereafter. There is a pattern in this madness. It has happened to
officers accused of worse actions and inactions, because the accusations
have not been proven for various reasons. (ENDS)
The Miguel Braganza weekly column at:
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=482
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The above article appeared in the April 25, 2008 edition of the Gomantak
Times, Goa
