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2008 International Goan Convention
Toronto, Canada
http://www.2008goanconvention.com
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----- Original Message -----
From: goasuraj
To: Navhind Times
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2008 5:55 PM
Subject: Re: Changing the Political System by Anand Madgavkar - COMMENTS by
GOASURAJ
Changing the Political System
By: Anand Madgavkar
NT: Friday, July 11, 2008 - Reader's Angle
DISHONESTY, cheating, robbing , curruption, bribes, extortion and all such
evils have become a way of life with the very people entrusted to safeguard
the people from these evils. Are we doomed or is there any way to change the
situation?
Impossible, says my pessimistic friend, but the word 'impossible' spelt
differently spells - I am possible'. So let us try for our own sakes to do
what many perceive as impossible.
The way has been shown by the villagers of Chandor, the results were seen in
Kundaim and in many other areas too. Gramsabhas are seeking changes. It is
necessary for all of us - at least those that want a change - to
participate.
We should form ward committees in each ward, ask folks from your area to
join in, meet regularly ans work out the common needs that must be addressed
be they water supply, electricity, roads, garbage, medical assistance,
education, law and order etc and make a wants list, circulate the same in
your ward, ask for suggestions and work out a document to give to the
aspiring candidates - the Panchas, the councilors etc who will come to you
begging for a chance to represent you and for your vote of confidence. Ask
each candidate to sign his acepttance of your demands.
Do not get involved in the election process as ward committees but whoever
is elected must be reminded soon after elections of the commitments that
were made. The people must be after the elected candidate to look after
their needs. Attend Gramsabhas in large numbers - be sure your demands are
taken up, move resolutions, check whether works are looked into and
completed, spend some time to check the progress and the standards of the
work done. Also the people must get together and pull up the representatives
if necessary.
Report wrongdoings, demand action, stop corruption, illegal activities in
you area. Demand for police action and make your representative
responsible - wake him up if necessary, push him, support him till the right
things are done. If co-operation is not forthcoming, 'gherao' him as did the
people of Kundaim in their demand for justice.
In this way no matter who is elected, we the people will get justice because
we the people deserve justice and we the people undertake to fight for
justice. It is the only way back and if we have to do it - so be it. I say,
"If it is to be, it is up to me' and every one of us too.
COMMENTS:
By the time I finished this unique star letter, My face was flushed red and
I was seething with acute anger. I have known Anand Madgavkar some, as a
co-activist. He is the President of PMCA ( People's Movement for Civic
Action) based in Panjim. But my anger was not directed towards the person.
It was directed towards his entire thought process. Because, according to
me, this thought process, has in the past, and will jeopardize Goa's future
more than what is sought to be achieved.
Let me explain why.
First off, Anand is a proponent of the doctrine of 'non-involvement', 'a
static by-stander' while the election process is on, and later to be the
active agitator against no work done by the eleted representative, wanting
people to follow suit. He, as a 'apolitical' indoctrinated head of the NGO
(PMCA) may have a lot of time on his hands to do just that but people who
need to earn their daily bread, don't. This is apparent from his advice "do
not get involved in the process. Let the candidates, who will come begging
for votes sign the charter of demands, we remind whoever gets elected about
it , we gherao etc...etc.if things do not happen as according to our
demands. I say that the guy who will vomit on the 'charter of demands',
thoroughly and completely, after getting elected, will be the first one to
sign the document. Because his interest is to get past the post, get
elected. And then, he will give stories and there will be a lot of
platitudes, but no work. This has been happening in Goa since 1961. And we
have seen this from the persons who were expected to do all the right things
as elected representatives such as Tomazinho Cardozo and Matanhy Saldanha
etc in whom people had put a lot of faith to elect them. But then, we must
understand one thing clearly. Even if these considered good persons wanted
to do something worthwhile, the system they belong to does not allow them to
do these things. What Anand wants to do is to change the system by following
the same system. This, unfortuately cannot be done. As the old adage goes
........... "It is impossible to straighten out the tail of a dog, even by
putting it in a straight pipe" :-))
The thing to do is to go through all the procedures suggested by Anand but
not stop there by not getting further involved in the electoral process. It
is imperaive tht they go right through to shortlist the candidate they
trust maximum ....based on his/her social and ethical standing and work for
his/her election. That way, there is more than 50% chance that the 'charter
of demands' will be atleast opened and read if nothing is done about it.
Here is a story of a person in a Maharashtrian village who has been elected
the sarpanch of the village panchayat year after year. Why? Because people
get behind him and push him into the electoral race and work tirelessly to
get him elected. Because they know that if he wins, they win.
Therefore the modern day remedy for a 'changed political system' for which
we are pining so much for, is that the people must find the person they want
to be represented by and work towards his/her victory even by spending their
own money, if necessary, to take the campaign to fruition. Our party's
slogan to that effect is: 'Small money from a lot of people makes better
sense than a lot of money from 'one' or 'few' persons'. To show our
continued belief in this slogan, we take the liberty to excerpt the
following paragraph from His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal Shri.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi from his article 'Simply Not Done' published in the
Outlook Magazine of December 17, 2007.
"Another cameo, this time from the elections that followed a decade later,
in 1946: the highly respected Congressman of Bombay, Vaikunthlal Mehta, was
a candidate. His reputation was such that any individual or corporate house
would have considered it a privilege to assist with his campaign. When he
was contemplating the contest, his instincts for integrity were strengthened
by a letter he received from Gandiji. "Offer your name as a candidate for
the Assembly, on the condition, however, that you will not have to spend a
single pie and will not have to go begging for votes," the letter said.
Vaikunthbhai decided to send a postcard to each of his electors and do
nothing more. The postcards won him the seat after Independence. No donor
could have reminded the finance minister of his debt - for there was no
donor and there was no debt."
And we at Goa Su-Raj Party shall always follow this practice of giving the
people the right choice in the candidate they deserve, first by making sure
that the candidate is thoroughly ingrained in our Party Discipline and in
conformity with the said charter of demands, and then working with the
people to convince them that this is in their own interest, ultimately
hoping that they will make the right choice for themselves at the voting
booth.
In the immediate future, where Pale Constituency is going for by-elections,
we shall offer to the people of Pale our Party's meticulously charted out
programme -- 'The New System of Governance' through fielding of our member
Shri. Sebastian (Seby) Rodrigues as the candidate, following the above well
tested example amenating from the 'Father of the Nation', which example is
hard to find in the existing modern-day political system. We are not
re-inventing the wheel but salvaging the same old, time tested wheel
invented by Gandiji, which has been discarded by the roadside and allowed
to rot away, making it presentable and making it to roll on the road towards
desirable democracy in the hope that it may be noticed for what it is.
Floriano Lobo
Gen. Secretary,
Goa Good Governance Party,
The Goa Su-Raj Party.
H.O. 383A Pirazona-Moira-Bardez-Goa.
Ph: (0832) 2470223 (M) 9890470896
