Ms. Anita Mathew wrote: "Division is our forte and that is one of the reasons we were under foreign rule for thousands of years and maybe still are!"
Perhaps she has not yet understood Goa after working here. If division was the forte of Goa, we definitely would not have won the historic Opinion Poll, Official status for konkanni (although one community was ditched in the bargain), Statehood, anti-nylon 66, anti-RP2011 and so many struggles by small people that never get sung because they are not in the interest of the elitist exploiters. Division has been there even during the times of Jesus Christ. He was betrayed by one of his twelve and crucified. So, what is so great about division? Prophets were never accepted. It existed even in the Indian independence struggle and the Goan liberation struggle. It was there in the anti-emergency struggle against Indira Gandhi. Which State in this country does not have divisions? The greatness of a leader lies in how he manoeuvres around these limitations and keeps the flame alive. A youth activist of jayprakash narayan also came to Goa in 1981and seeing the pathetic conditions of the poor in the villages decided to adopt this place as his work area and contribute his vast experience in building people's initatiatives for sustainable development. As usual he was called a 'bhailo', 'smuggler', 'Bihari', and so on and so forth, by the very people who pretended to be supporting him. He travelled to the remotest areas of Goa building local initiatives but some where the local politician or the chamchas would come in to disperse the group pointing out that he is the outsider. But he has not left Goa, married a goan and keeps working with whoever has the best of interest for Goa. He is even very much supportive of the idea that goans must become possesive of their lands and natural resources. The organisation he has set up is probably the only goan organisation that has spread to 7 States of this country. But he has not given up hope on Goa in all this. He contibutes giving hope to amateur activists like me. He is there when it matters, that is what is important. That's the beauty of a leader. Did GBA have this leadership is the question? or Was GBA's leadership a cultivation of the media and power brokers? -soter
