GOD aka Goa's Ordinance Day is indeed a dark night of the soul for the people of the great State of Goa. 0r is it? That a Supreme Court verdict has been reduced to zero in the world's largest democracy is not something like a cold which will disappear after a few days or even weeks. The side effects of this serious disease will have consequences in India, and abroad. After all, what is at stake is the future of Indian democracy itself. Nothing less.
Some people, unfortunately, do not share my concern, as they now would like the government to legalize all illegalities! While it is true the CRZ rule has not been well defined and is not fair to the traditional fishermen and people who have owned houses in the area for ages, a case has to be made to the central government on their behalf. It can, however, in no way include people who have willfully broken the law, as is the case with Cidade de Goa and thousands of others. Good citizens who have followed the law cannot be penalized for having done so while criminals are rewarded! Or is our state government led by Digambar Kamat simply going to say to them, 'Bad luck! Why did you follow the law?' Also, will these law-abiding citizens in future be allowed to build? 0r, worse, will their land be taken away from them and given to 5-star hotels as they did not 'develope' it! Yes, a hundred and one questions will raise their ugly heads, leading to a collapse of civil society, leaving us to choose between anarchy or dictatorship. Is this why millions of our Indian forefathers fought the British for? But, some people, not content with one case of shocking miscarriage of injustice by our honorable MLAs would like to have thousands more! We, the people, of the great State of Goa need to make it clear to our Goa MLAs that we value democracy even if they don't! And, the time is now.
