Dear Jason, This is with reference to your article, "Bhaji on the Beach" written in response to GBA's "Picnic on the Beach" invite to reclaim public spaces.
You have raised several issues in your article. One of them is that if we do not have picnics on other beaches it amounts to selective targetting of a family. This is a typical response one gets when a general point is tried to be made through an individual case.The question asked is, why only the rape of Scarlette or the molestation by Narvekar or the land conversions by Babush or corruption by this Police or that Government official highlighted? While it is desirable that all cases should be addressed, does it mean that if we cannot take up all, we do not take up any? Just because some vested interests may take advantage of the protest and make us unwitting accomplices, do we allow the wrong doings to continue? My take on this is to do whatever possible with checks and balances. As a matter of fact, some years ago, we, as citizens of Goa, had held a similar picnic at the beach adjacent to the Taj, Candolim where locals used to be driven away by the security. You have also stated some of your aspirations from the GBA.You want a focused protest against the Government and a siege outside the Legislative Assembly till we put in place a legal and administrative system we want.You would like to see some more protests of civil disobedience where the livelihoods of people are the clear winners.You want a transparent and accountable governance through an efficient empowered panchayat.Only if these conditions are fulfilled will you participate. While there is nothing wrong in having aspirations, there is definitely something amiss when one does not want to participate out of choice stating that our protest will not continue onward to make the necessary challenge to the State. I believe that it is better to have tried and lost rather than not having tried at all. When GBA launched its first agitation against RP2011,we were not sure whether we would get 200 people.Yet we went ahead.The agitation not only revoked the RP2011, but inspired several village level struggles.for protection of livelihoods, lands and environment. You also stated that at the Land Acquisition Ordinance meeting in March, you hd suggested that we ought to focus on the larger processes through which the law in Goa is being subverted and we have to move our sights from manifestations to the root. . GBA is clear on that. However, for us ,the "we" means the people When GBA raised the demand for 73rd /74th amendment, it did not cut much ice with the people.The debate of whether the process was participatory or not was restricted to very few.Even the so called educated class could not make much sense of the debate in the newspapers. It is only when we explained the Draft RP 2021 to the people that they understood the importance of participatory process.People asked us whether the government would listen to their suggestions.That is the time we were able to impress upon them that the govt will be compelled if we have legal backing by way of 73rd/74th amendment which will be binding.Today we have support from the grass root level for this demand because people have understood and have therefore taken the initiative to write to the government demanding 73rd /74th, revocation of 16/16A which puts government projects outside the purview of RP. It is through the manifestations that one leads to the root.If these manifestations are not seen as problematic, then they remain firmly rooted with no challenge. Had we taken a stand that we will not participate because certain conditions of ours like 73rd/74th were not met, we would not have seen the kind of awareness and involvement of people in decision- making. Similarly had we taken a stand that we will not protest the Ordinance because it might look that we are targeting a particular family, we would not have reached this far of making a point on how the government bends backward to subvert law for the rich or on reclaiming public spaces. There has to be a connect between Theory and Practice. We are clear that we have to reach the finishing line.It does not matter whether we run a marathon or a relay.When the people at large will take this task upon themselves, it will not matter whether it was GBA's first or last step.It would be a positive step all the same. Come and enjoy the picnic. Regards, Sabina
