I am forwarding this opinion that was sent to Herald on 18/09/09 but has not been published. A sudden silence seems to have descended in the Goan media after raisng the controversy but probably realising later that it has misfired. The debate on casinos and its holy claims of providing employment to thousands of Goan youth needs to be revived to expose the reality.
The recent controversy on the Government's imposition of high entry fees for Casinos appears to have been converted into a promotional stunt by the gambling promoters to lure Goan society into accepting gambling as a sober activity. Emotional issues like employment for youth are being projected in the foreground in order to justify and rationalise the activity. Very innocent appearing names and personalities are being hired for the columns of newspapers to propagate views in favour of this menace that is taking roots in Goa. They perhaps are of the belief, like the politicians, that a lie spoken a hundred times will come to be accepted as the truth by Goan society. A sizeable section of Goan opinion makers already seem to have been intoxicated with such propaganda and have lost the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood. In their inebriated state arising from economic greed all activities are normal as long as the monies pile up in their kitty. The Government has taken the right step in hiking the entry fees to these dungeons of destruction which have a dignified name 'Casino' but are nothing but gambling dens of the affluent society. While 'matka' and 'ghoddgoddo' which are the crude forms of a poor man's gambling get banned, the rich man's gambling gets a license of being a glorified economic activity in the tourism industry. If the claim that 2000 youth are employed in Casinos is assumed to be true, then one can safely deduce that there are over 4000 youth employed in accepting matka bets in various corners of Goa, and should other forms of gambling be included the figures could even get higher. So why does a ban continue to be imposed on matka and other forms of crude gambling outside casinos? Is it that the poor man does not know to regulate himself and could go out of control as compared to the rich man who gambles in a club? Arguments like 'prohibition has failed in Mahatma Gandhi's Gujarat or that 'unemployment is growing in Russsia after casinos got banned' are totally basless. What about the millions of jobs lost after the global melt down without any ban from government? The problem is that prohibition is not a failure but the government has no will to enforce the law in order to favour opportunistic forces who live on the exploits of crime and vice. It is as simple as that. If not, some alcohol free villages would not have been a reality in modern India and those who cheer Mallya's theories against prohibition must try going there to get a taste of self-imposed prohibition by simple villagers. Coming to the loss of jobs should casinos close down, what about thousands of people denied their right to livelihood after their fertile lands are taken away for construction of dams and hydel projects that are meant only to feed the same high-end customer who requires casinos and brothels to recreate. Empty claims about casinos being a necessity for tourism and employment are being senselessly floated to the public. Are the 3000 sex-workers driven out from Baina unemployed at present, and who was concerned about them losing their livelihoods then? What about the traditional 'goan sausage' makersfrom margao who are being stopped from earning their livelihood by the builders or for that matter the farmers whose fields are being acquired for burial grounds and rehabilitation of traders? What is tourism? Is it about proliferation of vices and crime which is what Goa's tourism is actually about? Remove alcohol, drugs and sex and let us see what remains of Goa's so called tourism. With Goa's pristine villages destroyed, it's sandy beaches becoming shores of crime and death, its springs and lakes reduced to sewerage outlets and its green jungles turned to concrete, what does Goa as a civilisation have to offer to the world other then drug parties, casinos, brothels, garbage dumps, pimps, sex workers, criminals and disease? The problem is that when one lives in an environment of crime and filth, one gradually begins to appreciate it and see nothing wrong with it. Similar is the case with modern Goa and its so called fraudulent economic progress. Addictive substances like alcohol, drugs, or activities like gambling and sex are to be viewed as social diseases. They corrupt not only the physical but also the mental, emotional and spritual state of the society in which they are allowed to take root and thrive. The evils of gambling do not remain in the precincts of the gambling dens but spill into family and society. Therefore, all one needs to do is stop getting distracted with cock and bull stories from the casino operators, chambers of commerce and their hired cheer leaders. Keep asking the question whether gambling is contributing to the mental, social and spiritual enhancement of Goan society. Whether the mere availability of jobs for our youth far exceeds other negative social and psychological impacts resulting from the promotion of such a vice that is historically known to have destroyed great civilisations. Comparing between alcohol and tobacco Mahatma Gandhi had said, "Do not make the mistake that between drink and tobacco, drink is the lesser evil. No, if cigarette is Beelzebub then drink is satan." The same holds true for the rich man's gambling den which is labelled 'Casino'. -Soter D'Souza Socorro
