Goans’ state of affairs
My comment below is not for weighing up anybody’s style of presenting a
view but I cannot miss to note the very impractical and dangerous
solution that is put forth in the mail by Robin Fernandes.
‘Create as many children as we can’ is his solution!!
Please. Please don’t try to sell such ideas.
The writer is right when he says there is rampant corruption, which also
has contributed to the so called imbalance, by which native Goans are
fallen to a lower (?) position. (His words: “Corruption is gossiped
amongst ourselves silently and we are afraid to raise our voices.. The
Government offices are looting the people of Goa from Panchayat to
Municipality level..”)
I can agree to the idea of upholding the right of the natives in job
quotas. But it is also true that Goans are the best employed people in
India compared to other states. In Goa, only the left-out positions are
filled up by the ‘migrants’. Is it a bad thing to be a provider of jobs
to job seekers from poor states? Also I wonder if Goans are really
available for jobs that were done by Biharis/ Kashmiris/ Keralites?
It is nice to read that the writer has no racial feeling and he has no
objection to peoples’ right to settle anywhere within the nation. Yes,
that is true. Citizens, what may be their village/ town of birth, can
travel and dwell anywhere in India. Yet most people do not settle
outside their home state, because they love to live in own soil.
Migrants are a small minority; Let us be patient to them. Historically,
most inhabitants (of any state) are migrants in one way or other.
Almost all states are constituted by migrants. It is history. So please
give them time and teach them how to accomodate and treat them as your
brothers and sisters and not aliens.
In the email, there is the issue of corruption.
It says “we are afraid to raise our voices” !
Oh my friend, If that is the tendency everywhere, how can we stop
corruption? If you pay a big amount to politicians in order to secure a
job, it means the situation is too out of control. You ought to stop
it. Thinking men like you, should join together to do something to pave
way for a better system of administration.
To make people “to be afraid to raise voice” is one of the many tricks
of capitalism. Capitalist culture creates a few ‘powerful’s whom others
are afraid of. On the contrary, in a true democracy, the ones who
govern the nation are afraid of the people. So, what you need to strive
for, is democracy. In a totally corrupt state, true democracy will not
come overnight. It requires renaissance which can take years, then a
cultural awakening, then the direct struggles .. The longer the process
takes, the stronger the result will be. The best example is Kerala,
where public persons from Village officer to Minister are watched by
people (or the people notwithstanding positions, promptly raise voices
whenever they find anything wrong), or at least the officials always
have a fear of being watched. This is because, Kerala had passed
through the periods of renaissance and struggles. As a matter of fact,
Kerala also accommodates thousands of migrants who came from places as
far as Gujarat and Bengal..
Any soil where freedom is in peril, needs courageous sons, to first
raise voice and then to contribute to mass awakening. Time has come for
the writer to raise voice against corruption and to contribute to
movements of awakening, if he is really desirous. Wake up Mr. Robin and
lead the Goans.
Regards,
Anup Kumar
Kuwait
From: Arwin Mesquita
To: Goanet
Subject: [Goanet] Goa?s review on Migrants Needed - By Robin Fernandes
(Betalbatim/Kuwait)
Goa?s review on Migrants Needed
- By Robin Fernandes
MY GOA - one of the most beautiful state in India as perceived by every
Indian or non-Indian, is now expected to be the capital of migrants who
usually come from Bihar, UP, Karnataka, Kerala, Kashmir and almost every
part of India. Cities like Margao, Vasco and Mapuca are left with little
to feel Goa?s cultures and traditions unlike the 70?s & 80?s. The last
20 years has filled the state with vagrant aliens and the Government has
no control whatsoever to take any sort of precautions to monitor influx
of these migrants.
