I agree with Arwin Mesquita on the subject he has written. With regards to us Goans accepting ourselves as part of the Indian Union, we already have. But has India accepted that Goans are part of what collectively defines India? What is India? Is it not a collection of states each with their unique language & culture? Together this becomes India. And if Goans want to preserve a part of what defines India, then definitely they should be & are well within their rights.
With regards to influx of people, it's not about Goan or Indian here. Goa doesn't have sufficient residential land. It's as simple as that. To be able to settle in Goa, rules are blatantly violated resulting in hills being cut, farms being filled etc. If this is acceptable & nobody minds an ecological disaster, then fine, we can welcome destruction of the environment. Another fact is more the people more the strain on the civic services. Clean drinking water, proper garbage disposal, power, law enforcement etc, need to keep with the sudden dramatic increase in population. I mean it's not just the rights of the people here. What about the rights of the environment? We accused the colonial powers of exploiting our resources. Are we doing any better? How do we explain in a country thats mostly vegetarian, Tigers are on the brink of extinction? It's nothing but the two predators (human & tiger) competing for territory. One needs more land to reside & thus one of them has to give & we know where that's going. So once the Indian tiger, a symbol of India, disappears, can we blame the colonial powers? I think we should look at Arwin's article & understand it thoroughly. Finally, when you analyze it, the focal point really comes down to effective proper planning with a vision for the future. How does the Government of Goa & India see Goa 5, 10, 20 years down the line? An overpopulated & polluted state with crumbling infrastructure or a state with proper management where it's citizens enjoy healthy environment & are proud that their customs & traditions are preserved? Planning (& especially for the future) is severely lacking in India which leaves inhabitants frustrated & this frustration gets manifested in ways similar to the Marathi agitation against outsiders. Unfortunately, media & people are quick to cry & react with "Traitor" or "Disloyal" to India. I guess this is much easier then solving the root cause of the issue. I mean, hey, why bother providing a solution, just accuse a whole section of people (if they complain) that they don't love India & they'll feel bad & fall back in line. Indians are extremely emotional anyways. Really easy to keep unhappy people in line, isn't it? In history (Europe), when people were unhappy revolutions occurred. Here, not so I guess. And as I've mentioned in the beginning, it is the parts (states) that make the whole (India). You take away one & India ceases to exist. How India would prosper if it ensures that all parts effectively come together in a proper synergy, without strain or preferential treatment on few individual parts. Of course, if the constitution states that conformance of only North Indian or any other particular non-Goan culture is what truly defines India, then in that case, I'm sorry to say that India shouldn't exist. I am proud of my Goan identity & culture which contributes to define India & India's uniqueness among nations.
