> For a long time I have stopped commenting > on anything in Goa because the situation is > so complex. That the polity has no will to > protect the environment is very clear. It's > not surprising. It is the same with politicians > everywhere until a Green party comes into > power or a party "soft" on the environment. > That Goa's problems are deep-rooted and > a nexus between governance and builders > exists at the panchayat level is also very clear.
Selma made this comment in another context, elsewhere in cyberspace. With her permission, I will quote it above. This suggestion for a Goa Greens party makes a lot of sense. It's time we stopped subscribing to the make-believe difference that the all-like-each-other and the regularly-transfusing-blood dominant parties have in today's Goa. See how effortlessly they fit into each other's shoes; only the beneficiaries of the spoils of power are different. Sometimes. It would be essential that a proposed Greens party here should not have the slightest dream of capturing State power, ever, or of trying to reform the State. (More likely, the State will tame and reform it.) On the other hand, it would make a lot of sense for it to enter the mainstream political process, even contest elections -- never to win, but to expose the hypocrisy of other "representatives of the people" and, if possible, set the agenda. Even the latter might be a difficult task, but it may not be impossible, given the options that 21st century campaigning offers. Everyone has the right to decide the amount of "development" and the kind of "growth" they'd like to have in a federal country. While scapegoating the poor migrant is both unfortunate and unfair, we could definitely do with holding accountable the permanent government and power elites that decide the shape of the Goa they find convenient, and also the political faces that front for them (while unabashedly changing their party clothes when it suits them). Before Floriano stands up to say that his is *the* Greens party, I think a major mistake of their's is to believe that with their meagre resources, they can actually contest our first-past-the-post parliamentary system, that was crafted to suit the interests of 16th century mercantile capitalism in the Mother Country, not post-colonial societies with all their limitations. Big question: who will bell the cat? Will they be able to fight clear of the seductiveness of the dream of power? FN PS: Look what happened to our friend Matanhy Saldanha, whom I once accompanied for a seven-day Protect Water, Protect Life march through much of rural Goa. Way back around 1987, I think. In fact, I feel quite the fool for allowing him to sell me his "You do not have to be a minister to make a difference" interview, shortly after he got elected for the first time. I think history would have judged him in a far more kinder way, if he had not to enter the assembly... by conveniently supping with the devil, as it were. Frederick Noronha :: +91-9822122436 :: +91-832-2409490 _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ tambdimati: the Goa review is a community blog of original _/ art, writing, music, news and commentary from and about the _/ smallest state in the subcontinent. check out the newest _/ member of the Goanet family daily at _/ http://www.tambdimati.com. _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
