Struggles and Aspirations

The twenty-fifth anniversary of Goa’s statehood is at hand. A time for reflection, a time for looking beyond horizons. But first some introspection. As George Santayana says in his oft quoted writing, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

The history of Goa since liberation in 1961 has been to a large extent a history of unfortunate division. The people have been torn apart, first over merger with Maharashtra, then over the issue of Konkani. We never had time to discuss harmoniously what should be the Goa of our dreams because we were overwhelmed by the issues of identity, which should never have been the bone of contention in the first place. What  a pity that we could not be united about our own identity. When other parts of the country were fighting unitedly to preserve their own culture and language, we were fighting among ourselves for either preserving or dissolving our own. Did not the movement for Goa’s merger and anti-merger amount to that? Preservation v/s annihilation of our identity? The first five years after liberation were wasted on this issue. That should have been the time when we should have put up a united front to demand special status for Goa, having lost out on five year plans as a result of joining the Union of India fifteen years late after the 1947 independence. That should have been the time when we should have fought to keep Dabolim as a civilian airport.  That should have been the time when we should have demanded that Konkani should be our official language, that it should be made a compulsory subject in schools, and that it should immediately find a place in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution. But instead, we drifted in different directions and lost out over the years. 

We thought that the issue of identity was finally solved when we opted decisively for preserving our separate identity as a Union Territory, and rejected merger with Maharashtra with an electoral finality in the historic Opinion Poll in 1967. The demand for Konkani and statehood gained an impetus. But the party that propounded merger was elected thrice in the general elections that followed, and ruled Goa for thirteen more years till 1980 when the Congress party was given a big mandate to rule Goa. By then the Congress was no longer the preserve of only pro Konkani forces as the proponents of Marathi had also joined the Congress. 

The battle for Konkani had to be fought by the people, and even took a violent turn. The central leadership of the Congress had to intervene. Finally Konkani became the official language of Goa with Marathi having an equal status on 4^th February 1987, twenty years after the Opinion Poll. A compromise. Statehood followed on 30^th May 1987. But divisions continued over Konkani and Marathi, and over scripts for Konkani. These divisions are reinforced by politicians as and when it suits them. But by now the people have realized the follies of fighting over divisive issues, instigated by politicians and other  vested interests.

In the last decade, people have focused their attention on planning the use of land, preserving the environment and heritage, and progress in health and education. People have fought against those perceived as corrupt and recently brought about a change in government. They have started looking at the future of Goa and taking interest in people oriented development. The agitations that are taking place today are based on specific issues and involve people from various communities. It is good that people are interested, vigilant, demanding, and active. The non government organizations and the press are also playing a catalyst role. It augurs well for the future.

A big number of people played an active role over a long time in the formulation of Regional Plan 2021. This was historically a first of its kind activity. Gram Sabhas and village committees  spent long hours over their village plans and opted for a village status in RP-2021 as per their aspirations. No doubt all the aspirations of the people have not been met. Manipulations have taken place in the final draft. But it breaks the hearts of activists when the whole plan is rejected, the baby thrown out with the bath water. It was people’s participation that gave the whole process a meaning. The process has to be given cognizance, and corrections made wherever necessary without altering the salient features. It is not the old government v/s the new government, but the government being tuned in to the people’s aspirations. The struggle is for preserving the ecology and whatever remains of our land for posterity.

Let the revised RP-2021 see the light of the day as soon as possible, and along with it the promised ‘Goa Vision 2035’ document, the draft of which will soon be available to the public for scrutiny and suggestions. The people of Goa should now aspire that both documents, RP-2021 and Goa Vision 2035, should synchronize and be people oriented. They should make their aspirations known to the government, which in turn should respond positively to the people in this year of the silver jubilee of our statehood.

A democratic state is about people, their struggles and aspirations.

Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 27.05.2012 

Mukherjee as Prime Minister

The country is abuzz with the impending presidential elections. This is an indirect election in which only the members of the parliament and state legislatures vote as people’s representatives. Yet, every five years many interested citizens and the media come out with names of potential presidential candidates, besides the names thrown up by the political leaders. This is a healthy sign of our maturity as a democratic republic. As Chester Bowles says, “government is too big and important to be left to the politicians.”

This year many interesting names have come up before the nation, the more outstanding among them being former President A P J Abdul Kalam, current Vice President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former Governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi, celebrity scholar Karan Singh, and currently the front-runner Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Each of them is eminent and worthy of occupying the high office of the President of the Republic. There are other names being floated by politicians to suit their own interests. But they lack ratings and popularity. 

We are living in a time of leadership crisis. There are leaders galore but very few who are accepted by large sections of people in all the regions of the country. However, the search for President has shown that there is atleast one candidate who finds acceptability and respect from across the board:  Pranab Mukherjee. While various leaders from different political parties support the idea of having Mukherjee occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan, his own Congress party is maintaining a prolonged silence. Yeshwant Sinha of Bharatiya Janata Party has gone on record  complimenting Mukherjee and wishing him well during the recent concluding discussion on the budget.

The question of putting up Mukherjee as presidential candidate is much more difficult than it seems. He is the key minister in the Union Cabinet. The government, the UPA, and the Congress party require his negotiating and leadership skills more than those of any other minister. He has vast and varied experience, having served as minister right from the time of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and having held a wide range of portfolios from finance and commerce to external affairs. Besides being the chief troubleshooter in times of crisis, and the dexterous negotiator in difficult circumstances, he is the leader of the Lok Sabha with forty years experience as a parliamentarian. Of the thirty-seven groups of ministers that operate within the government deliberating on policy and implementation, Mukherjee is heading twenty-four and is part of all eleven empowered groups. With all these responsibilities at the age of seventy-six, Mukerjee is a picture of sagacity and calmness.  Not smeared by scandal. And though he may have expresssed his willingness to retire from active politics, those who believe in his potentialities know that the best is yet to be…

It is ofcourse a compliment to be endorsed for president by political parties other than his own. But just from the devil’s advocate point of view, could the move to make him the nominal Head of State be motivated by the desire to deprive the UPA government of its most valuable asset? If true, and I hope it is not, it is a smart political manoeuvre but not the best  for the nation.

In my opinion, the nation needs Mukherjee. Not as President, but as the Prime Minister of India. It is the Prime Minister who runs the country. The President is only the ceremonial head of state. There are many candidates, besides the ones listed above, who would be very suitable  for the post of the President.

It is a delicate situation no doubt. We have an incumbent Prime Minister who has another two years to go. But he has been there for the last eight years. A good man, an epitome of gentleness and personal integrity. But he does not have the political instinct. He has never won an election, and may not be feeling the pulse of the people. It is sad that in the year we are observing sixty years of parliamentary democracy in India, we have a prime minister who has never been a member of the Lok Sabha. I think he has given his best in the areas of his competence, but has not emerged as the leader of the nation.

The Congress and  the UPA have to see the writing on the wall. They owe it to the people to give the nation the best. If they hold on to the present, they will lose the future. But if they make bold moves now and make course corrections, the people may give them another chance. And if the Congress and UPA give us at this juncture a strong, experienced, intelligent and imaginative Prime Minister, then we may have a better tomorrow. No one suits the bill better than Pranab Mukherjee.

Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 20.05.2012 

Importance of Panchayat

“True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting in the centre. It has to be worked from below by the people of every village”

Whatever the context in which Mahatma Gandhi wrote the above words, they capture the essence of democracy, which has to start at the grassroots to attain vibrancy. The words were as true for the nationalist temperament of Gandhi’s times as they are for our globalised times. One may begin to wonder why it is so. Is not  globalisation macro and panchayat micro? Why must we give time to the small and “petty” when we have larger global and national concerns?

My humble answer is that the more globalised we get, the more we must involve ourselves in the life and matters of our villages and towns. “Think global, act local” must be our motto. Act local in ways that are consistent with the physical, social and cultural fabric of the place. Otherwise, we may end up with the monster of uniformity swallowing our rich diversity. Each village and town has its unique features and way of life. Only the people of the locality can understand the nuances that are particular to their place of living. Others may study and appreciate them, and want to settle down in the places they admire, and even point out the richness to the inhabitants whose familiarity with the place may have blinded them to its riches. This is in fact happening in Goa. Foreigners and people from outside the state are enamoured by our villages, but some villagers only yearn to migrate to the West for good and sell their ancestral properties. We must appreciate our natural endowments  and work together to build better facilities for our common peace, prosperity and happiness. Our panchayat body is the right forum for this exercise.

Unfortunately the panchayat has become the first school of corruption in many villages. Those with education, character and vision have become victims of cynicism. Indifferent. Those with vested interests and political opportunism have taken the upper hand. Observe for yourself how political affiliations change with the change in government. Those who were hobnobbing with ministers and MLA’s of a defeated party are now hand in glove with the new ruling party. This, they say, is necessary for development. An assumption that needs to be demolished. Only men and women of character can withstand this expected way of behaving. Only those with character and courage can stand on their own feet against the might of the powers that be. Therefore, only those with character, courage of conviction, honesty and vision deserve to be elected. The only affiliation they should have is to the people of their wards and locality. If forward looking citizens network among themselves to support such candidates then change is possible. It is being tried in some places and is likely to succeed.

In some progressive villages a people’s manifesto is being attempted. People have risen against the manipulation in the delimitation and reservation of wards. In most cases people will have to bear with the injustice for the time being and participate in the elections in spite of it. Boycotting is not the answer. People must give a strong message that they can win in spite of odds. But for this to happen, the electorate must have the same qualities that are sought in candidates, specially vision, courage and character. It is very true that people get the government they deserve, specially at the local self government level. 

Once elections are over and results declared, the work of not only  the winning candidates but of all citizens will begin. To keep a watch. To attend the gram sabha. It is a paradox to see the people fighting against their representatives in every gram sabha. This happens because the elected representatives cease to listen to the people’s voice. Instead of carrying the people with them, the elected panch members end up turning the electorate into an opposition body. When this stops, there  could be harmonious development of the locality and community.

We can only hope that the panchayat election on 16^th May will be a turning point at least in some wards, some villages. It could be a beginning which will have good repercussions in the evolution of local self government.

Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 13.05.2012 

Positive Strokes for Dialogue

There was a lot of good news and bad news last week as at any other time of the year. The good news was in the areas I’ve been touching on for last two months in this column. So I’m sharing happy thoughts with you this Sunday. It happened at the national and state levels, intra-party and government-people level, and involving key leaders in Congress as well as Bharatiya Janata Party.

First the national level. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Uttar Pradesh first time after the defeat in the last assembly elections. He discussed the results with his workers in an open way, and the latter responded frankly and boldly with complaints. They pointed out to him the selection of wrong candidates, neglect of grass root workers, groupings, and dominance of  a few  “yes men”. I think these are factors that contribute to defeat in most elections. But they also reportedly pointed out, that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visits the constituencies of her mother and brother only at election time. It was a moment of facing the truth after a very poor show at the assembly polls. The workers capped their complaints by telling bluntly that the leadership was neither listening nor accessible. Gandhi was thus able to receive first hand information, explain his difficulties since many of their grievances are state subjects, and respond with a promise to respect them and resolve their problems. The people will now watch the long road from dialogue to delivery.

Coming to Goa, I must commend our Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for showing his willingness to meet the stakeholders and people in general to find reasonable solutions to divisive problems. And I hope the trend will continue beyond the impending Cortalim by-election.

The CM has promised to interact with all concerned about the medium of instruction imbroglio. It is a difficult situation for him as he has received support from people on both sides of the MoI divide, and has to arrive at a consensus after studying the viewpoints of all stakeholders. The solution has to be such that regional and global, short term and long term, social and technical, traditional and modern dimensions of education have to be given due consideration. Emotionalism, divisiveness and bigotry are the last things in education. Any person who wants to dabble in educational matters must have an open mind. A closed mind is the antithesis of education. I have my own views on this subject, but shall refrain from expressing them at this point of time as I am not an immediate stakeholder. However, I welcome the statement of the CM that status quo will be maintained till a decision is taken, and that he does not want to see children coming out on the streets. It is a pity that children and parents had to come on the streets several times in the past. This should be the last thing to happen in a dialogue driven democracy.

The CM also responded with a mellow tone on the Mopa airport apprehensions. It is an issue which has been debated for a very long time. It is certainly divisive, not on emotional grounds but because of economic considerations and fears. Parrikar need not have taken a decision on this matter so soon in his tenure. There are other more pressing and less controversial matters to be settled. Divisive issues can wait. There is opposition to the proposed airport from some local people at Mopa  and surrounding areas  on the basis of land, traditional occupations and environment. And from the people in the south of Goa on grounds of tourism and tourism related occupations as well as distance, Mopa being on the extreme side of north Goa. Guarantees on the future of Dabolim airport can never be given for all times. Hence the anxiety of the people in the south. It is good that the CM has shown willingness to listen, and give up on Mopa if it is proved to be infeasible. But it  is the physical, practical and economic considerations that determine feasibility. Social costs and people’s convenience should also be the determining factors. The government has done well by discarding the Panaji-Vasco sea link with sound reasoning.

We expect the Chief Minister to carry the people of Goa with him on important matters like the second airport, medium of instruction at the primary level, and regional plan. His decision to go back to RP-2001 in the interim period before declaring the final RP-2021, without assurances on safeguarding the good and accepted features of the draft plan, is a setback to the aspirations of all those who have participated in the RP-2021 process. He is not expected to be in a hurry, but certainly required to remain tuned in to the people's voice.

Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 06.05.2012