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