Is Goa's beauty and culture safe?

New Delhi: With Goa going to polls on June 2, every party is promising a better Goa. For now, campaigning for the elections has ended and the verdict of these polls will decide the future of India’s smallest state.

On a special show on CNN-IBN, Eye on Goa , experts and the people of Goa debated whether economic development was destroying cultural identity and the ecological beauty of the state.

Sagarika Ghose conducted the show in Goa and on the panel to discuss the issues were Shantaram Naik from the Congress, former chief minister of Goa and BJP leader Manohar Parikar, singer Remo Fernandes and convener of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan Oscar Rebello.

Is Goa being sold to rich “outsiders” of Mumbai and Delhi?

The big issue in these elections is ‘Save Goa’ from outsiders. Should the ruling Congress party take the blame for selling Goa to outsiders? “Some sort of legislation has to be enacted so that rampant sale of land does not take place,” said Shantaram Naik.

While the BJP has been blaming the Congress of selling off Goa, what about the BJP itself? Various ministers from the BJP, too, were involved in rampant real estate construction.

“What has happened in Goa is that land has been converted for commercial purposes and sold it by taking commissions. When we received the information, we took the government head on. I have given documents in the Assembly but the Chief Minister does not react to it because his son is involved,” said Manohar Parikar.

Naik reacted to Parikar’s allegation on the Chief Minister and asked him not to make any personal accusations.

Rebello, on the other hand, spoke out on his work regarding the issue of the sale of Goa and said that his organisation was not directed at any one party. “It is the future of Goa and if one is going to create marginalisation of Goans by indulging in such land deals and obscene display of wealth it is going to create social unrest. It is in our interest to see that does not happen,” he said.

But that throws up the question of development. “The talk of development in Goa is complete hogwash. The problem is that most of the politicians in India are in it for love of money and the rest are here for hate of any other community that is not their own,” said Remo Fernandes.

An audience member interjected that the way to deal with the issue would be to check equity with development cutting across sections.

Providing a solution to the issue, Naik said the only way out of it was through restrictions in legislations. “We have to come up with a regional plan,” he said.

On a different tangent, Rebello said there should be development keeping the poorest of the poor in mind. To that, Fernandes spoke about how land was converted without the people’s knowledge. “It took an architect called Dean D’Cruz to go to all the government officers to find out about the conversion. A lay man did what the opposition could not do,” he alleged.

Is Goa’s communal harmony in danger?

When the BJP government was in power there was a fear among the Christians and Muslims in Goa that the party was out of touch with the varied identity of Goa. “I think it is a campaign strategy by the opponents,” defended Panikar.

When he was questioned about the communal CD issued by the party, he said it had been cleared by the censor board. “It was scripted by a team headed by a Catholic, taken from a book published by the Congress government. It was shown to the press and was aired on TV but no one objected at that time,” he said.

So is the BJP trying to create a fight between brothers of different communities? “It is a freedom struggle CD and it had nothing to do with Hindus and Catholics. But when there was objection, we stopped the circulation,” defended Panikar.

Naik retorted to Panikar’s claim, saying every time the BJP issued a CD, it was to create communal disharmony.

At the same time, a majority of the audience did not feel that the BJP was out to destroy Goa’s communal harmony. Another audience member blamed the Congress for playing divide and rule in Goa.

To that, Rebello said it was important to note that not just in Goa, the BJP was not even condemning what happened in Gujarat. A few other audience members said they believed that BJP leaders were spreading rumours about Muslims in Goa to try to create communal disharmony by communalising personal issues.

What is the future of Goa?

In terms of politics, what are the various parties willing to offer Goa? “We are going to rule and give a good governance. Not like the BJP, building a 30-crore cinema hall on 100 acres of government land,” said Naik.

Taking up for his party, Panikar said, “My agenda has always been good governance for Goans and by Goans I mean Goan Catholic, Goan Hindus, Goan Muslims and non-Goans who has come and settled here.”

Speaking for Goans, Fernandes responded by saying that they were sandwiched between the two evils, the BJP and the Goans. “So our future is doomed,” he said.

Speaking on a positive note, Rebello said, “We have to be hopeful. I believe every Goa is wise. He will deliver his verdict. He will watch which government comes back to power and what it does.”

An audience member summed up what the Goans were looking for this election and in the future. “We want a people-friendly, secular, non-corrupt party in power,” he said.

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#Assembly elections 2007 #Goa #Eye on Goa