
To examine the claim of this Delhi-Goa colonial nexus we
need to explore the case of the much-vaunted Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) or Save
Goa Movement. While it was spurred on by the genuine concerns of many Goans as
to the way Goa was being destroyed, one could also see in it the operation of
colonial power. The GBA appeared at a particular moment in Goan history, when land
in Goa came to be eyed by external, i.e. Indian, realtors. Thus, the existing
concerns of the larger populace were whipped to frenzy by the local elite to
ensure that it was the interests of the local land-owning classes and
construction firms that was secured. After an initial amount of muscle-flexing,
that demonstrated to external realtors the power of the local elite the
movement was effectively killed, when the
representatives of the GBA on the Task Force for the Regional Plan (RP) 2021 resigned
their positions.
As a result of this regrettable history, nothing emerged out
of the GBA except for a paralysis of the Regional Plan process, even as the
real-estate business continues as usual. Indeed, the lesson that if foreign capital
wants to enter Goa it would have to be in partnership with the local elite
seems to have been learned admirably in case of the usurping
of Tiracol by Leading Hotels. This unfortunate outcome, however, is very
much in keeping with the history of popular movements in Goa since 1961, where
the manipulation of the Goan population, and especially the bahujan Catholic
populations of the Old Conquests, by dominant caste elites has been a standard. In every movement, one sees that the upper
caste elites gain greater autonomy for unaccountable behavior, while the masses
that agitate receive no benefit at all.
What is also interesting about AAP Goa is that one can
deduce in it the desire of well-meaning non-Goans who have settled in Goa to
influence local politics. This desire to participate is welcome, indeed many of
them come with exciting ideas that we can benefit from. But one nevertheless
needs to question the balance of power under which this happens. A number of Goa’s problems are in part the
result of Indian desires to settle here, as well as the manner in which Goa has
been hitched to India. As individuals, we are very often also unconscious
representatives of large structural powers. As such, the fact that the
articulation of so much of AAP’s outreach is in compliance with a national
culture, manifest through the Gandhi topi,
the Hindi sloganeering, even the Hindi language outreach of the leaders, makes
one question which structural interests are being served, the nationalist designs
of the AAP, or those of the average Goan? Is Delhi, or the desires of the
national elites, dictating what happens in Goa, or do Goans dictate what
happens in Goa? The dominance of Hindi in the outreach of AAP Goa seems to
suggest that it is formulating an agenda that wishes to be in sync with the
assumptions of the Delhi outfit. In such
a context, especially where Kejriwal chose to holler Bharat Mata ki Jai, what is the position of AAP on Special Status
for Goa?
A leaf from Goan history should offer good reason why AAP Goa should heed this caution. In the run-up to the first elections In Goa under Indian rule the Indian National Congress (INC) was extremely confident of a sweeping INC victory in the 1963 elections. Such was its confidence, that as Parag Parobo has pointed out in his book on early post-colonial Goa, the All India Congress General Secretary K. K. Shah announced that the INC did not require any special manifesto for Goa. All of this while tickets were given almost exclusively to individuals from dominant castes. Just as supporters of AAP today dismiss the need for a regional party, so too in 63 the INC was also confident of success because of its national location. And yet the INC experienced a crushing defeat at the polls. Not only did they not gain a single seat from Goa, but in many locations the candidates lost their deposits. The moral of that election was that local issues, not national were critical to electioneering, and secondly that issues of caste justice cannot be ignored and simply dismissed. The result of that election should offer sobering advice for AAP Goa that in many ways could be said to be repeating those mistakes.
(This post was not published in any newspaper.)
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