Is the Goa government pushing Goans towards Naxalism? -- By Nisser Dias

There is no doubt that Goa is experiencing the worst form of governance. The great Abraham Lincoln had said in a democracy government is, “of the people, by the people and for the people”.

Today in Goa the government presided over by the first non Goan chief minister has given the famous statement a different twist.

For Pramod Sawant, his governance is, Off the People, bye bye People and F… the People.

Be it double tracking of south western railway line passing through populated villages along the coastal belt or laying of new railway line, highway and power transmission line through eco-sensitive Mollem by axing thousands of trees. And that too, without giving a damn to one of the 5 environmental hot-spots in the world.

It does not end with the three linear projects. Now the BJP government in Goa want to propel Coastal Zone Management Plan down the throats of the Goans.

All this to benefit the chosen few capitalist in the country. And the chosen few have adopted the government at the centre.

What the Goa chief minister and his ministers fail to comprehend or realize is that the government is turning Goans into Naxalites, ultimately leading to revolution against the government.

Allowing double tracking the railway lines, the government is bulldozing our heritage structures. Be it our ancestral Portuguese era mansions, damaging our places of worship, reclaiming our fields, ponds and low lying areas.

By this, the government is denying us our heritage. It is taking over our means of living.

Elaborating further, the government is robbing us of our heritage, culture and ethos. Our palatial houses which we painstakingly maintain. The government is grabbing our properties, fields in which stand our swaying palms and varieties of fruits and fields that we still cultivate our crops and vegetables.

And all this for transportation of coal. Which if allowed will blanket our houses, properties, beach stretch and also our lungs with coal dust.

So, what is the option before us Goans when the elected government is not listening to its people? It is to adopt Marxist inspired mass revolution to liberate ourselves from the autocratic and oppressive government.

If double tracking of south western railway line is dissecting through the heart of Goa, the three linear projects are designed to destroy our hills and forests. And with Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) the government is snatching away our entire coastal stretch of 104 kilometres, our rivers, fresh water bodies, our islands and destroying our houses and religious structures along the river banks and shores.

The recent public hearing on CZMP was a farce. Under the guise of Covid-19 the state administration under the non-Goan chief minister of Goa used its machinery to keep the public away from the hearing and pass the plans to facilitate few capitalists. The very next day Pramod Sawant went on record to say that all opportunities were given to the people to raise objection.

His statement explains the many controversial decisions, acts of this government is to serve other masters and not the people of the state.

If Goans managed to keep Goa from being merged with Maharashtra, the present Maharashtrian chief minister of Goa is gearing to annihilate our beloved state through projects that benefit only a few capitalists.

How long are we going to be mute spectators? How long will these BJP governments at the Centre and in Goa test our patience?

An old adage goes, “a drowning man will catch at straws”, similarly when destruction of Goa seems inevitable, Goans will be forced to be like Naxalites to prevent the governments from obliterating ‘Amche bagarrache Goem’.