Humanity still exists in Goa in modern times. -- By Nisser Dias

“Whatsoever you do to the least of your brethren, you do unto to me” this is not only a biblical quote but what is practiced by a small group of business in Margao, who basically shy away from publicity and propaganda.

Feeding the poor and the destitute

This unassuming group has been providing lunch for hundreds of beggars every Sunday for the last 17 years. Their motive is to provide the destitute atleast a square meal during the week consisting of rice, dal and chicken.

Simon (does not even want his surname to be published) hit upon this novel plan based on the concept of the ‘American soup kitchen’ (A soup kitchen, meal centre, or food kitchen is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a below market price. Frequently located in lower-income neighbourhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church or community groups.)

Simon recounted that he put this plan in operation on Christmas Day in 1999 where he offered free lunch to around 10 beggars. From then on there was no looking back and this group has travelled a long way of 17 years to feed the poor every Sunday.

Recollecting his journey, this good Samaritan reminisces that he did not have a place and he requested Dr. Sincleta Rebello for premises who willingly asked him to use her two shops opposite Fatima High School to serve the starving within the vicinity of Margao.

Within weeks the word spread through the beggar grapevine about the free meal and the numbers started increasing and Simon started feeling space constraints.

He then approached Dr. Carmo Gracias who urged him to use the open space at his hospital including his garage where the free meal is currently being served.

Dr. Carmo has gone a step ahead to provide water, sink and washing space, cupboard for storing plates. Besides he also sponsors one meal every month.

Simon hesitatingly disclosed that every meal costs them Rs. 5000 and this is generated through the contribution of the group or whatever they receive from their customers and friends.

Volunteers serving the poor.

Interestingly most of the volunteers serving the meals every Sunday from 12.30 to 1.30pm to the destitute are contributors themselves. “We are in need of volunteers but they should come forward without any selfish and ulterior motive, then they are most welcome”, says Simon. He goes on to inform that is not a mere publicity exercise, “before serving them the meal we pray along them for the sponsors and their intentions”. “Some of the destitute get addicted to alcohol or substance because of problems at home we have detoxified some, counselled them and united them with their families”.

Nisser Dias

He goes on to add that detoxification process at Hospicio is little problematic for his group since as per the Hospicio procedures, besides the patient another person has to be present all the time by the bedside which is not feasible.

Undoubtedly, this is a fast world where one does not have time for others, wherein parents are being admitted in aged homes, families are fighting over properties, neighbours over boundaries but here is group of caring people subtracting relaxation time or time with their families to be with the poor and destitute to feed them thereby show-casing humility, humanity and indeed being human.

 

NGT exposes BJP govt's tearing hurry on various projects -- Jose Maria Miranda

Third bridge over Mandovi river

The Governments both at the Centre and this State are pursuing vigorously their agenda of all round development, promised by the BJP before the last elections. It is their avowed objective to showcase, before seeking a fresh mandate, as many projects as possible, whether necessary or not, properly executed or not. However, nothing can be farther from truth than the usual tirades of Goa Government of activists being anti-development. The proof against this canard is that the NGT has found reason with their appeals and stalled several projects because proper procedures have not been followed or ECs have been found faulty or not obtained. And this is what the activists and NGOs have been insisting upon. Instead of being remorseful of such serious lapses, people like Manohar Parrikar question the source of funds of NGOs for defraying massive Court expenses. This only confirms that this Government indulges in despotic and unscrupulous decisions in the hope that people will not resort to legal action due to heavy expenses involved, energies expended and tenacity needed. This attitude is shameful and highly reprehensible on the part of a responsible Government which ought to follow the rule of law and lead by example. Except during Emergency, the country did not have a more autocratic rule than the present one, where fascist tendencies are becoming more and more evident. In league with rich industrialists, the Government is trampling upon the rights of the people, particularly the poor and marginalized. Development is surely needed and the efforts in this direction of the party in power can be appreciated. However, stipulated procedures need to be followed, the affected people need to be taken into confidence and environmental and ecological concerns cannot be overlooked. These are generally given a go by, mostly because the motives are hidden and dishonest and the protests, if any, expected to fizzle out in no time. Faced with so many challenges in the Courts, be it on mining, Mandovi bridge, Mopa airport, Tiracol project, etc, where this Government has taken a beating, it ought to have sat up and introspected into its misadventures, but the brute majority it enjoys in the Legislatures, makes it bulldoze its way, unmindful of the consequences.

Areal view of land at Mopa where the airport is planned

One of this Government’s pet projects is the Mopa airport. Despite being unnecessary, financially unviable and likely to bring economic and environmental disaster to the State, the Government is pushing through the project in mighty hurry. I will not repeat what I have already pointed out earlier about the havoc being created at the site with destruction of human and animal habitat, water springs, etc. What is distressing is that despite three cases, one in the Apex Court regarding land acquisition and two in the National Green Tribunal, the Government is still going ahead with the project, perhaps banking on Court adjournments and eventual plea or claim of being a fait accompli. The NGT Pune, hearing petitions on Environment Clearance for Mopa, has adjourned the hearing till January, but has directed the Government not to disturb, till the next hearing, the Dhangar community, which has been residing on the plateau for centuries. The Government, eager to hurry with this unscrupulous project, was surely planning to rehabilitate the community elsewhere but now this attempt stands temporarily stalled. The possibility of the EC being rejected cannot also be excluded.

Though people notorious for their U turns, are assuring us that Dabolim will be retained, we are all aware that it is exactly these very people who will be instrumental in turning Dabolim airport into an exclusive Naval enclave. Let us not be naïve and let our past experiences serve us as warnings, particularly to the main stakeholders, like the owners of hotels, eating houses, shacks, taxis, etc. The recent spat between the Government and AAI over the so-called change of use of land sought for aviation allied activities, which included parking and construction of barracks for CISF is another attempt at throttling Dabolim, while giving the public the impression that it is otherwise. The plot is slopy, uneven and more than half a km from the airport, making it unsuitable for parking.

Jose Maria Miranda

Expressway was a pre-requisite for Mopa airport. Yet this Government never thought it fit to consult the people on such massive need of land. It was called a bypass but eventually, at break-neck speed, the 60mts. wide expressway is being bulldozed. It cuts across many villages with massive filling of fields, with resultant danger of flooding. Why such width is needed when Goans face shortage of land for housing is a relevant question to be asked particularly to the altar boys, who in their quest for tickets just nod their heads in approval of their masters’ diktats.

While GMR has won the bid to construct the airport, GVK refused to bid when they could not find satisfactory answers from the authorities to their queries. These were incidentally prompted by the caution letter sent to proposed bidders by Goans for Dabolim Only (GFDO). A financial newspaper comments thus on GMR: “GMR Group has been struggling under the weight of heavy debt. With business interest in airports, energy and infrastructure, the Group has a consolidated debt of 39154 crores”.  However, Goa Government, which is itself heavily in debt, is helping GMR by building the approach road at an approximate cost of Rs. 600 crores. This construction which was originally to be done by the bidder is now being undertaken by the Govt. by loading this cost in passengers’ fares. Further 232 acres of land are being allotted to GMR for commercial activities. Such is the clout enjoyed by GMR which will eventually use it to close down Dabolim with active support of Navy.   

Let us not be taken for a ride on demonetization. -- By Fr. Victor Ferrao

Social engineering is another name of propaganda.  It governs our mind, forms our tastes, suggests ideas and influences our choices.  Experts say that a relatively small minority controls us.  They employ the psychology of control to psych us into submission. This small minority pulls ‘the wires’ that controls our mind and pushes us into an organized chaos.  We are living in a post-truth era.

There is no place for truth where a manipulated interpretation that poses as truth.  Somehow we have come to accept the mind control that is forced on us.  We seem to be acting out scripts written by others.  We are all being played at by some unknown forces.  This means our choices are engineered away from our needs.  If we understand how the elite wield control over our minds and produce our dependence, we will reclaim our power to resist it.  We will have second thoughts.   The elite remove or weaken the systems that create self reliance and feed the people on the fear of scarcity.  The method is very plain and simple.  Create an artificial crisis and then push people to legitimate a solution that the elite propose.  There are a several ways of removing self reliance from our people which subject them to dependency that will receive indoctrination without resistance. It is in this way that the elite manufacture consent of people and promote its interest that masks as the cause of the people. May be we can take the case of demonetization and its impact on us to understand the how propaganda has taken control over us.

What is interesting is that we seem to have become willing sheep to be herded into a flock even when the social engine that masks it’s propaganda  seem to have ruptured.  If we just reflect on the official discourse on demonetization, we shall get an insight into the dangers of organised chaos that steadily we are all placing ourselves. We are told that that demonetization will stop terror.

Just propaganda

The fact is terror seems to have a way of surprising us beyond demonetization.  We heard that the government’s action against black money will abolish all cross border fake currency, but quite ironically terrorists were found with new notes even before some of us had the opportunity to lay our hands on our own.  We are told that we are fighting black money in our country yet there is a remarkable silence over any action that will tackle the menace of black economy that funds our political parties.  This silence became even profound when we found that the first person to be caught with unaccounted cash in the form of the new notes is a politician from the ruling dispensation. The war on black money appears to be a fight against the poor. No black marketer is reported to have died. What we painfully hear is the death of tens of ordinary people who were standing in line to gain access to their own hard earned money. What is even more striking is that when the Party in Chief of the ruling alliance at the centre had declared its wealth whose sources are not known, we do not have the gall to view as black wealth. This ‘ill-gotten’ wealth amounted to nearly a whopping 505 crores.  But it did not count as black money when it is clearly an unaccounted wealth whose sources are suspect or unknown.  Even after all this, we seem to circum to a deception of a war on black money. 

Modi's new notes

The official discourse on the war on black money is dressed in a politico moral narrative. It has its compelling effect because it is routed through a nationalism that provides both legitimacy and a glimmer of hope for a better future.  But it appears that this glitter of the future has made us mindlessly unmindful of our present situation. The intoxicating slogan ‘present pain and future gain’ says it all. We seem to have already become inhabitants of the approaching golden future. It has taken an amazing hold over our mind. We are already held captives by the promise of the future. It gives us a sense of advancing into a golden future and makes us feel that our days of pain and hardship are numbered. The promise of the approaching corruption free India, gives us the strength to stomach all the hardship that the cash chaos has unleashed in our country. Even if the programme appears to be pathetically unplanned and mismanaged, we have the muscle to face it with sheer determination that is indeed admirable. The apparent mindless response of the masses is certainly engineered by the ruling elite. Our opinions and are choices are already designed. We uncritically embrace these manufactured options without a second thought.  Thus, for instance, we are already disposed to look favourably at the so called plastic money.  While its benefits towards moving into a corruption free society are highlighted, it vulnerabilities remain hidden. We are not told about the service charge, internet tariffs and host of other dues that we shall be paying for all our transactions. Besides, there are security issues of the e-wallet options as well as constrains of the unorganised sector whose services cannot be simple set aside.



Fr. Victor Ferrao

How are we to resist this organized and designer life? How are we to harness the critical resources of our society?   The killing of rationalists, the disempowering of the institutions of higher learning, the taming of our mass media seems to have already weakened the critical mass of our society. More than ever before, we need to nurture and cultivate a critical consciousness that would enable us to assess, resist and choose our responses. We can begin this long journey with a considered choice that responds to every stimulus that we receive. We cannot be just reacting to the stimulus. We need to offer a soundly reasoned response. Yes, we need to make room for a second thought on every issue. Quite literally the space for a second thought has to be fought and reclaimed. When we open ourselves to the second thought, we open ourselves to critical analysis. Besides, the second thought doubles up. It offers alternatives. We have a second, third or fourth option. That is why making room for the second thought becomes a viable response that will become antidote to those who are out to mono-culture, design and tailor our life to suit their own vested interests. It is a challenge to let the power of second thought became the way of our life.