FROM THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE.

From The Frying Pan Into The Fire

“Give me blood and I will give you freedom” the thundering voice myhistory teacher in school still resounds and resonates in my ears evenmore than thirty five years later as I go back in time. Probably hewas a fan of our immortal Netaji SC Bose and got a little carried awayby his patriotism while he was teaching us history in secondaryschool.

I am sure a lot of blood and tears were shed by our eminent andgenuine freedom fighters over the years and centuries for Goa’sfreedom, though we did not have leaders of the caliber of Netaji SCBto lead, but we Goans were fortunate to have others who risked andeven sacrificed their lives and their happiness for our freedom, weshould all salute those worthy man and women who fought and even diedfor our freedom but unfortunately their sacrifices have been in vainand if they were and are still alive today I am sure they would stillbe fighting for our true liberation and not live on the dole providedby our corrupt government like the phonies of today, who are onlyallergic to Portuguese names and ships.

Today as we are all geared up to celebrate fifty years of liberationlet us reflect on what we are about to celebrate, are we well andtruly free today ? Is this the freedom that our erstwhile freedomfighters fought and died for ? Or in all earnest, are we celebratingfifty years of loot and debauchery by our Goan politicians ?

I do not condone the tyranny of the Portuguese but unfortunately todayeven though we Goans are free of the Portuguese rule, we are stillunder bondage, and that too of our own making as corruption, communalrepression, nepotism, police brutality, muck stuck law and ordermachinery, environmental and ecological degradation and above allstagnant governance, have overtaken the oppression of the Portugueseand It would certainly not be wrong in saying that we have well andtruly fallen from the frying pan into the fire and with absolutely nosemblance of foresight and planning we are like a ship in the middleof an ocean, with no radar or compass, deemed to crash or sink anytime and yet we are ready to rock-n-roll at our fifty years of socalled liberation.

Over the years the whole world has been mesmerized by Goa’s beauty,tranquility and resources but unfortunately those very same, havebrought Goa’s downfall. The tranquility of Goa has been shattered byour unscrupulous greedy politicians, as people are forced to opposetheir anti Goan policies and projects, as they have encouragedoutsiders to pouring in, for work, leisure and pleasure, bringing inwith them the menace of drugs, gang wars and prostitution. Some haveeven made Goa their permanent homes, thus pushing the land prices outof Goans affordability and over burdening our already burdenedinfrastructure, as such more often than not Goans have been forced totake to the streets to make our statement.

Goa’s virgin beauty of its coast has been destroyed by the mass exodusof tourists on our coastal beaches and as a result of which ourbeaches are full of shacks, beds and garbage, our sand dunes and evenour eco-sensitive mangroves have been destroyed giving rise toconcrete jungles in place of our once green cover. Our forests aredisappearing faster than our receding hair lines and bald hills andmountains have taken up the landscapes, our once endless plains havebeen desecrated by countless shanties which lack basic amenities andhygiene, which further become a cause of health hazards, even thoughour politicians have turned them into their bastions of vote bank.

In school I was thought that our natural recourses were our nationalwealth, only if it was true, as our resourceful mineral wealth hasbeen hijacked by a coterie of influential people with the help of ourinapt politicians, with no control or policies to curb illegalitiesand fraud; as such miners have gone on rampage in the destruction ofour environment and our ecology, as a result of which our water tableshave crashed, our flower and fauna have been destroyed and air andwater pollution levels have gone well beyond the permissible levels.Along with the rising apathy for constructive planning of our inaptauthorities, people’s anxieties and insecurities have also grownmanifold and so our resourceful manpower too is suffering from braindrain as Goans have moved away to greener pastures, moving away fromcorruption and nepotism, for growth and better quality of life forthemselves and their children. It’s unbelievable that our Authoritiesare doing all they can to send people abroad but have not doneanything concrete to attract Goans back to Goa or even keep Goans inGoa.

What Goa and Goans need today is not, bridges every kilometer or a sealink or mega projects or forty meter highways or ten meter expresswaysin villages or settlement zones well in to eco-sensitive agriculturalland and even hinterland. What Goans need today is 24 x 7 water andelectricity, quality education and health care policy, protection ofour fragile and eco-sensitive environment, viable and constructivedevelopment that will be suitable and proportional to ourinfrastructural development and also an employment policy that willprovide sustenance and livelihood for Goans that will not justminimize unemployment but also stop the brain drain. Our police shouldkeep to their vows of being a source of help and support to the peopleand not exploit them, so that law and order is maintained and enforcedeffectively and efficiently without any nepotism and interference fromany officials or authorities so that Goans can live peaceful andsecure lives, only then can we boast of Goa being a model state ofIndia. Only then can we really celebrate our liberation and freedom orelse as it stands today we would be only celebrating fifty years ofloot and debauchery of our Goan politicians because it is only thepoliticians, miners and land sharks that have prospered in the lastfifty years of the so called liberation and that too at the cost ofGoa and Goans.

Elections are fast approaching and it is our last chance to save Goafrom these corrupt politicians, let us do it for Goa and ourposterity. Goa Jai Ho !

Freddy Agnelo Fernandes