An Era Of Coalitions

The State of Goan Politics

By Mario Cabral e Sa

That is the theme allotted to me by the Managing Editor of Goa Today for their traditional “bumper” issue, a tradition that began 34 years ago when Lambert Mascarenhas, who had just bowed out of the Navhind Times, Dan Dantas, a fairly successful advertising executive in Bombay and Froilano Machado, then owning a prosperous stevedoring firm at Vasco da Gama, joined hands to launch Goa Today. I am sure that they had their dreams and I have no doubt that, as time went by, they had more than fair share of disillusions and anxieties. Their moments of joy, too. And pride in what they were doing for Goa, despite all and heavy odds.

By 1966 the year they began their saga, if that indeed should be right word, no sane citizen had any doubt that Goa’s downward slide from its “glorious past”, a phrase we Goans are so fond of, had already begun. The future prognosticated by that brilliant poet Dr Manoharrai Sardesai in orgasmic verse – three crops a year, the coconuts the size of an armful, fruits-of-freedom Goa’s fecund soil would soon produce and the population savour was, clearly, a measure of the poet’s patriotism. But if the ground realities are taken into account, Manohar-bab’s had been a magnificent hallucination.

When, some time later, Goa Publications, the title of the Mascarenhas-Machado-Dantas partnership, was bought by the then budding tycoon Dattaraj Salgaocar, Goa already had reached a point of no return.

Sometime around that transition in Goa Today’s fortunes, a talented tiatrist, Tomazinho Cardozo, discovered the reason for Goa’s degeneration. The politicians had turned Goa into a thorny bush. Kantench Kanteh was the title of his very opportune play. It was thorns all the way for the citizen; roses, the choicest, for the venal politician, that was the playwright’s portrait of Goa. He soon made another theatrical statement. “All that glitters is not gold” sounded so much better in the vernacular title of his play: Soglem Zogzogta Ten Bangar Nui. It was, perhaps, poetic justice that, not much later, Cardozo himself plunged, wholeheartedly, into politics, was elected the speaker of the Assembly and came in for adverse comment by the High Court which remains on record.

That, then, is the state of politics in Goa. Those out of it abhor. Those in, relish every minute and hope to perpetuate their tenures. The fact, however, is that it is those who abhor who make it possible for those who have perverted all manner of norms of ethics and civilized behaviour to grab power and retain it. By their connivance in some cases. By their indifference in most cases.

The sad thing about contemporary Goa is that it no longer is proud of its uniqueness. Nehru thought Goans were a strange lot. The word he used was “ajaabi” which perhaps, would translate better as queer. Semantic  niceties apart, since then, Goa and Goans have changed a great deal. The politicians say that corruption is a global phenomenon and so it, indeed, is. Not only do Goans fully agree with it they have developed an original code of conduct: take your money (within reason), but deliver that promise. The politicians also say that this is an era of coalitions, no longer of single-party governments. Goans, it seems, agree with that, too. And merrily provide the funds to buy and sell at the frequent auction of “loyalty” we are called upon to witness, seven of them in 1990-1995 alone: Rane, Alemao, Barbosa, Ravi, Willy, Ravi, Willy.  Bu the gravy train continues its course: Willy, Luizinho, President’s Rule, Luizinho, Willy, Luizinho, Sardinha from 1999 to date.

 A former CM, himself an honest man, (but who admits that, like any CM before and since, has, of necessity) tapped slush funds for “party purposes”) told me, in the presence of witnesses, that he had discovered, belatedly that his ex-personal secretary had built a palatial house with money and building materials contributed under the table for favours done (by the CM! His (the ex-CM’s) consolation, however, was that the ex-personal assistant of another ex-CM had also built a palatial house for himself, in fact next to his own ex-assistant’s house. The corollary seems to be that, we might soon have an ex-PA’s promenade, our own brand of the millionaires’ mile.

The largest contributor to his ex-PA’s dream-come-true had been a contractor who actually belonged to an opposition party and was elected on that party’s ticket. And, just incase you are interested, the contract that produced the money had something to do with the construction of a court of law!

Visualise the picture, Please! How incestuous corruption could be.

But unbridled corruption is just one htmlect of Goa’s contemporary politics. I’ll reproduce from my files a cutting of Gomantak Times, (08.07.00, page 2).

“Veteran politician and Mandrem MLA Ramakant Khalap expressed his disgust at the behaviour of some MLAs and their sunken level of debates in the ongoing session of Goa Assembly saying, Speaker Sir I am ashamed to be a member of this House”.

He further said “ever since the monsoon session began in this beautiful edifice, I am concerned about the level of debates in the House. Here people, particularly students come, attend and listen to the debates of elected representatives. But allegations are traded against each other, it has sunk to such level that I feel ashamed to sit here. I have been in the House for two decades, and Speaker Sir, you have been here for over two decades, but we had quality debates maintained for posterity. What are we going to leave for our posterity. I request that all of us should meet one day before the commencement of day’s business and decide about good debates. I do not want to pin-point anybody, but all of us are responsible whether it is ‘babu’ or ‘bhavu’, ‘iremao’ or ‘uncle’, according to me all of us are responsible and I appeal to all that we should be careful when we open our mouth”. Reacting to Khalap’s sentiments, Speaker Pratapsingh Rane said “inspite of my several warnings, this has been going on and now I warn. Whoever uses un-parliamentary words, I will have him leave the House”. The pin-drop silence in the House was broken by Churchill who differed with the view of Khalap saying, “This is nothing compared to the debates which take place in Parliament”.

The moral of the story_ Bad as we may be, there are others much worse! And so we go on. And on…

There is no doubt, however, that despite venality and poor management, there has been progress. Wealth has been generated, whatever the means might have been. Much of it has percolated. My most remarkable “success” story:

1961, December 18. Village – does not matter. Huddled in a shrine, the villagers, pray for their lives. And if die they must, they play for a piece of heaven. Young mothers suckle their hungry infants. The older children run about, forgetting for a minute, till their elders knock them on the head or box their ears, that they are in a place of worship and must behave well.

It is a stifling atmosphere though. Made worse by the overpowering smell of sweat and soiled diapers. At long last, the church doors are opened. A page has been added to Goa’s history. Goa is no longer a Portuguese territory. Goa is now part of India. Amongst those trooping out of the shrine into a new world, and like most others, unsure of what the consequences of the change might be, is a 10-year old. Not long ago his father had died. The only memory he had of that day is that people kept coming in, patting  him on the head, saying kind things. The day had begun early. A squalling pig was being slaughtered for the wake. And now dozens of helpful neighbours were pouring in and offering themselves to clean up and quarter the carcass. Thus began his journey into orphanhood. And into life. He got sucked into the political whirlwind of the 80s and 90s. And came good! Today he is the highest income-tax payer in the State of Goa. Or so he told me the other day with immense pride. The name_ I don’t think it matters.