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Accidental ActivistWe Are The ChampionsBy Venita Coelho What a protest it was! It made my heart so proud. I arrived at the TCP office to be welcomed by a sea of banners that ranged from ‘Town and Country Selling Dept’ to ‘Good always triumphs over evil’. Over 500 people had turned up. I was touched and overwhelmed by the number of people who came up to me and said they had come for the rally because my column had motivated them to. Thank you to each and every one of you who stood up that day for Goa! Here’s a report from the front lines. First we marched to the TCP office to gherao Morad Ahmed. Numerous committed activists were there: Claude Alvares, Oscar Rebello, Patricia Pinto, Ritu Prasad, Sabina Martins, Miguel Braganza… it was a show of unity and strength that pointed to how important the RP was for everyone. They made Morad Ahmed sweat. For over an hour he was closely questioned by the people jammed into his office – and he had no answers! It was a revelation to hear him talk in circles for a full hour. It’s a language all by itself called bureaucratese, spoken by those soon to retire and unwilling to commit to anything. According to Morad Ahmed, they couldn’t finish the RP because they didn’t have enough AutoCad operators… they couldn’t stop the hill cutting and other violations because that was the responsibility of the BDO and the mamlatdar… they couldn’t provide a flying squad because there weren’t enough staff… they couldn’t stop issuing permissions because they didn’t have a directive to do so… basically the only thing he had staff and directives enough to do was to continue issuing permissions to all and sundry. Inside, the exasperated representatives struggled to get answers; outside, the waiting crowd grew restless. You could see the mood changing from slogans and laughter to anger. The handful of policemen began to look uneasy. Finally in disgust the team left his office and we reconvened downstairs. Nobody was willing to go home. Their fighting spirits were up and they wanted blood. ‘Let’s meet the Chief Minister!’ the villagers shouted, and off they went. No sooner did the CM hear that the GBA and the village protestors were on their way, than he made a bolt for it. A GBA member has a photo on his phone of the CM hastily leaving his residence as the morcha approached. But the gang was in no mood to let him off the hook. Oscar swung into action with a series of phone calls to the CM demanding he come back. Finally, everyone announced that they were willing to spend the night on the road but they would not leave without meeting the CM. Cornered, Digambar Kamat made his way back after two hours. Everyone had gamely squatted on the road all that time, waiting for him. Is this is a victory? Only if we make it so. First, Mr Kamat is a politician and they are rather good at making promises and not so good at keeping them. It will be a victory only if we hold him to it. If, from time to time we give him a show of our strength and our determination. Second, rather than depend on the fickleness of politicians it is important to push for the obsolete TCP act to be changed and new legislation put into place that will once and for all make the drafting of Regional plans part of a concrete system. Third, we need to push to reform this entire flawed exercise that we have been through in trying to make this RP. Lastly we need what the major slogan at the morcha was – ONE GOA, ONE PLAN. Yet again we are being given taluka level plans without one overall unifying plan. The battle is far from over. But the first skirmish definitely belongs to the people. Congratulations on your victory! When the villages of Goa stand together no one can stand against them. |
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