Dear Vivek Could you please tell us the page number of your article? Thank you! Cielo
Em seg., 17 de abr. de 2023 às 04:49, sandra lobo <[email protected]> escreveu: > Dear Vivek, > > Thanks for sharing. I left Goa in early 1970's, but I still have engraved > in my mind the beautiful landscape enjoyed as a child playing in Altinho. > Each time I visit Goa I accompany its growing touristification, > environmental degradation and retraction of rural and wildlife life, while > Pangim becomes unbreatable. Portugal has also many examples of such > process. The problem seems to be the temptation of following "easy" money > believing there are no alternatives that may allow decent living - is it > that why people continue to accept such model of "development" and to > dismiss the importance of corruption in such path by continuing to vote for > those that guarantee the net of political-economic complicities that > sustain it? > > best wishes, > > Sandra > > > > > Sandra Ataíde Lobo > > > https://giepcip.wordpress.com/ > > tmn. ++351 930690459 > > ------------------------------ > *De:* [email protected] <[email protected]> > em nome de V M <[email protected]> > *Enviado:* 17 de abril de 2023 06:31 > *Para:* V M <[email protected]> > *Assunto:* [GRN] This Is The End (O Heraldo, 16/4/23) > > > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldgoa.in%2FEdit%2FBy-invitation%2FThis-Is-The-End%2F203866&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cea3a86fa0e184140936808db3f05171a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638173063351205761%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=W6axgQg4zJdRMA7jNCUepg5QQuqgqnkyUTdQOJsuBxU%3D&reserved=0? > <https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/By-invitation/This-Is-The-End/203866> > > No need to wait for history to judge this disgracefully incompetent > government, and its catastrophic mismanagement of India’s smallest > state. The evidence is everywhere: ravaged hillsides, grossly > overbuilt coastlines, an utterly wrecked capital, and the shameful > dereliction of duty to maintain law and order. There is no silver > lining. On the contrary, it’s painfully clear that everything Goans > know, love and recognize about their homeland – the blessings of > generations of ancestors who chose more wisely – is being rapidly > extinguished in front of our eyes. > > Make no mistake: there will be no recovery, because every system of > redressal is broken. Constitutional democracy has ceased to function > in Goa, as evident from this week’s latest truth-telling (to Karan > Thapar of The Wire) by Satya Pal Malik, the BJP’s own Governor during > the Covid-19 “second wave’, who said he complained to Narendra Modi > directly about corruption in our state: “you can ask even small > children in Goa what everyone knows about the chief minister [and now] > I can confidently say that [even] the prime minister does not have a > strong aversion to corruption.” > > Even such blatant criminality is only one aspect of the comprehensive > failure of governance in Goa, as highlighted by the shockingly > destructive, wasteful and trashy “makeover” of Panjim in order to host > G20. We’re being told to celebrate “a watershed moment in [India’s] > history as it seeks to play an important role by finding pragmatic > global solutions for the wellbeing of all” but that’s is just > delusional rhetoric compared to the reality on the streets: > untrained, under-equipped – and often visibly underaged – labourers > erecting a grotesque, haphazard, less-than-skin-deep simulacrum of an > actual working state which cares about its citizens. > > I visited the memorial to Tristão de Bragança Cunha at Azad Maidan > this week, in pondering what the “father of Goan nationalism” might > have said about this deeply troubling juncture in his beloved > homeland. For those who do not know, this fearless man of principle > was – as per diplomat/historian K. M. Pannikar – “nationalist India’s > first ambassador [to Europe] who, single-handed, was able to break > through the news blockade which Britain established in respect of the > Jallianwala Bagh massacre.” > > Cunha alerted the likes of Romain Rolland and Henri Barbusse to > iniquities visited upon his fellow Indians, and always had the guts to > speak out when others were silent. Pannikar particularly praises his > “great and historic fight against a system of indentured labour under > which Kunbi labourers from Goa were recruited and sent to the > plantations in Assam. It was almost a single-handed fight but he was > able to awaken the conscience of his countrymen both in India and Goa > to the injustices of this system, and get it abolished.” > > Re-reading Cunha’s own writings on this, I got a painful shock of > recognition: “the government did not take the least step to help those > unfortunate people. On the contrary, its passivity went to the extent > of conniving with the people responsible for the cruel treatment > inflicted on our countrymen.” That was almost 100 years ago, with the > Portuguese and British colonialists as familiar villains, but in 2023 > the identical horror has come directly to Goa, where the most > vulnerable young Indians are being compelled to toil, in inhuman – > indeed, totally illegal – conditions, in the total absence of > protective equipment, with the overseer our own state. How far we have > fallen. > > Of course, it is not just citizens’ rights being bulldozed, because > Goa’s environment is also being destroyed at high speed with full > connivance by the state administration. This is especially evident at > Reis Magos – thus directly in the view of many G20 venues – where > monstrously inappropriate giant buildings are rising to obliterate the > ancient landscape. > > Who approved these egregiously dodgy projects? What happened to the > Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, passed in 2016 “to > infuse transparency and credibility” into the building sector, which > specifically encourages “construction of environmentally sustainable > and affordable housing”? For just one obvious question: where is the > water going to come from, when Reis Magos has been suffering literal > drought each summer over the past few years? And what about > demographic displacement- has anyone bothered to ask the villagers > what they think about a thousand new neighbours on that one hillside? > > Yes, these are largely rhetorical questions. And it’s also true Goa > appears helpless to correct the disgraceful state of current affairs, > but we must nonetheless note that most Goans are fully cognizant of > what is being done to them by their own so-called “leaders”. In this > regard, I really appreciated what Suraj Shenai – the founder and CEO > of Goa Brewing Co. – wrote on the Goa Speaks forum on Facebook earlier > this week on 12 April, to accompany roughly the same photograph that > appears on this page: “This is how they sell Goa? Can you believe that > this is happening in 2023! At this precise time in our human existence > when everything is vulnerable to climate change, with temperatures > soaring upwards of 40 degrees & its effects on crop cycles pushing > millions of Indians into food poverty?” > > In palpable anguish, Shenai wrote “as far as your eyes can stretch the > entire mountain across the Mandovi in Reis Magos has been razed, its > forest and green cover completely destroyed! Imagine all the wildlife > killed for what? Is this environmental destruction [and] the death of > an entire ecosystem for any purpose that will serve people? Is it to > build schools or hospitals or to generate mass employment? No! It is > to build luxury villas! Villas are a new buzz word in Goan vocabulary! > There is a price the Urban Indian settlers pay to “convert” / ravage a > forest into settlement/ villa. To those who were paid the “price” for > this project let me do some math for you! To accommodate 50 villas & > their 50 insensitive buyers you killed at least 1 kilometer of hill > forest, 3000 large trees, 1000 wild animals, 10,000 birds and their > nests, 100,000 small plants & bushes. Countless insects. How can you > do this for money! It breaks my heart.” > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fd%2Fmsgid%2Fgoa-research-net%2FCAN1wPW5SquKh%253D1_qWawjkg4szP3i2qz80RhmWoWjwApYCfkO3g%2540mail.gmail.com&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cea3a86fa0e184140936808db3f05171a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638173063351205761%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yGycrpEcdzLkgRF2F8jwkim%2BZrxfKxh8%2BQPg0rpLIyc%3D&reserved=0 > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW5SquKh%3D1_qWawjkg4szP3i2qz80RhmWoWjwApYCfkO3g%40mail.gmail.com> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/AS8PR10MB6294DC66793FAE90597DD209A59C9%40AS8PR10MB6294.EURPRD10.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/AS8PR10MB6294DC66793FAE90597DD209A59C9%40AS8PR10MB6294.EURPRD10.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. 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