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| | | | | Articles | | | Criminalisation of Goan Politics - By: Freddy Dias - Commentary
Crimilisation of Goan Politics
[We need to urgently cleanse Goans politics of criminal elements, says FREDDY DIAS]
Herald 25 December, 2008
Indeed, what’s wrong with Goa? This is the question any common man out on the street would ask when he finds the lack of development and miserable failure of governance in the state. Instead of focusing on good governance and proper development, instead of strictly enforcing law and order and thereby taking the state on the path of prosperity, our elected representatives are shamelessly busy trying to come to power by toppling each other.
Ever since its liberation in 1961, Goa has witnessed the maximum number of elections to the state Legislative Assembly. On an average we have about one election every three years. In fact, in a short span of 45 years – since the first general elections in 1963 – the state has elected its Legislative Assembly on 11 occasions and has seen the rise and fall of 20 Chief Ministers (with a brief period of President’s Rule between 4 March and 6 June 2005), most of who had made their entry into the office through the backdoor, much against the will and verdict of the Goan electorate.
The Assemblies in the past, particularly during 1963 to 1987 (when Goa was a Union Territory), have seen great champions of democracy and political morality, whereas in the recent ones (after Goa attained statehood) democracy lowered its head in shame on several occasions due to the arrogance and open violation of rules and democratic norms as well as the decorum of the august house in order to capture power by hook or by crook.
The current deterioration in the atmosphere of the state Legislative Assembly was not witnessed during the nearly one-and-a-half decade-long Maharashtra Gomantak Party (MGP) rule under the chief ministership of the late Dayanand Bandodkar or, Shashikala Kakodkar, or, for that matter, even during the Pratapsing Rane-led Congress government prior to the 1989 elections in the state. Now the talk is mainly about the buying and selling of loyalties. A familiar topic doing the rounds in the corridors of power concerns the price tags, ranging from Rs. 5 crores to Rs. 10 crores, for MLAs inclined to defect from the ruling party/group to the opposition, and vice versa.
Incidentally, Goa is constantly reeling under a volatile political atmosphere, with the resultant instability and wanton corruption in the governance of the state. The political leaders here seem to be a bunch of shameless rogues, who no longer feel the need to conceal or disguise their intentions to loot and plunder the public. This is because they have become overconfident of getting themselves elected as, election after election, the Goan electorate has been voting them to office.
In fact, there is a complete lack of political morality and responsibility/accountability on the part of the elected representatives towards their electorate. Most of the elected representatives have now amassed enough wealth to sustain them and their families for generations to come. They are not at all sensitive to the issues of the common man.
The rapid decay in the governance of the state is, however, attributed to the increasing criminalization of politics due to infiltration of criminal elements on the Goan political scenario. Perhaps, there is much truth in the adage that politics is the last refuge of rogues and scoundrels. How commonplace is the mixing of crime and politics can be gauged from a good number of persons with criminal background infiltrating into politics pretending to be ‘social workers’. They flourished because they extended monetary as well as muscle support to politicians, who in turn extended patronage and protection to their anti-social activities.
Goa’s downslide has been rapid. Most distressing is that it does not strike any chord anywhere. With every passing elections the phenomenon of criminals-turned-politicians no longer creates a ripple, let alone set the Mandovi on fire. It has become an accepted norm.
Unfortunately, this is one of the main reasons for the deteriorating law and order situation. The inability of the state to arrest and prosecute politicos with criminal antecedents is primarily because the government is part of the problem and not the solution. Criminals support the illegitimate interests of politicians and in turn obtain protection from them and their parties. This mutually beneficial relationship works against the establishment of the rule of law.
Consequently, the power daddies of crime, muscle, money and mafia are running a parallel government with established linkages with the bureaucracy, government functionaries, politicians and strategically located individuals, while pushing the state apparatus into irrelevance. This decrepit state of affairs is essential to /continued criminal hold on the public administration.
In recent times, these anti-social elements too developed political aspirations. They realized that, just a they got others elected, they could themselves become representatives of the people through the same procedures. And so we have been witnessing criminals turned-politicians entering the portals of power and becoming ‘honourable’ leaders of our society.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the growing Goan polity is not averse to electing criminals if they become our patrons and deliver the goods. As a former Chief Minister argued when quizzed about having certain ministers in his cabinet with criminal antecedents, “I don’t bother about the ministers’ past. After joining the government, they are not indulging in crimes, and are ready to help suppress criminal activities. Ask the people why they have elected them.” How do we rebut this logic?
Why are the political parties happy to adopt criminals as candidates in the elections? Simply, because there is no rule of law. The state has lost its authority to govern and arrest those who break the law. Thanks to weak police and other such law enforcement agencies, which ensure that mafia-turned-leaders get away with molestations, rapes, and even murders. These leaders are the law, they use force with impunity, collect protection money, are more powerful then official tax-collectors, settle disputes, and use loads of ill-gotten money and muscle power to oust honest candidates.
Why do mafia dons invest large sums of money in getting a leader’s tag? It is a ticket to continue extortions using political clout, gain influence, and ensure that cases against them are dropped. Thanks to inordinate legal delays, often abetted to political pressures, convictions of resourceful crooks are rather rare. Besides, the returns on political investments are so high and profitable that criminals are disinclined to invest in anything else.
What of the future? Will we continue to put a premium on criminality? Allow criminals to become leaders? Basically, is it good for our democracy to have scoundrels representing the voters? When those who are supposed to lead become saboteurs, it is time to call a spade a spade. A stop can only be put once our polity picks up courage to end this trend. More voices must be raised against criminalization of politics and effective ways found to reverse this growing malaise. Above all, we need politicians who are man of conscience, integrity and credibility, not comrades in crime.
The state badly and urgently needs refurbishing of values and institutions. As has been witnesses, legislations alone cannot be the remedy. Criminalisation of politics can make a mess of the best of laws. Men who value a certain code of ethics will need to come to centrestage of politics. The current lot of men who engage in shady deals will have to go, or be forcibly kicked out. But the system looks totally barren of change as of now.
COMMENTARY
By: Floriano Lobo
Goa Su-Raj Party
9890470896
Being a ‘politically oriented’ person, I couldn’t be given a better and a more precious gift on this Christmas Day than this above article by Freddy Dias. And this article has evoked a lot of questions and responses in my mind, but I will not be able to express them all, here, therefore I shall do my best to be brief about it.
Concentrating on the last paragraph of this article, where the author offers a solution after a long list of questions, I would venture to say that the Goa’s moral values and therefrom, Goa’s politics has surely but steadily fallen prey to erosion, bit by bit, chunk by chunk until we see that the entire treasure bank has vanished under our very own eyes to expose the raw nakedness of the debris. The worst part of it is that we have realized it now. The million dollar question is: Are we too late?.
The author likes to say that the ‘SYSTEM’ looks totally barren of change as of now. But the question I want to pose to the author is: Is there a ‘SYSTEM’ at all???
It is inevitable that Goa’s politics cannot be salvaged from the pulpits and platforms any more, for, revolutions have ceased to happen after the ‘French’ and the ‘Russian’ ones where blood was spilled. The time has come to reverse the process by not fighting against the erosion but by joining it, because, there is no way the strength of the current of the money flow which helps in the erosion can be arrested. But it can be and must be matched to start the reversal. And if anyone should ask me ‘why’, my response is that ‘Goa has no other option’.
To justify the above, let me give here the concrete example this has been done, recently. It is called “The Obama Effect”. There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that American elections are won and lost with Billions of Dollars. But Obama could make it only if the flood-gates got opened, the flood-gates that culminated from the pouring out of ordinary pockets. It is apt that I say this at this juncture that my party has been saying it for as long a time as over a decade, that “Small money from a lot of people makes better sense than a lot of money from a few” Of course, Obama did not win with only money. He won because he motivated the people to give a little and by that very act be a part of his entire ‘win white-house’ campaign. And we have witnessed this devastating effect.
But Goa cannot have a Obama. It has to have a ‘SYSTEM’ which will be the Obama. A system of clean governance, of which the author above is talking about. And clean system of governance cannot be had without a little self-sacrifice. What has been in operation in Goa since 1961 is a ‘non-system’ based on ‘self-interest’ only. Therefore the gradual but massive erosion.
The author must know that Goa Su-Raj has strived hard to put in place such a ‘system’, not now, not last year, but ten years ago. But the lack of liquidity of funding, and to be very frank, apprehensions of easy funding from the side of its founding fathers, has kept it where it is today. But a good sapling must not be sacrificed for want of a pint of water each day.
The author calls upon men who value a certain code of ethics to come to centre stage of politics. But he must realize that these men need a hinterland of participatory emotions and who will dip into their pockets for a few rupees here and a few rupees there to start a powerfully flowing river of participation through the desire to want clean governance.
And, I have no doubt in my mind that GOA can and will do it to save itself from going overboard with having no alternatives just like a person on the noose ready to be plunged has no alternative than to offer everything he has to the hang-man in the hope that he will accept it.
IT IS THE ONLY WAY – In ordinary parlance we say – DO OR DIE.
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| LIFE LINE |
Goa Su-Raj Party has been in existence since 31/08/2000.
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