Are Goans guinea pigs? For any experiment in the name of tourism footfalls, can an extremely controversial EDM festival, with its associated crowding, traffic jams and the buzz about a drug-filled ecosystem during the festival period, be justified?
The sheer brazenness of the Sunburn organisers for casually slipping in that they want to push the festival to South Goa is an insult to the feeling of most in South Goa. Are they just pawns on a chessboard that can be dispensed with?
The organisers of Sunburn had the gumption to, almost issue a “firman” - a grand proclamation, of doing the festival in Goa, with these words “Immerse yourself into the ultimate blend of music and surreal underwater experience in our stunning new South Goa home”.
When and how did the festival organisers find a festival ‘home’ if no permissions have been sought or given? Secondly, if a home has been found in a specific location, and the event is announced along with logos of sponsors and the dates of the festival, how is it believable that this is just a kite-lying exercise and everything will depend on what the locals want?
What locals really want is the safety and security of their children. They want their futures not to be tampered by the scourge of drugs and blaring music. They want their villages to be devoid of traffic, garbage and destroyed roads.
When they protest, they look at their children’s faces and think about those who are yet to be born in this Goa.
Moreover, could the organisers have gone to the extent of announcing their “home” and their dates and offer underwater experiences, with the government totally in the dark?
Will a Goan organiser with Goan musicians be able to do this? Then why does Sunburn get these special privileges?
Moreover, if the organisers of Sunburn believe that they can declare that they are coming to South Goa, and then “work” with the government to get the necessary clearances, even at the last moment, treating South Goans as minor brushable hindrances, let them be prepared for a festival of protests.
The Constitution of a democratic country allows people to raise objections and protest when they feel that the fundamentals of a particular event are at variance with the needs of civil society.
Now let us come to the State. If an EDM festival is the answer to Goa’s tourism needs, then one needs to seriously examine the direction and the vision of Goa’s tourism growth.
Did the enduring charm, the hospitality and the simple but beautiful landscape of the Goa of olden times, need an EDM festival to push its needs? Did Goa not attract tourists without music festivals of this nature?
When people protest, they look at their children’s faces and think of those who are yet to be born in this Goa
It has not gone unnoticed that no one in the ruling dispensation has thus far categorically stated that this festival will not be held. Everyone is open to it while paying lip service towards speaking to the people. The TTAG and the GCCI have both endorsed Sunburn as a festival which is needed in Goa, benignly asking the organisers to pay attention to the concerns around the spectre of substance abuse ‘around’ the festival.
If the people are reacting in panic and anger, the government has to sensitively understand where they are coming from. You cannot dismiss them.
While Sunburn can claim that there has been no evidence of drugs being consumed inside the festival premises, is there evidence to the contrary that establishes that the festival is completely devoid of substance use and abuse?
This brings in the role of the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Anti-Narcotics Cell. Do they have enough manpower resources and investigation integrity to ensure that no drugs sneaked into the festival?
Secondly, have the final investigations been completed, in the death cases that have occurred, of people who were attending the festival, upto the stage of viscera reports being sent back from the forensic labs?
A sensitive administration will pick up the root of the opposition and realise it’s not opposition for the opposition’s sake. All across North Goa, High Court-established guidelines of sound pollution are being openly flouted. The Court has had to repeatedly direct agencies like the Goa Pollution Control Board to install sound monitoring equipment in all the nightclubs and music venues and monitor sound violations in real-time. The blatant disregard for the Courts and the very visible connivance of the police, as borne out by several incidents and anecdotes of ground-level crusaders, are a matter of public record. And yet there are massive footfalls in these places that are packed to the brim with tourists.
Does that necessarily mean that this form of entertainment, violating laws and disturbing the peace of locals is justified in the name of tourism?
Finally, while the location of the festival has been teased with a Google map, will it be sprung at the last moment with Goans in the dark? However, the panchayat or the civic body is within its rights to give or deny permission. And this will be based on the roads, infrastructure, water and power, sanitary facilities, parking and so on. All of this has not been brought to the table before unilaterally declaring the venue.
If the establishment is genuine in its desire to take people into confidence it should ask Sunburn to stop its registration and pre-sale of tickets, stop all promotions, and have a series of public engagements with the people of Goa, hear their objections and genuinely decide if they should even consider allowing Sunburn to take place.
This has to be a people’s call, not Sunburn’s call.