Everyone will pay rich tributes to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, to whom the historical Lohia Maidan is dedicated, and our Goan compatriot who facilitated Lohia’s visit to Goa, Dr Julião Menezes. However, far away from the symbolism, do the people relate to the circumstances that led to the great uprising and became the symbol of Goa’s Liberation?
Both Lohia and Menezes were deeply disturbed due to the curtailing of civil liberties and suppression and censorship of the press. Though the week preceding June 18, 1946, Lohia had come to Goa to take a rest on medical advice, however, the situation prevailing at the moment with a ban on public gatherings created unrest amongst the duo and what followed was a gathering in Panjim on June 15, 1946, and the successful civil disobedience act provided the impetus for the two to enter Margao square in a horse carriage on June 18, with thousands of men and women welcoming them and chanting their names.
Failing to control the crowd and with fear of unrest, both of them were arrested. Following protests, while Menezes was released, Lohia was driven out of Goa.
In post-Liberation Goa, the State has never been more volatile than it is today, with undercurrents of unease and dissatisfaction amongst the population. While, the ruling dispensation can spend crores of rupees to portray a high happy index status of the people, in reality from Canacona to Pernem, and from Mormugao to Dharbandora, people are agitated and up in arms against the government’s acts of omission and commission. Not a single village or a town in the Stae is experiencing ‘peace’ that once was a synonym to the name Goa.
From the high unemployment rate to the inability to access the basic necessary daily household items, the people of Goa are hurting. While several schemes claim to make the life of Goans easy, the delay in paying the dues is contrary to the claims. Every section of society is making an attempt to voice out concerns and wants the government to listen and address its problems. But in total disregard for the cries of the citizens, the government has been bulldozing people’s opinions and moving ahead with its pre-decided agenda without any attempt at cohesion.
While tourism and the taxi business are in a mess, traditional Goan occupations such as fishing have been at loggerheads for various reasons, from fish market spaces to illegal fishing techniques. Water scarcity has gripped the whole State and apart from assurances and claims, the citizens are often left to fend for themselves. If these are considered the basic livelihood issues, the larger issues of Mhadei water diversion, an increasing crime rate, the blatant land filling and hill cutting, and an equally dangerous rate of fatal accidents are all creating discontent amongst the people. Additionally, the government’s disregard for people’s concerns and leaving towns and villages in a shambles by constant digging, sudden revocation of land use policies, and conversion of lands, acquisition of land for ‘development’ projects sponsored by the Centre or the State without people’s consent, are all providing fertile terrain for people’s angst.
The burning of cranes after the fatal accident in Dhargalim on Friday involving a road construction truck and a two-wheeler is proof that people’s patience is dying out and that underlying unrest is simmering. It’s time for the government to listen to the voices of the people and address the issues immediately. Citizens are venting their anger at any given opportunity and the smaller protests could blow up into a massive agitation.
Elected representatives can ill afford to breathe easy with the dramatics of party politics. June 18, 1946, was a result of the Portuguese regime’s disregard for people’s concerns about their civil liberties, and if the government of the day fails to address the simmering dissatisfaction, then a revolution to change the course of the future is inevitable.