Times of India, Panjim, 5 July 2008
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa
Panaji: The communal tension at Margao last week shocked largely because what triggered it off was a minor incident that had no bearing on the happenings. This is rather alarming, for though the variety of communalism Goa is witnessing may be mild, secular minded individuals fear that the stray spaced incidents are increasing in number.
“Goa is definitely being polarized and it is not one incident. There has been a systematic planned polarization of the communities, which is being orchestrated by right wing forces. One manner of creating tensions is to divide communities,” says Ramesh Gauns, of the Citizen’s Initiative for Communal Harmony.
Gauns points out to various instances in the past when attempts were made to instigate the people. The disturbances at Curchorem in March 2006 and the government sponsored documentary film on Goan history that showed Christians in a poor light were two critical cases that could have led to major disturbances, but emotions were contained. Aside from these there have been various others that include the delivery of hate speeches from public platforms and of holy places being desecrated, the temple at Quepem last month being one instance.
While most of these may not have led to major skirmishes between the communities, the Margao incident has altered the balance somewhat. Tension between communities is high and in such a situation
igniting a fire from a mere spark could prove easy.
There is, say secularists, a simple modus operandi to fire passions. “One fundamentalist group gives a call and a communal element is introduced. Suddenly you find that an irrelevant issue has been blown out of proportion,” says Dr Francisco Colaco, Margao.
“There are attempts being made to polarize the community. What happened in Margao is something that the city has never witnessed before. It was done by design and the minorities should not fall into the trap,” says Sridhar Kamat of the Citizens for Secularism and Communal Harmony.
Secularists fear that communal forces are targeting the state and are being brazen about it. Says Gauns, “Right wing forces are active in Goa and it is being openly done through speeches. They are
moving to villages and the exhibition at Kala Academy by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti last October are instances.” The exhibition that had mutilated corpses and scenes of violence had drawn flak for its communal overtones.
Jayesh Thali, state convenor of the HJS defends the exhibition. Says he, “That exhibition was not just organized in Goa, but all over the country and had the backing of the Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism. The only aim was to make people aware of terrorism.”
What’s hit worst at such times is the very fabric of society which is threatened. “It spills automatically into society. At the moment it is merely introducing itself, but in the days to come it could be much worse,” said Colaco.
“It is not one incident that defines the relationship between two communities,” says Kamat, referring to the furore in Margao. “But if such happenings continue then it will definitely polarize the communities,” he continues. The discovery of swords in Margao only served to strain the existing tension.
Goa has been known to be a safe place, even an example of communal harmony to the rest of the nation. That has been debunked by events in the recent past. This, some believe, has happened with the change in the composition of the population in the state.
“There is a definite correlation between migration and communalism, especially in areas where the minority community is increasing in number. I’m not being parochial, so let me explain that. Davorlim, for instance is predominantly populated by migrants and what happened in Margao the other day was a tussle between migrants of two communities,” said Kamat.
While the level of communalism may be moderate at the moment, secularists believe that this could escalate. “The tendency to polarize society is very high. It is not a stray incident. Curchorem was one, there have been others and now this,” says Colaco.
There is urgent need for an intelligent dialogue and for secularists to join hands to contain the communal fires from being stoked further. The urgency is not just due to the increase in communal tension, but other reasons too.
“Either we act fast or not at all, for the number of secularists in all religions is fast decreasing,” was what one threatened individual said.