Ruminating on evolution of Goan identity in modern times

Liberation brought Goa freedom, the Opinion Poll of January 16, 1967 bestowed upon Goa its political, geographic and cultural identity.

The victory for retaining Goa, Daman and Diu as a Union Territory assured that Goa would retain its identity, rejecting merger with its larger neighbour State.

Had the vote gone the other way, Goa would have today been merely a district of Maharashtra, a possibility that, for us who have lived in a Goa that has been a Union Territory, and later a State, is difficult to envisage.

It is not without reason that Opinion Poll Day is celebrated in Goa as Asmitai Dis or Identity Day. It is the identity of Goa and Goans that lives forth because of the rejection of merger in the Opinion Poll.

Yet, those gains have over time been lost, and the future for them does not appear all that bright.

If one looks back to the 1960s and the Opinion Poll, and the issues that were the driving force of the campaign, the underlying worry arises of how much of that identity has passed down to us today?

When we refer to the term 'identity', it is not just language or culture that we are discussing, but of Goa politically as an entity and even of Goa’s geographic contours.

It is undeniable that there have been changes in the past decades.

As a political entity, Goa remains a State with the borders having remained unchanged, yet the landmass within those borders has undergone vast transformation.

The continuing and very exhaustive debate on land usage is an indication of how even the geographic character of Goa is undergoing a change, where agricultural land is making way for settlement and commercial uses.

As we come close to six decades since the Opinion Poll of 1967, the challenges to preserving identity have changed and increased.

Currently, what is shaping Goa is not the thought process of the ideas that existed in the 1960s, but the modern ones that are taking the State on a path that was definitely not envisaged by those who voted to retain Goa as a Union Territory.

In that respect, we may get nostalgic and speak of a time when Goa could accurately be described as pristine – whether we were referring to the beaches, the fields or the hills. No longer can that term be used as generously as it was in the past.

But, while nostalgia will not change the path Goa is taking, it does provide an impetus to rein in the changes.

Clearly, the changes that we see today did not occur overnight. They came in response to a demand, and the pace was slow at first, hastening up later.

Goa, in the current times, clings to its fast-eroding identity, making efforts to retain what remains, before that too is washed away.

These efforts are further hampered by the migration – both of those going out and those coming in – that is changing the demographics and leading to pressure on the land and resources.

The possibility also exists that these very demographic changes could be the future roadblock in preserving the Goan identity, unless the entire population resident in the State appreciates that Goa needs to bring some semblance of balance in its development and chart the correct path ahead.

The last part is important, because unless there is a goal in mind, the road to it will not be straight. Let’s be clear, Goans, wherever they may be, love their land.

They have a deep attachment to it and keep returning at every possible chance. Goa will always be their home, but they have migrated because of opportunities that were not available here.

Goa needs to create those opportunities for its people – for those here to stay on, for those abroad to return. The greener pastures that they see overseas and fly to have to be created in Goa. Without the Goan, can there be an Asmitai Dis?

The day has relevance only as long as Goans remain proud of their land, their language, their culture, their heritage. It is, therefore, time to keep them here.