The desecration of a woman

 Selma Cardoso

As a Goan woman residing in the US, I read the news of the gang-rape with utter disbelief, shock and ultimately stomach-churning disgust. Also as a Goan woman who had spent her own college years ensconced away in the warm security of Panjim’s Altinho, then Commerce College, the realization dawned that Goa had indeed reinvented itself in the intervening 15 years or so. 

What has changed in Goan society so drastically, that a crime as heinous as this came to be perpetrated so blatantly on a young woman in the first flush of youth, on the threshold of womanhood? The rumour-mill is working over-time, churning out theories and hypotheses.  The zealots are out in the streets, decrying the desecration of Goan culture by outside influences. The politicians are busy pointing fingers at a Parriker-led government, hoping to gain political leverage. And yet, somewhere in the midst of this storm, there is a very real young woman whose life has been torn apart by, what can only be described, as young men ravaged with hate not just for women but for humanity.  

This is not the time for Goans to play blame-games. This is a defining moment in the social life of every Goan citizen. . This is the time for Goans to introspect; to ask what has gone wrong in our society?  And more importantly to ask ourselves what sort of society we want to create? In the immortal words of Mahatma Gandhi, “We must become the change we want to see in the world”. 

Goan society is at the cusp of adolescence and maturity. Freed from the shackled thoughts of colonialism, we have yet to bloom into an identity of our own. We have yet to define our own moral, social and ethical stand on the beach of humanity. We no longer live in a world, protected by the stringent laws of Portuguese authorities. Nor do we live in a world isolated from outside influences. We are part of the global village which is influenced everyday by the media, the internet and the influx of diverse cultures that come through our gateway. 

How is our society going to mature to a civic and socially responsible adulthood? Our politicians have failed to lead us. Our religious institutions have failed to guide us leaving us blind with prejudice and our educational institutions are busy preparing our children for 99.9% percentage while the work of transforming them into well-rounded individuals is relegated to spurious influences. 

And what do our children learn from attitudes at home? Do we adhere to the law? Do we respect and protect the rights of our fellow citizens?  Or do we learn early on in life that it’s all right to chop the trees in our neighbor’s garden and dump our garbage in his backyard, if we can get away with it. It is these very attitudes that will seep into the fabric of our civic life. From violation of traffic rules to violation of a young girl. The premise is the same - disrespect for the rights of another human being. 

We cannot call ourselves citizens of a true democracy, when we have let the very pillars of our democracy crumble away with termites of corruption at the judicial, political and civic strata. It is time that we take the reins of our freedom and guide the horse of citizenry to a higher standard. That higher standard doesn’t have to begin with the government or the police force or the other person you see on the street. In begins with us, in our own homes.  A culture of honesty, respect and courage. This is the legacy we have to create for the next generation to inherit. These are pathways to true progress. Otherwise, Goa will have opened the flood gates to nothing but moral despair and destitution.

Selma Cardoso
June 3, 2003

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