Cleansing needed; Stakeholders in tourism have to sit across & debate
The shocking rape of a 20-year-old at Sunset beach, Betalbatim at knifepoint has left people across the State outraged even as tourism stakeholders and political class scurry for solutions. Suddenly, everyone seems to have an opinion on what government must do or should not do. While some have called for intensifying patrolling along beaches, few have demanded better surveillance with CCTV cameras and still others have raised questions over the kind of tourists we should be allowing in the State.
Beyond all these opinions, anxiety and outrage, there’s a serious need for all tourism stakeholders to come and brainstorm. The State badly needs a template to set right the wrongs in tourism before Goa earns the dubious distinction of being labeled as another rape capital of the country. There’s nothing to bask in the swiftness with which police have cracked the case. It’s more about how we deal with such cases. Statistics paint a very grim picture with over 50 per cent of the rape cases still pending trial and convictions have been less than 2 per cent.
Agreed that the quality of tourists need to be regulated, and this is where TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai’s controversial ‘scum of the earth’ comment comes into focus. But segregating the bad from the good ones remains a huge challenge before the government, and that’s not easy. We are to be blamed for allowing tourists to camp happily on our roadsides and make every available square metre of land as their holiday home. We as a State have ourselves to blame for accepting whatever is thrown into our bowl in the name of tourism. We are to be blamed for completely ignoring the danger that is lurking along the shores while focusing all our energies into manning the tourist in deep waters.
Goa still remains a divided State, split between what is good and bad. When police go about their job scanning tourists, like they did in Benaulim a few months back, there will still be a section of Goans who call it harassment to the visitors. There are concerns that such checks will drive tourists away. So where does the buck stop? How does the State proceed to secure the dignity and safety of our girls and women? How does Goa draw a line between the good and bad tourists? How do we go about cleansing tourism and the bad name it has brought to the state in recent times? This initial exasperation will soon die down like in any other rape case. It will be business like usual, till tourists target another Nirbhaya somewhere in another corner of Goa. This cycle has to stop.
It’s time all stakeholders come to the table and debate on how to go about our tourism. Let this be a starting point to set our systems right. It’s time to debate and draw a template based on how best we want to define our tourism. It’s time we draw a line between the tourists we want as our guests and the ones we should shun. Let the Sunset beach saga signal a dawn of a new tourist State. It’s about the environment we are creating for the people of Goa. It’s all about the Goenkar which political parties have been screaming from every rooftop. The true Goan is slowly being relegated to a stranger in their own State.
