As Goa gets ready to celebrate the liberation day tomorrow, some prominent citizens feel that a colonial hangover still persists in this former outpost of the Portuguese empire.
"Those who fought to liberate the state from Portuguese clutches are feeling dejected. This is not the Goa of their aspirations," said Siddharth Karapurkar, an environmental activist and the son of freedom fighter Vasant Sinai Karapurkar.
"My father, now at a very advanced age, often mentions that Salazar's dictatorial rule ended after liberation, but democratic dictatorship continues," said Siddharth, who is currently leading an agitation against the proposed greenfield airport at Mopa.
Goa was liberated by the Indian Army on December 19, 1961, ending 450 years of colonial rule. Siddharth's father had spent five years in the jail during the preceding freedom struggle.
"After the liberation, the freedom fighters had no expectations (for their own sake) from the motherland. Their struggle was over. But looking at what happened afterwards, my father is dejected," he said.
Indicators of the development are misplaced, he said. "The general contention is that constructing buildings is indication of development. There is no human development. We cut trees, reclaim the land and finish off the environment."
Labour leader Ajitsingh Rane, son of the renowned freedom fighter the late Wamanrao Rane Sardesai, minces no words while saying that his father would have regretted had he lived in today's liberated and 'misruled' Goa.
"Power shifted from the Portuguese to the democratic Indians, but the (rulers') attitude to the common man remains the same. There is still a colonial hangover. Our democratic representatives are removed from the issues," he said.
Manguirish Pai-Raikar, a prominent political commentator, said a lot needs to be done for development of infrastructure.
"There is a large-scale migration of local youth out of the state. We need to stop it. School education should be linked with requirements of the industry," he added.
