By Rajan Narayan

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when two Goans were among the latest batch who returned from the United States in chains. For a Saturday following the week when Pope Francis is the only world leader to have the courage to confront the mighty American President Donald Trump on the treatment of illegal migrants. For a Saturday following the week when on the sharp contrast between crowd management during the 40-day St Francis Xavier exposition and the ongoing Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. For a Saturday following the week when of the ongoing controversy over Vikat Bhagat, recently convicted for the murder of a young English tourist found dead in an isolated field in Canacona way back on March 20, 2017. For a Saturday following the week when the prestigious DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas which was initiated by the late chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, is being revived after a gap of four years.
And a few stray thoughts on when two Goans were among the latest batch who returned from the United States in chains. The two are from Marjorda in the south and Shiroda in the north were among the 102 illegal migrants who arrived at the Amritsar airport earlier in the week. Both the illegal migrants were Catholics. It has been revealed that the illegal migrants to the US have been paying an average of Rs50 lakh to a crore for being smuggled into the US. As a labour specialist pointed out you can do a lot within India for Rs50 lakh. These illegal migrants have the option of skilling themselves for good jobs within the country. They have the option of starting their own business ventures with an investment of Rs50 lakh. It is presumably greed which impelled them to take the Dunkey route. This is the expression that is being coined to describe illegal migration into the US and the UK which are the favored destinations for at least Goan migrants. As it is being repeatedly pointed out Goans wishing to migrate to the UK and Europe do not have to pay huge amounts of money. Though the UK window is closed after the exit from EEC of Great Britain, Ireland is still a member of the European Economic Community. Goans have been able to migrate to the UK by virtue of the eligibility of three generations to get a Portuguese visa. The Portuguese government was not willing to accept the Liberation of Goa. They stipulated that all those born in Goa before3 Liberation in 1960 along with their children and grandchildren are eligible for Portuguese citizenship. Due to the language difficulty most Goans prefer to go to the UK.
IT is not Goans alone who are desperate to migrate to the UK, the US and other developed countries. The bulk of the illegal migrants ironically are from the highly developed states of Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. The agricultural revolution in the Punjab has led to a loss of jobs in agriculture due to mechanization. There’s enough money in Punjab and Haryana for the children of the middle class to pay bribes to agents. The modus operandi is for illegal migrants to travel to a European destination, on a tourist visa. From there they fly to Mexico, again pretending to be tourists. They are smuggled across the Mexican border by the agents into the US. Many of them die in the attempt to cross over the fiercely guarded border into US. Trump in fact has decided to build a wall to keep the migrants out. Getting into the UK illegally is even more risky. Migrants land up in Calais where they take a very risky boat ride across the English Channel. Indian migrants including Goans migrants consider it worth the risk because of the huge differential in wages. Even jobs cleaning toilets at Heathrow airport complex pays 100 pounds an hour. Which adds up to Rs800 per hour. There are plenty of true blue Americans and UK businessmen who are wiling to hire illegal migrants as they come cheap compared to British locals. It can end very badly as it has happened in the case of the illegal migrants deported from the US. Unlike the president of Colombia who refused to take back illegal migrants Narendra Modi did not even protest agains the savage treatment of the Indian migrants.
And a few stray thoughts on when Pope Francis being the only world leader to have the courage to confront the mighty American President Donald Trump on the treatment of illegal migrants. The Pope has played Donald Trump an d his vice president Vance whose wife interestingly is of Indian Andhra Pradesh origin. Pope Francis has pointed out that Mary and Joseph the parents of Jesus Christ were themselves migrants. It is a recorded fact that the parents of Jesus were forced to flee the Roman empire due to persecution by King Herod who was a brutal dictator. The Bible would have us believe that having been warned of the coming of Jesus King Herod ordered the killing of every new born infant to prevent the birth of Christ. Mary and Joseph fled to Bethlehem which is in present day Palestine. The Pope reminded Donald Trump that all Christians in that sense were migrants. Social media is full of claims that Donald Trump himself is a migrant who is married to another migrant. The tycoon Elon Musk who played a major role in Trump’s electoral victory is a migrant from South Africa. It would appear that the campaign against migrants is primarily racist in nature and represents the revolt of white Americans against all other racial groups. The anti-migrant movement is not confined to the US but has spread to Europe where there have been huge rallies against migrants. The primary anger seems to be directed to the Muslim migrants who are becoming increasingly assertive. Unlike migrants from Mexico and India the Muslim migrants do not integrate into local communities. In terms of arrogance the Muslims are the new Jews. The Muslims are such a powerful lobby in the UK that the Labour government has been forced to set up a committee to probe Islamaphobia. There is no such attempt to protect migrant Hindus and Sikhs.

KUMBH MELA MESS
AND a few stray thoughts on the sharp contrast between crowd management during the 40-day St Francis Xavier exposition and the ongoing Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. It has been estimated that over 80 lakh people visited Old Goa to venerate the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier. This figure is of course nothing compared to the 50 crore being claimed visiting Prayagraj for the Kumbh Mela.
But given the fact that Goa as a tiny state with a normal population of only 15 lakh, the crowd management at Old Goa was a major task for the exposition organizers. There was not a single incident during the 40 days including the feast day when over three lakh pilgrims visited Old Goa. The crowds were controlled at the entry point and guided through the barricades at the Se Cathedral, where the relics were on exhibit.
Though there were more than 20,000 people at the feast day mass on December 3, 2024 there was no jostling or pushing. The exposition went off smoothly and not necessarily because of arrangements made by the State government and police but because of the discipline observed by the devotees and pilgrims. The Church made it repeatedly clear that the exposition was a religious event and not a tourist mela.
In sharp contrast the Khumb Mela by definition is a mela, a funfair, even if a religious funfare. One may not treat as a solemn religious occasion centered only around the sacred dip in at the Triveni Sangam, the meeting point of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers. The Khumb Mela is being promoted as the biggest religious congregation in the world. Several thousands of crore were spent on putting the infrastructure in place for it to take place peacefully.
There were special arrangements made at the ancient bathing ghat. The first stampede occurred admittedly because several of the exit and entrance gates were closed for the benefit of facilitating the holy dip by VVIPs, VIPs, celebrities. It is unbelievable that given the amount spent on infrastructure and the very elaborate crowd control measures said to have been put inplace — 30 and more people ended up in a stampede and passed on to another better life presumably. Apparently, the biggest rush was at the most auspicious place for a dip in the river waters at 5am on Mauni Amavasya day. All the traffic was one way and the crowds literally trampled on each other to get to the sacred spot early enough not to get entangled in later crowds.
The second stampede at the New Delhi railway station is even less forgivable. Reportedly, a large crowd of pilgrims had gathered at the New Delhi station to catch the trains to Prayagraj. The booking office at the New Delhi railway station issued over 1,500 tickets within two hours. This was far beyond the holding capacity of the railway platforms and the situation was aggravated when it was announced that the special train was arriving at a different platform than the original platform scheduled. This caused total panic as passengers for Prayagraj rushed towards the new platform announced and in the stampede suffocation 20 plus women and children paid the price with their life.
Many point out that left on its own at such pilgrimage places people manage. There is no or minimal interference by the authorities local and Central. Perceptive former “Times of India” staff Vidyadhar Date and a keen Mumbaikar points out that every day there is a huge rush for the foot over bridge at Dadar station mid-Mumbai. This foot over bridge connects not only Western and Central suburban train lineds but also the outstation trains coming and going onward. Even though there are large crowds rushing in opposite directions using the overbridge there’ve never been stampedes or any major accident or incident. So the primary problem is there is no discipline imposed at Hindu events like the Khumb Mela, unlike at major events of Muslim and Christian where there is breathing room for the devotees. Hindu gatherings need to be freed from too much bandobast.

8 YEARS TO JUSTICE
AND a few stray thoughts of the ongoing controversy over Vikat Bhagat, recently convicted for the murder of a young English tourist found dead in an isolated field in Canacona way back on March 20, 2017. The very fact that it has taken eight years for the so called fast track court to give a judgment is a reflection of the country’s judicial system. In a sense the judgment is unique in that it is one of the few cases where the rapist and murderer of a foreign tourist in Goa has actually been convicted.
In most such cases the police under pressure from local politicians have tended to close the cases. Apparently, this time around the police were focused because the accused was not a Goan. The 31 years old Vikas Bhagat was arrested within a very few days of the crime. The police apparently found injury marks on Bhagat’s groin and thigh sustained during the brutal rape of his victim. The victim’s blood was also on his clothes and scooter.
The belated conviction of Vikat Bhagat has raised the hope that other similar crimes against foreign tourists or anyone will result in speedier conviction and justice done. Additional District Judge Kshama Joshi needs to be congratulated on awarding a life sentence to the accused Vikat Bhagat.

DD KOSAMBI FESTIVAL
AND a last stray thought on when the prestigious DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas which was initiated by the late chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, is being revived after a gap of four years. In the early days of the festival leading intellectuals from the country and abroad were invited to give the lectures over a week. The speakers included Dr Vivek Monteiro, even former president the late President Abdul Kalam who was a much loved president, we also remember the eloquent Sudha Murthy.
Interestingly, the lectures, attracted record crowds from all walks of society. Of course, busloads of students too came and asked questions during Q&A session at the end of each lecture. The festival of ideas stopped when Covid19 came and the Kala Academy went into prolonged restoration. However, it is back and the inaugural this time is motivational speaker Gaur Gopal Das on February 24. Then there’s Hindi novelist Alka Sarogi and photographer Aditya Gupta. The final day will see a presentation of by Abhilash Tomy who sailed across the world in a small sailing boat.