In Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory, human existence is structured around lack—the fundamental absence at the heart of desire that propels us endlessly toward an unattainable object, the objet petit a. This elusive “object-cause of desire” sustains illusions within the Symbolic order of laws and social norms, while concealing the traumatic Real that lurks beneath. The devastating fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, Goa, on December 6, 2025, which claimed 25 lives and injured over 50, exemplifies this dynamic on a societal scale. What appears as a tragic accident rooted in negligence reveals a deeper perverse structure: a system fueled by the absent proper licenses, which functions as the objet a, generating a corrupt “hafta raj” (bribery regime) distributed across layers of authority, while owners evade accountability by displacing responsibility onto vulnerable subordinates.
The incident erupted late at night during a crowded party, when electric firecrackers ignited flammable decorations, rapidly turning the venue into an inferno. Most victims—primarily migrant staff from poorer regions, alongside a few tourists—perished from suffocation rather than burns, trapped in a space with inadequate exits, no functional fire extinguishers, and narrow access roads that delayed rescue efforts. The nightclub, built illegally on protected salt pan land, lacked essential permissions: no fire NOC, no occupancy certificate, no proper construction approvals. Yet it operated brazenly, hosting events that promised hedonistic escape. In Lacanian terms, nightlife venues like Birch embody spaces of jouissance—excessive enjoyment that flirts with danger, pushing beyond the pleasure principle toward the death drive. Patrons and staff chased illusory fulfillment in music, dance, and revelry, only for the Real to intrude violently, shattering the fantasy with unmediated horror.
Central to this tragedy is the role of the absent licenses as objet petit a. Lacan describes this object as a remnant of lack that circulates, inciting desire without ever being fully grasped. Here, the missing regulatory approvals did not merely enable illegality; they actively sustained it. The void of proper permission became the elusive prize around which bribes orbited. Reports and sting operations have exposed Goa’s entrenched “hafta culture,” where establishments allegedly pay substantial weekly or monthly protection money—figures as high as Rs 25 lakh cited in some allegations—to officials across departments: panchayat, fire services, pollution control, and beyond. This bribery network pockets gains at multiple levels, from local sarpanchs to higher bureaucrats, allowing violations to persist. The lack of licenses is not an accidental oversight but a structural necessity; filling it with compliance would disrupt the perverse enjoyment derived from evasion. Instead, the absent object perpetuates a cycle: desire for profit drives owners to bribe, officials demand “hafta” to overlook flaws, and the system reproduces itself, with human lives as expendable byproducts.
The owners, brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra—Delhi-based restaurateurs with a chain spanning cities —exemplify masterful manipulation of this lack. Fearing having to face culpable homicide charges, they fled to Thailand hours after the fire, only to be detained and face deportation proceedings. Their strategy of appointing low-wage employees as nominal heads reveals a classic Lacanian displacement. Bharat Kohli, described as their personal driver, was officially listed as operations incharge, despite lacking qualifications for managing a high-risk venue. Other arrested staff include managers and gatekeepers, while the local sarpanch was detained for issuing dubious licenses. This tactic metonymically shifts blame down the chain: the driver or migrant worker becomes the scapegoat, absorbing superegoic punishment (legal accountability) so the true capitalists remain insulated. Lacan would see this as foreclosure of the Name-of-the-Father—the symbolic paternal law that enforces limits. By perverting it, owners abdicate responsibility, exploiting class divides where precarious laborers bear the Real’s brunt.
Politically, opposition voices like AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal have decried this as a “hafta-vasooli sarkar” under BJP rule, accusing systemic corruption of enabling such disasters. Even within the ruling party, MLAs have alluded to bribes infiltrating every level. Government responses—suspending officials, ordering audits, sealing related properties, and launching inquiries—attempt to reassert the Symbolic order, suturing the tear exposed by the fire. Yet, as Lacan teaches in his seminars on the gaze and the Real, such patches are illusory; the lack persists, ready to erupt again.
Ultimately, the Birch tragedy lays bare how neoliberal desire, organized around absent regulation as objet a, fuels a deadly economy of corruption and exploitation. The “hafta raj” is not mere greed but a jouissance derived from circumventing the big Other (the state), at the cost of marginalized lives. Until this structural lack is confronted—not just symptomatically punished—Goa’s party paradise will remain shadowed by the Real’s lethal return. True change demands acknowledging that safety norms are not burdensome formalities but barriers against the death drive masquerading as profit. In mourning the 25 lost souls, we must demand a reckoning with the void that killed them.
