There is a world of difference between power and ideals. Ideals are what we say we believe. Power is what actually happens. Ideals talk about justice, truth, unity, and respect for all. They are written in books, spoken in speeches, and posted on walls. They are necessary. A society without ideals has no direction. Power is different. Power decides whose voice is heard, whose feelings are counted, and whose name can be mocked without cost. Power does not need to be right. It only needs to be strong enough to act without consequence. In a perfect world, ideals would guide power. In the world we live in, power often uses ideals as a mask, then sets them aside when a decision has to be made.
The recent insult aimed at St. Francis Xavier, known to Goans as Goycho Saib, shows this clearly. In the last few days, a public insult was directed at St. Francis Xavier. He was called names that no community uses for a father. For Goans, this was not a debate about history. It was a blow to a shared relationship. Goycho Saib is not only a Catholic saint. For centuries he has been a household name in Goa. Fishermen ask for his help before they go to sea. Mothers make vows at Bom Jesus when a child is sick. Hindu, Muslim, and Christian families visit Old Goa during the Exposition. The name Saib means protector, lord, father. It belongs to the whole Goa , not to one group. When that name is insulted in public, many Goans feel the hurt personally. Grandparents who carried children to the relics must now explain why their love is being called a crime. Neighbors who once prayed side by side fall silent. The insult did not stay on the screen. It entered homes, balcaos, and markets. Ideals said one thing, power did another. Yet, power seemed to win. Our ideals say India respects all faiths. Our ideals say Goa is a land of harmony. Our ideals say debate should be based on facts and dignity. But power acted differently.
First, power chose the target. St. Francis Xavier was selected because he is loved, visible, and tied to a period of history that some want to condemn. Attacking him gives instant attention. It signals strength to one group and fear to another. Second, power provided the platform. The insult was not a whisper in a corner. It was given a microphone, a camera, and a network. People with position and protection repeated it. That is not a mistake. That is a decision. Third, power ignored the hurt. When Goans expressed pain, the response was not apology or dialogue. It was more speeches about history, more claims about the past. The ideal of “listening to all communities” disappeared. The reality of “we can say this, and you will have to bear it” took its place.
Ideals did not stop the insult. Power allowed it. Why power chooses insult over argument? Maybe it important that we raise this question.it will manifest how we are led by power and less by our ideals. In fact our ideals are put at the service of power. Power rules when it can save time. Argument takes time. You have to read, explain, persuade, and sometimes lose. Insult is fast. One word, one label, and the crowd knows which side you are on. Power rules when it wants to divide. A society that talks to each other can resist. A society that is hurt and angry is easier to manage. If you can make Catholics feel besieged and others feel triumphant, you can count votes before you count facts.
Power rules when it needs a scapegoat. The historical Xavier spent only a few months in Goa. His main work was in Tamil Nadu, Malacca, and the Moluccas. He wrote letters criticizing Portuguese corruption. He died in 1552. The Goa Inquisition started in 1560. These facts are on record. But power is not interested in record. It is interested in symbol. Goycho Saib is a symbol that unites. Breaking a uniting symbol is a quick way to create new loyalties. Ideals would ask: What is true? What is fair? What heals? Power asks: What works? What dominates? What will be remembered tomorrow? In the last few days, the second set of questions won.May be it powerful to lead by ideals . Hence we have to ask: What society loses when power wins? When power rules and ideals are silent, four things break:
First, trust breaks. A Goan Hindu who always visited Bom Jesus with his Catholic neighbor may now hesitate. He may wonder if his presence will be seen as political. A small doubt will enter daily life. Societies run on small trusts. When trust is lost something beautiful dies. Second, speech breaks. You cannot have a real conversation after an insult. If I call your father a thief, you will not discuss my ideas about the economy. You will defend your father. The space for talk closes when power rules . Silence is enforced by power. Third, memory breaks. Children learn from elders. When elders are told their devotion is shameful, they go quiet. The story of how Goycho Saib protected Goa through plague, war, and migration does not get told. A generation grows up with a hole where a story should be. Fourth, the commons breaks.The feast, the feria ( fair) , the Exposition, the old streets of Goa — these belong to everyone. After an insult, they feel claimed by one side and avoided by another. The ground we stood on together becomes ground we fight over. Power gains a moment. Society pays for years.
Goycho Saib matters because he proves that power is not the only story in Goa. Hence when power threatens to take control of our society, we have the imparatrive to reach out to Goycho Saib. Goycho Saib was a man who died far from Goa, yet Goa adopted him. His relics did not conquer anyone. People came to them because they found help. That is not power. That is relationship. For four hundred years, that relationship crossed boundaries. It did not need government orders. It survived poverty, political change, and disease. It survived because it was chosen, day by day, by ordinary people. The insult tries to reduce him to a colonial flag. But the people who carry candles to Old Goa are not carrying flags. They are carrying need, gratitude, and hope. Power cannot create that. It can only attack it.
When power attacks what it cannot create, it reveals itself. It shows that it is not confident in ideals. It is only confident in force. Goa has lived with many powers: Portuguese, Indian, local, global. It has survived because it kept something stronger than power — a habit of living together. That habit is now under test. The test is not about the 16th century. The test is about the 21st century. Will we let power decide which names are safe to love? Will we let power tell us which father is acceptable? Ideals alone will not save us. Ideals without power are posters. But power without ideals is a bulldozer. Goa does not need bulldozers in its balcao.
The way forward is simple, not easy. Leaders must show that no Goan’s love is a crime. Media must choose dialogue over clicks. Citizens must refuse the invitation to hate. If someone insults your neighbor’s father, you do not cheer. If someone insults your father, do not reply with another insult. We are challenged to break the cycle. Goycho Saib did not build an empire. He became a name that held people together. Power can mock that name for a day. Only people can keep it alive for a century. In the end, ideals are tested by power. In Goa these past days, power won a round. Whether it rules our society depends on what ordinary Goans do next.
