- LUIS DIAS
“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” This is a quotation from the New Testament (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25), something Jesus said to His disciples.
We could extrapolate this to a population of Panaji, and indeed of all Goa. We keep getting told of the ‘economic’, ‘fiscal’, employment-generating’ benefits of what is actually a sinful industry (casinos and gambling) but seem to ignore or accept as the ‘new normal’ the inexorable loss of our collective soul, the corrosion of even a concept of basic non-negotiable values.
This is why from the very start I have not let myself get distracted by talk of whether the casinos should be offshore or onshore, or how many nautical miles offshore. They ought never to have been allowed in the first place.
In 2022, I wrote a column lamenting the irony that the Campal statue of Francisco Luis Gomes (who devoted a whole chapter on ‘The Consequences of Gambling’ in his epic ‘Os Brahamanes’) looks sadly upon the casinos, the hothouses of gambling.
And now my Hindu brethren ruefully comment that Lord Parshuram’s statue on Yog Sethu gazes disapprovingly at that same pestilence.
I quote a few points from the WHO (World Health Organization):
1. Gambling can threaten and cause serious harm to health, leading to increased incidence of mental illness and suicide. It can drive poverty by diverting household spending from essential goods and services. 2. Gambling harms also include relationship breakdown, family violence, financial distress, stigma, income-generating crimes (theft, fraud), neglect of children, and erosion of civil institutions via corruption and corporate political activity. 3. Gambling is also a common way to launder money obtained through illegal activities. 4. Electronic gambling machines (EGMs) and casino games are associated with the most risk of harm. 5. The legacy of gambling harm can endure throughout one’s life and transmit intergenerationally. 6. A Swedish study estimated that those with a gambling disorder were 15 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. In Victoria, Australia, at least 4.2% of suicides were found to be gambling-related. [Such studies, if done in Goa yet, are not readily accessible, but would be extremely informative.] 7. For every person who gambles at high-risk levels, an average of six others (usually non-gamblers) are affected. 8. People experiencing significant life events including separation, retirement, injury or the death of a loved one may be at increased risk. Social stressors such as poverty, discrimination or other disadvantage also increase risks. Heavy promotion of gambling also poses risks of normalising gambling for children and young people. 9. The commercialisation of gambling – which also drives normalisation – is increasing the incidence of gambling harm. Sponsorship and the co-location of gambling products in social settings, are key mechanisms. Aggressive promotion of gambling in popular and social media also increases gambling activity.
10. Gambling disorder is described alongside substance use disorders in both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM 5), and the International Classification of Diseases, eleventh revision (ICD 11). [The DSM-5 has reclassified ludomania (also termed compulsive or problem gambling, or gambling addition) as an addictive disorder, with sufferers exhibiting many similarities to those who have substance addictions. Studies have compared pathological gamblers to substance addicts (comparable to such highly addictive substances such as cocaine) concluding that addicted gamblers display more physical symptoms during withdrawal. A common feature shared by people who suffer from gambling addiction is impulsivity. Problem gambling is an addictive behaviour with a high comorbidity with alcohol problems and other addictive drugs. Problem gambling is often associated with increased suicidal ideation and attempts compared to the general population. Early onset of problem gambling increases the lifetime risk of suicide.]
These points themselves ought to convey the scale of the evil we have already let into our city for the past many years. I am surprised the medical fraternity has not opposed it for all these reasons. Furthermore, why aren’t there mandatory health warnings on all casino promotional material and advertisements, as there are for cigarettes and alcohol?
Organised crime around the world finds the whole industry of casinos and gambling extremely lucrative. The Sicilian mafia families in the U.S., the Cosa Nostra, typically would allow gamblers lines of credit and charge high percentage rates known as vigs to be paid weekly. Late or missed payments would result in visits and threats from such crime family members. I have no idea of the inroads that organised crime has made into the gambling industry in Goa, but I wouldn’t be surprised if their presence is already being felt.
To my mind, the ‘necessary evil’ argument has never held water, especially not for any industry built upon the premise of addiction. I have written against this repeatedly in the press. If one allows evil, soul-destroying, morally degenerative industries using the monetary and employment-generating pretext, then we are on a very slippery slope. By that token, prostitution and gun-running should also be permitted? We already know that prostitution has made inroads here, made even worse ever since the sorry advent of casinos on our land and in our waters.
Already the existing casino vessels seem to be dumping their raw sewage directly into the River Mandovi. Swimming across the river used to be a rite of passage for young and old keen swimmers, but today so many say they don’t undertake the feat as they are assailed by the sight, stench, and yes, the ‘taste’ of human excrement in the water, to say nothing of other garbage, refuse, and litter. The adverse environmental impact of untreated sewerage an in such volume on marine life can only be imagined.
On land, the traffic congestion, parking problems, garbage, drunk driving, noise pollution, disruptive disorderly behaviour and disturbances of the peace as a direct result of casino patrons and staff spilling into our streets and residential lanes are already a daily and nightly nuisance, especially for those of us in the middle of ‘casino territory’, growing exponentially like a Stage IV cancer ravishing the body of our once-proud, once-pristine city.
To add even more insult to already grievous injury, we are told ‘green clearance’ has been given to a gigantic 112-metre-long casino vessel, five storeys high from the baseline with a total height of 26.5 metres to the Mandovi River, according to a news report!
That is quite literally the size of a Panaji building, somewhere between the dimensions of Hotel Mandovi and Junta House, suddenly materialising in the river. Apart from adding to the eyesore, imagine the havoc this will add to the already-ravaged riverine biology, how much more it will add to the effluents already polluting the river?
Furthermore, in case a fire breaks out or a cyclone hits, the death toll of those on board these vessels will make the Birch by Romeo Lane Arpora disaster pale in comparison.
The ‘necessary evil’ argument is a spurious one and has eaten into our soul for far too long. All casinos have to go from everywhere in Goa, and not just this looming monstrosity.
