The tiny state on the west coast of the country has always been known for its pristine beaches, social harmony and cultural diversity. Goa, with a population of about 15 lakhs and an area of 3,702 sq km, has the highest population density in the country.
Even at the time of its liberation in 1961, the Hindu population constituted the majority, with the Catholic population at about 36 percent. Since then, the percentage of Christians has declined to nearly 23-25 percent due to the migration trends.
This demographic shift in the coastal state appears to have become a threat to social harmony, with its distinct ethos disrupted by a perceived loss of identity, largely due to the failure to control the influx of non-Goans.
The usually sanguine, susegad Goans have now found themselves earning a very different moniker: chauvinistic. There is conflict over land, jobs, resources and environment, and the ire of locals is mostly directed against "outsiders".
No Non-Goans Here, Please
The conflict over non-Goans erupted for the first time in 1982 when a 'cold war' brewing in the port town of Vasco blew up in heat. Hundreds of hutments belonging to non-Goans were set on fire as a reign of terror was let loose on ganttis (a derogatory word for outsiders).
Anyone not speaking the local language got beaten up, leading to a mass exodus of over 10,000 Kannadigas to their native Karnataka. The Goan establishments in Hubbali, Belgaum (Belagavi) and other places came under retaliatory attacks.
For more than three decades, this unease has persisted, and today it is at the forefront, as Goa finds itself increasingly overwhelmed.
The 1982 Vasco riots were supposedly sparked by a letter addressed to a high-ranking Mormugao Port Authority (MPT) official sent from New Delhi to hire 12 Keralites. Unfortunately, the letter was intercepted and it’s contents made known, leading to the first-ever riots in liberated Goa.
However, there's more to that story. According to later reports, the riots were caused primarily by protests against the reported eviction of residents from MPT-owned land, which led to subsequent violent clashes that snowballed into anti-outsider protests.
The resulting feeling of being overwhelmed by the indiscriminate entry of non-Goans into Goa led to a movement for special status, which sought protection for Goa under Article 371 of the Constitution of India, in line with the laws applicable to the North Eastern states and Article 35A (now deleted) of the Constitution. Goans wanted to insulate themselves from the influx of non-Goans.
And yet, for centuries, Goans and Catholics in particular have been migrating for better opportunities.
Earlier, they migrated to British colonies and, in the post-colonial period, found opportunities in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the US. Though not a poor state, and despite locals viewing it as a land with few opportunities, unemployment remains very high in Goa.
The available jobs offer poor salaries, which locals abhor. Goans leave Goa for greener pastures at sea or in European countries due to them having the advantage of being able to obtain Portuguese citizenship, a privilege provided in the Portuguese Citizenship Law.
This vacuum in Goa is filled by an influx of labour from other parts of India. Small businesses in Goa are now run by people from other parts of the country. The hawkers selling tourism-related crafts are mostly from outside Goa. A 2021 report claims that 50 percent of the state's population is of non-Goan origin.
In 2024, the tiny state had about a crore of visitors, including around 40 lakh foreign arrivals. The state is currently feeling the heat as the local population find its own home difficult to live in.
Outsider Politics & Land Grab
This year, Anusha Govind Lamani, a non-Goan, got elected as a Sarpanch of the Catholic-majority village Sancoale in Mormugao taluka of South Goa.
Siddha Metti, the Chairman of the Kanadda Maha Sangh, demanded tickets from political parties for persons from Karnataka to contest in the ensuing Zilla and Assembly elections.
In 2025, the Goa Assembly passed a law called the 'Mhaje Ghar Scheme' to legalise houses built illegally in government and communidade land. A clear perception in the state is that the law is brought to facilitate legalisation of illegal houses by non-Goans in the state of Goa.
The labour class, and those in small businesses, are located in slum-like locations in various urban areas.
In urban areas, the non-Goan locales always influence elections, and the heavyweights of Goan politics depend on the non-Goan vote bank. That the heavyweight politicians cultivate such vote banks to enjoy electoral benefits has always drawn anger of the Goan community.
The verdant green Goan countryside, blessed with 103 meters of pristine sand coastline in the east, and the roaring waves on the west, makes Goa a paradise on earth and an international tourist destination.
With 28 percent land being covered with forests embracing the east and 60 percent land under lush green paddy—land for private, commercial, industrial or residential enterprise has always been in short supply.
Goa has long been a favourite tourist destination, drawing the rich from North India, especially Delhi, who buy holiday homes here. This has led to a large-scale loss of green cover, with the state’s lush paddy fields, hill slopes, and forest areas increasingly under pressure from the real estate lobby.
For the past three decades, Goa’s politics is controlled by those in the real estate business. The increasing trend of land-broker politicians is on the rise. The Town and Country Planning Board, controlled by the government, is a powerful weapon in the hands of those in power. The conversion of land brings a meteoric rise of land prices. Goa’s tragedy is that such Town and Country Planning portfolios have the power to make or break governments.
Crime and Nativism
The need to protect Goa’s land and culture was realised long back, when the demand and movement for special status under Article 371 of the Constitution of India emerged. In fact, both the Congress, which came to power in 2005, and the BJP in 2012, promised special protections that would allow the state Assembly to pass laws restricting the sale of land to non-Goans.
Both parties went back on their promise. In Goa, the animosity against the wealthy from north India who bought large tracts of land, apartments and villas to be used as holiday homes has pushed land and housing beyond the reach of the common Goan.
The civil society has been at the forefront of saving what is left of Goa. But the electoral politics driven by real estate lobbies does not help them.
The cause against non-Goans is now being spearheaded by a new political outfit, the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP), which has been targeting lower-income non-Goans and outsiders running small businesses. The RGP, in their 2022 debut elections, collected 10 percent votes and a seat in the Legislative Assembly, likening them to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in Maharashtra
Meanwhile, the law and order situation in the state has also broken down, with a rise in murders and dacoities.
The Chief Minister, who also holds the home portfolio, has been adding to the misery of non-Goans by claiming it is the migrants who are involved in crime.
Unable to deal with the law and order situation, the CM, it appears, has joined the popular narrative painting migrants as criminals, invoking NSA in the state for three months. This has further fostered local anger against non-Goans.
Though Goa is far more overwhelmed by the rich and elite from North India who have bought houses and farmhouses as second homes, the political narrative has ensured that public anger is directed more at the working class and small business owners than at the wealthy.
The 'Mhaje Ghar Scheme' has furthered the animosity. The scarcity of land and jobs and the ruling party’s game of cementing vote banks have become intersected with the increase in crime rate. This cocktail is creating a strong nativistic atmosphere.
Unless the state gets special status under Article 371 of the Constitution, it may not be possible to contain the anger of the small state. All that goes wrong is Goa is placed at the door of non-Goans. The new (and yet familiar) chauvinism directed against non-Goans deserves special attention of the Centre and also of Goans themself.
(The author is a designated senior advocate from Goa who taught constitutional laws for over three decades. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)