The death of 26-year-old Karan Kashyap at the Sunburn Electronic Dance Music festival over the weekend has reignited the critical debate of drug prevalence at parties and celebrations, particularly along the coastal belt of North Goa. Kashyap, an IIT-Kanpur topper, succumbed to what the preliminary medical report indicated as “severe renal injury”. The report recorded excess fluid/substance in the body, which affected his kidneys, brain and lungs. Doctors in private indicate that the Delhiite suffered from a drug overdose that led to his death.
The question is, who failed? Is it the organisers, authorities, the police, or Kashyap himself? Revellers getting dizzy or collapsing and even succumbing later, are not new at EDM festivals. North Goa’s coastal belt has been swamped by dusk-to-dawn parties that flout every rule in the book, and yet, no one cares about who dies and who lives (through the high decibels that pierce through the peace of the night).
Yes, Sunburn is a high-ticket show where the stakes are high. High crowd, celebratory artists, high party spirit with an ambience that matches it and an accompaniment of refinement. Saturday's tragedy has left many questions unanswered. How did banned substances, including inflammable accessories and gadgets reach the venue? Did the enforcement, which promised water-tight security fail in its job?
As we grapple with the specifics of Kashyap’s tragic fate, the mystery is over how narco-trafficking insidiously managed to infiltrate the area. The intimidating juxtaposition of a vibrant, heavily secured festival space and the stark reality of drug circulation casts a shadow at Dhargalim. The heavy-duty measures in place — including spectrometers, sniffer dogs, and specialized police teams — are meant to create a bulwark against the influx of drugs. The fact that narcotics continue to slip through these defences suggests a systemic failure.
The normalization of drug use within Goa's nightlife not only mirrors societal indifference but also highlights the complex dynamics of a tourism-driven economy. For many, the Goa experience is intertwined with party culture that too often includes the consumption of a wide array of substances — Marijuana, Ecstasy, Psilocybin Mushrooms (hallucination drugs), Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) also called ‘Liquid Ecstasy’ and even Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). These have been in free flow at popular party outlets. Instead of merely debating over EDMs and festivals, authorities must look at the larger picture and direct attention towards the flow of these drugs and dismantle their networks. The apparent ease with which drugs find their way into supposedly secured events points to a worrying complicity and a lack of coordinated efforts among various agencies responsible for maintaining safety. The promise of drug-free parties will be hollow if the checks and balances fail as seen in the normal course.
Goa is believed to be at a crossroads trying to balance its tourism with economics. Authorities very often go soft on misbehaving or rogue tourists because they don’t want to hurt the business. Drunken driving has been a menace that has claimed several lives, yet enforcement has not gone full throttle. The same is the case with drugs which have gone unchecked in the party hotspot of North Goa. Goa needs a paradigm shift in approach — one that prioritizes public health policies alongside strict law enforcement.
As long as there is no accountability and a sincere mind to understand responsibilities, deaths like Kashyap’s would be just moments of setback and grief, nothing beyond. Rather, his death should motivate us to confront how we, as a society, perceive drugs, the nightlife culture, and the responsibilities of those in power. While Goa has often been seen as a carefree party haven, the systems designed to protect its visitors and people of the State are faltering. It is time to restore that trust through dedication, responsiveness, and unwavering commitment to a safer Goa experience.
