Storting Declares Govindia Persona Non Grata
by taulover
Almost three years ago, I wrote in Orendi VIII of the first citizenship revocation attempt against Govindia. Now, I return to, hopefully, bring this tale to a close. After many years and many second chances, Govindia has been declared persona non grata and banned from all official Wintrean sites.
Govindia has been a resident of Wintreath for most of its history, having first been granted citizenship in 2013. However, he is also well-known, both in Wintreath in elsewhere, for a long history of harassment. The pattern typically is the same each time: he persistently pestered people for some reason or another (whether it be not voting for him in an Underhusen election or not reciprocating a virtual hug on IRC), claimed that others are at fault, promised to improve and listen to advice from others, and then returned to harassing and blaming others.
Prominent members of the Wintreath community, from Pengu to Laurentus, tried, in their best efforts, to help Govindia improve, but to no avail. For instance, Emoticonius wrote, responding to Govindia after he accused Emoticonius of not doing much to help him, "I was practically your life coach... I gave it my all. You just refused to budge... I tried to help you Gov for a whole two months before finally deciding that you were a lost cause."
In April 2016, matters finally came to a head after a series of repeated warnings for his harassment of fellow Wintreans, including a permanent IRC ban. The Storting successfully voted to revoke Govindia's citizenship, the hope being that this stricter form of punishment would serve as a stronger warning for Govindia to change his ways. As Overhusen Chairman Wuufu stated at the time, addressing Govindia, "This is not a removal from this community in full, and shouldn't be seen as such, but instead it should give you the motivation to effect change." After his citizenship was revoked, Govindia took an extended leave of absence from the region, only returning to make a post or two from time to time.
It was hoped that this citizenship revocation would put the matter to rest and help Govindia towards improvement, but alas, that was not the case. In October of last year, Govindia joined the official Discord server. Despite the IRC ban, Monarch Wintermoot, as the lead Discord operator, "didn't have the heart to" ban Govindia from the Discord, saying that despite it being "well within my rights to ban Gov... it felt like the right time to show mercy to him." However, it quickly became evident that Govindia had not changed. In the words of Laurentus, Count of Highever, "Clearly, he has not learned and improved his behaviour, even after close to two years of not being a citizen."
Soon, incidents reminiscent of earlier harassing behavior from Govindia began to occur. In the so-called "Summermoot incident," Govindia, who had temporarily changed his nickname to "Summermoot," accused Wintermoot of "childish passive aggresive [sic] behaviour" after pestering the Monarch repeatedly about his thoughts on the nickname change and not yet receiving a response. In another conversation, Govindia suggested that "the Storting should revoke Chanku's citizenship" so that "he knows what it's like," despite Chanku doing little to merit such a revocation. While these events may not seem like much as isolated incidents, within the context of his past and current behavior, Govindia's words were rather alarming. The final straw came when Govindia suggested that he should be given citizenship once again, despite having done little to nothing to improve.
On January 22, Laurentus put forth a proposal to declare Govindia persona non grata. In Wintreath, such a declaration bars the person from seeking citizenship or ambassadorship in the region, and serves as a formal request for the root administrator, i.e. Monarch Wintermoot, to ban the person from all official Wintrean premises.
Although such an act could be swiftly passed by the Storting without the consultation of anyone else, Govindia was offered the opportunity to defend himself and apologize for his actions. Consequently, he posted two vlog-like "response" videos in which he talked at length for over half an hour about his thoughts on the matter. However, as Wintermoot noted, these videos "probably backfired."
Instead of apologizing or showing contrition for his guilt-tripping, or even explaining why it was not, Govindia instead called the accusations "ridiculous and stupid." He claimed that "nobody has attempted to try" to rehabilitate him at all, a provably false statement, and asked people to do so. He stated that he sought to "meet people halfway" and that others should to the same, when others had already noted their concern that he was not meeting his side of that bargain. Govindia insulted and attacked prominent and well-respected members of the community, calling Aethelia "prejudiced and bigoted" accusing Emoticonius of "decid[ing] to throw [him] under the bus" (when in reality, as noted earlier, Emoticonius has done much to try to help Gov).
If anything, Govindia's responses likely alienated the community even more. In the end, the declaration passed with four aye votes and one abstention in the Underhusen, and was approved unanimously by the Overhusen.
Wintreath prides itself in its openness, freedom, and transparency. We have given Govindia second chances, often in the face of interregional censure, because, as Wintermoot remarked, "I don't believe Gov is a bad guy." However, even a place as open and welcoming as Wintreath has its limits. "We're not social workers or psychiatrists," said Wintermoot during the proceedings—it is clear that Govindia needs help that our community simply cannot provide. Staying part of Wintreath has only become detrimental for both Govindia and the community as a whole. As Laurentus wrote at the conclusion of the affair, "Well, Gov. It seems it's over now. I wish you all the best. Find professional help and take responsibility for what led to this. Goodbye."
