The delegation from Nuvem constituency that met Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant on November 18 to voice their concerns on the double tracking project of the South Western Railway line returned satisfied with the assurance that the project will be kept on hold. The statement, made by Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa, is that this is the assurance given to them by the Chief Minister at that meeting. Until now, neither the Chief Minister nor his office has made any statement that would confirm this, and recent events do not inspire confidence that the railway track doubling project is going to be kept on hold. In fact, the available evidence points at just the opposite happening.
On the same day that this meeting between the CM, MLA and sarpanchas took place, a 30-strong armed platoon of the Railway Protection Force arrived in Goa from Hubbali. Though it is a single platoon of 30 personnel, the fact that they are armed and are in Goa because of the protests to the doubling of the track is indicative that there will be no delay in undertaking the work. Simultaneously, the railways have also said that they will take appropriate action against those who have intimidated and abused the staff working on the site at Davorlim and caused loss to the railways by the protests on November 18. It was also the day on which a DySP of the Goa Police warned the protestors they would be arrested for interfering with government work and further said that once they are booked they will not be able to go abroad. All this definitely does not indicate that the work on the doubling will be slowed down or kept on hold. Besides, was it necessary for a platoon of the CRP to be brought to Goa?
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The protests until today have been peaceful. Even in the dead of night, when thousands of people gathered at the Guirdolim level crossing earlier this month, there was no violence. They sat on the tracks, sang songs, played musical instruments and did not allow the work to take place. Yet, the government, a few days after that protest, filed a First Information Report naming six persons and many unknown. Throughout, the protestors have been voicing their concerns over the project without causing a law and order situation. Was the FIR necessary in this case? Now, with the armed Railway Protection Force, the government displays a hardening of its stand on the project, despite there being considerable opposition to it. Earlier this month, Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, registering his opposition to the project had said, ‘I want to ask our State govt will it now even kill or maim our Goemkars who are protesting the SWR double tracking to satisfy the unindenting appetite for coal by crony capitalists?’ Going by the existing situation, was the armed Railway Protection Force required to be brought to Goa to keep the peaceful protestors at bay?
This is the second time this year that the government has requisitioned special forces in the State. In March it had sought the services of the Central Industrial Security Force to enforce the lockdown. That move had drawn a backlash from civil society after videos of citizens being beaten had gone viral. Why then, does the government now seek the services of the armed Railway Protection Force? All protests and agitations in Goa have by and large been peaceful. The current situation surely does not warrant the services of the armed police. It could only lead to instigating the protestors. Decisions on calling for additional forces must be taken by gauging the situation and weighing the consequences. The government has to be more circumspect.
