Team Herald
PANJIM: A massive protest organised by the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) to the Chief Minister’s official residence to highlight various issues plaguing the State on Saturday turned out to be a damp squib as few party members attended.
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The police also refused them permission to march to the Chief Minister’s Altinho residence due to which the Opposition members staged protest near the Azad Maidan, Panjim. The police told them that the North Goa Collector had denied permission to the march.
The police later detained 24 protestors including GPCC president Amit Patkar, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao, MLA Altone D’Costa, vice president Sunil Kawthankar and others, while trying to break the police cordon to march to the Chief Minister’s residence. They were all taken to the Agassaim police station and were released in the evening.
Addressing a protestors, Thakare said, “We had organised a peaceful protest march but were stopped by the police. This is happening only in Goa where the government used police to stop our peaceful protest march. We wanted to protest against the BJP government on collapsing law and order, rampant land grabbing, illegal land conversions and cash-for-government jobs scams.
Referring to the escape of hardcore criminal Siddique alias Suleman Khan from the police lock-up, Thakare alleged that the main of the government was to protect land grabbers. It is condemnable, he said.
Thakare further said that the government had failed to provide employment to educated youth and BJP functionaries were involved in cash-for-jobs scam undermining the future of Goan youth. “The government cannot safeguard the interest of unemployed youth seeking jobs and the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should resign immediately,” he said.
GPCC president Amit Patkar said that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had failed Goa on every front. He alleged, “The government had trampled upon their constitutional rights by directing the North Goa Collector to deny them permission for a peaceful march to the Chief Minister’s residence.”
After they were detained by the police, GPCC vice president Sunil Kawthankar alleged that the police illegally detained them while peacefully marching towards the Chief Minister’s residence. This is murder of democracy and violation of our fundamental rights ensured under the Indian Constitution, he charged.
