MARGAO, JULY 27
Whether Sonsodo is a fit place for a kabrastan for the Muslim community or not will now be decided by the Delhi-based National Commission for the Minorities.
The minority panel headed by Chairperson Mohammed Shafi Qureshi will inspect Sonsodo in the near future to study the feasibility of the site for burial grounds. The Commission has told the State government to identify three or four alternative sites for the Muslim kabrastan in case the proposed site at Sonsodo is not found suitable.
The Commission took the decision to visit Sonsodo following an invitation by the Goa government to ascertain the suitability of the proposed site. The government’s decision comes against the backdrop of the stiff opposition by the Muslim community for Sonsodo as the site for the proposed kabrastan.
Incidentally, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat made his presence felt before the Commission twice last month and has assured the members that a suitable plot of land would be allotted for the Muslim community to set up the kabrastan.
At the hearing of the Commission in Delhi, the general secretary of the Sirvodem Masjid Abdulmatin Daud Carol charged the Goa government for conspiring to allot a piece of land near Sonsodo, saying the area is totally unhygienic and stinking.
Daud further drew attention of the Commission that the State government is not honouring the Resolution passed in 1999 in the Goa Legislative Assembly to acquire and allot the land admeasuring 99,513 square meters at Aquem. Saying that the State government has also issued notifications for acquisition of this piece of land, Daud said that unfortunately the process was stalled due to reasons best known to the State government.
Chief Secretary Sanjeev Srivastava, however, submitted to the Commission that there were a number of objections raised by local residents for allotment of land in the resolution passed by the Assembly in 1999.
The Chief Secretary maintained that the proposed site at Sonsodo is 100-150 meters away from the garbage dump yard, adding that the government has already drawn up a plan for the installation of a plant for the treatment of garbage at the site.
