Vijay Dessai
CUNCOLIM: A memorial on the friendship between the freedom fighter and socialist leader Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Dr Juliao Menezes at the birthplace of the unsung hero of Goa’s liberation movement Dr Menezes at Lohia Chowk is in dire state. Garbage, empty boxes and rubbish are being dumped on the monument. Locals are demanding to rebuild the historical monument to get its sanctity back.
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Local panchayats and people’s representatives and locals have failed to preserve the sanctity of historical Lohia Chauk and Dr Menezes Memorial.
In 1946, Lohia, with the support of Menezes, a great freedom fighter from Assolna village had called a public meeting in Margao on June 18 to ignite the flames of revolution.
In memory of Menezes, government had erected a monument at Lohia Chowk in Assolna and renamed the historic site as Mizezes Lohia Chowk. However, the local panchayats do not take proper care of the square and the monument. The monument is in a state of disrepair and the tiles have been broken and the cement has fallen. The monument has been disfigured.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi would be visiting the memorial and lay a wreath at the memorial of Lohia and Dr Menezes on Saturday.
Menezes had made a significant contribution to the liberation struggle of Goa. He started a club in his village and started teaching patriotism and nationalism to the youth. He was mobilizing the youth to overthrow the Portuguese government. Menezes invites Lohia to Goa to ignite the flames of revolution in the Goa liberation struggle. Menezes and Lohia were deported from Goa. He was hailed as the unsung hero of the Goa liberation struggle.
