Goencho Ekvott (GE), strongly condemned the police’s action against the innocent villagers of Shel-Melauli. In a press statement, it said,”This unprecedented incident by a particular PI has tarnished the image of the Goa Police force, who thereafter instead of showing restraint, reportedly resorted to lathi-charge and fired multiple tear gas shells to disperse the villagers,” Ekvott said. “Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is adamant in systematically destroying the natural environment by replacing it with manmade concrete structures that are bound to displace the indigenous people of Melauli, all of whom are incidentally Goans from their ancestral land.” GE appealed to all Goans to Rise As One People against the most “despotic” government that Goa has ever had since its Liberation from Portuguese rule. “Let those in power know that 2022 is not too far away and the people will vent their anger through the EVMs/Ballot Boxes,” it warned.
Meanwhile, Congress has threatened to launch a State-wide agitation against BJP-led government’s atrocities on the people. Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar urged the government to stop atrocities on the people of Goa, failing which he has threatened to launch State-wide agitation. “We strongly condemn the cowardly act of the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to lathi-charge and use tear gas on residents of Shel-Melauli,” he said. Chodankar added that the villagers are fighting to save their cultivable land.
