In a show of uni ty at a well-attended press conference organised by the South Goa Comunidades Forum at the Margão Co munidade hall, opposite the Holy Spirit Church, repre sentatives of various Comu nidades came together to denounce the government’s recent bills seeking to reg ularise illegal structures on government and Comu nidade land. The speakers made it clear that they were also representing the wider body of Comunidades across Goa, warning that the very survival of these traditional institutions was at risk. Forum leaders alleged that the government was re warding those responsible for illegalities by handing over Comunidade land to encroachers, while discrim inating against law-abiding citizens who complied with regulations. They charged that the legislation was de signed purely to appease vote banks and shield illegal structures, describing it as “vote bank politics for the survival of the BJP in the next elections.” Franky Monteiro, Pres ident of the Loutolim Co munidade and speaking on behalf of the Forum, strong ly opposed and criticised the move, stressing that the role of the government through the Administrator is only one of tutelage, not ownership, and that the Co munidade is the absolute owner of its land.
He pointed to the Land Prohibition of Construction Act, 1995, which prescribed penalties and imprisonment for illegal structures on Comunidade land, and said that even after three decades the government had shown neither the will nor the sincerity to implement the law. He also cited the Jagpal Singh vs State of Punjab case, noting that the then Chief Secretary had filed an affidavit affirming that Comunidade land was community land to be protected, with regular compliance reports to the Supreme Court on the demolition of illegal structures. Failure to do so, he add ed, amounted to contempt of court. John Phillip Pereira, attorney of the Comunidade of Na goa and member of the Forum, remarked that the present legislation was devised to circumvent the suo motu cogni zance taken by the High Court to demolish all illegal struc tures along roads and Comunidade land. Agnelo Furtado, President of the Comunidade of Chin chinim and also part of the Forum, stated that the law was ultra vires Article 14 of the Constitution, as it discriminated between law-abiding citizens who obtained licences and complied with regulations, and encroachers who were now being rewarded for breaking the law. He warned that such a move would open the floodgates for further encroach ments, with amnesty being granted conveniently before elections. These members along with other senior Comunidade leaders had already submitted their objections to the bills before they were passed in the Assembly and had also held meetings across the state to raise awareness on the issue. The Forum reaffirmed that on behalf of all the Comuni dades in Goa, the bills will be challenged in court.
