FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Who will take care of our children?
Amchem bhangarachem Goem is a nature’s paradise endowed with exquisite natural beauty and intricate bio-diversity. Our great grandparents left no stone unturned to ensure that the generations that follow them would have the privilege of enjoying the fruits of their sacrifices and labour. Our land and its resources were handed out to us by them, being fully aware that the gift they received also belongs to those who follow them and in the hope that their progeny would honour sensibly the intergenerational solidarity that is not optional but rather a question of justice and fair-mindedness.
This beautiful and bounteous motherland that we have inherited from our revered ancestors today cries for sensitivity and security from her children. Of late sadly and painfully, our motherland has been badly bruised, scarred and disfigured by human exploitation and environmentally damaging projects. In fact those responsible for the protection and preservation of our rich and variegated bio-diversity and fragile environment have been seen to have formed a criminal nexus with crony capitalists and well-heeled corporates to amass fortunes for themselves, oblivious of the cries of the “mother” and her children to save her land and her children.
The Supreme Court verdict on the railway double tracking vindicates the concerns expressed by environmentalists and the people of Goa who voiced their apprehensions during the past several months over the projects that were being pushed through ecologically and environmentally sensitive zones. We hope and pray that Goa’s rich bio-diversity and natural heritage will not be compromised on the altar of greed and ego-centricism but that better sense will prevail among all-politicians and people, to safeguard the gift, the way that we have received from our grandparents and to hand it over to future generations, in the way they have a right to be given.
A very pertinent question posed by our beloved Pope Francis in the path-breaking Encyclical Letter Laudato Si should lead us all to introspect, discern and take a call on our responsibility towards our beloved motherland and our beloved children: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” It is up to us, the present inheritors of Mother Earth to ensure an inhabitable planet for our children and the generations to come. Who else then will take care of our children, if not we?
Tomas Lobo, Aldona
Justice at midnight
Last week a Mohali court issued an arrest warrant against a political person for allegedly having made provocative tweets against a Chief Minister. But late in the night the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed that no action be taken against the person.
Let us not go into the merit or otherwise of the case but it was heartening to read that although places of worships are closed at night but the temple of justice gets opened for certain class of people.
This is not a stray incident but has happened in the past decades too and may occur in the future also. We wish that the courts would burn the mid-night oil for the citizens and clear the crores of pending cases. This would result in justice either not denied or delayed to thousands of innocent people who are languishing in prisons and others who are for years fighting civil, corporate and other cases.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Constitution and religious conversions
The ruling BJP government in Karnataka has reportedly promulgated an ordinance to bring in the contentious Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom Bill (2011), commonly known as Anti-Conversion Bill with the sole intention of henceforth blacklisting and harassing the Christian community by falsely accusing them of indulging in large scale forcible religious conversions in the State.
Hey, when our respective Gods from different religions are still not found instigating their own devotees/followers and nowhere seen fighting wars amongst themselves with guns and swords on issues of religious conversions then what is really bothering these elected political leaders of the BJP in our country today?
Our Constitution clearly gives our citizens a fundamental birth right to practice, propagate and to choose the religion of one's own free choice in a democratic country like India.
I therefore personally feel that as long as this right is fully guaranteed (of course, as long as no one is allowed to convert anyone forcibly by keeping a gun over ones head today) in the Constitution, the political rulers from most BJP ruled states should stop coming out with such stupid laws to selectively target the Christian community (which unfortunately is still stuck to just 2% even after 75 years of India's independence despite of falsely being accused of indulging in forcible religious conversions in different parts of our country by the leaders of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar) unnecessarily by spreading their own fictitious fabricated lies of forcible religious conversions to garner guaranteed Hindu votes during elections and instead should try to bring in strict laws against those currently spreading anti-minority hatred, promoting casteism/communalism, depriving the children of the poor of good quality education and who are still hell-bent on keeping all the poor people of this country forever starving/unemployed under some pretext or the other.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
Kannadiga factor in panchayat polls
A sudden spurt of interest has been generated in the upcoming panchayat elections in Goa as a Kannada group from Goa has reportedly announced its decision to contest the elections. It must be said that in a democracy everyone is free to contest the elections from any State provided he/she is a voter in that State.
The Social Media is flooded with several negative comments on the issue. Some say that Goans do not contest the elections in other states. However, no one has stopped Goans from contesting elections in other States. In a democracy it is people’s power that reigns supreme. If citizens are against a person from another State contesting in Goa, they can always vote out the candidate by using their franchise. The only point to be looked into is whether the candidate and those voters from other States residing in Goa possess dual voter’s cards, namely, one from their state of origin and the other one obtained from Goa.
Those from other States who wish to contest in the elections in Goa need to first take part in the agitation carried out by Goan activists in order to save Goa from the environmental destruction. This will show their true love for Goa. Those from other States desiring to become leaders in Goa need to make their stand known regarding the various issues plaguing our State.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Hope Sri Lanka’s new
PM will stop violence
One wonders whether Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's ploy to appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister to weather the turbulence raging in the island nation could pay dividends.
Gotabaya's older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as Prime Minister following violent protests over the political impasse and economic crisis. This is Ranil's sixth term as Premier, but he will have his task cut out in taking his country's economy off the ventilator. Ranil's appointment drew flak from various parties, but India welcomed it and expressed its willingness to work with the new government.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
