THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024
PRATIK PARAB
Margao: The Lohia Maidan was the venue which lit the spark of a revolution for civil liberties in 1946. In the 75th year of that historic event, the Lohia Maidan itself needs a revolution to revive itself from the ground where rag-pickers frequent and unsavory activities are carried out in the dark
Drunkards at the ‘maidan’, don’t quite add to the revolutionary spirit
The historic Lohia Maidan of Margao has been battered with problems in recent times. It is open ground like that of Azad Maidan in Panjim and has faced issues all the time. The Lohia Maidan stage and space behind it have become a favourite for rag pickers and drunkards who sit here day in and day out. Several attempts were made to drive them away from there but they still come back.
Activists and various prominent Margao residents have been asking for a security guard here to keep an eye on the maidan and the activities going on at the ground. However, the Margao Municipal Council has failed to do even this bare minimum.
Loo & behold: The Lohia Maidan is also a public toilet
The maidan has also been used as a public urinal by taxi, rickshaw, operators and other business owners. This hasn’t stopped even after convincing and warning.
MMC asked GSUDA to handle refurbishment of maidan
Margao Municipal Council had resolved for a refurbishment of the entire space and was being handled by Goa State Urban Development Authority (GSUDA) however there is no sign of that work beginning.
There are encroachments too and the historic turf has been reduced to a utility place by erecting an electricity transformer.
Advocate Cleofato Coutinho said, "Lohia Maidan is a historic place and not only a public meeting place and it ought to have been preserved as such. For us, it has great personal importance. So many agitations have been successfully launched from there. The student movement in Goa was bred there."
Lohia Maidan upkeep not seen as a priority by Govt
Adv Coutinho said that somehow the politicians remember the place only on June 18. The beautification work has not started only because the powers that be do not look at it as a priority area. They have very little attachment to people's movements and look at it as a public meeting place. The fact of the matter is it ought to be showcased as a place where the spark was lit for the liberation of Goa" said Coutinho added.
Professor Susheela Mendes of the Government College in Quepem, who is also a historian and researcher with deep knowledge of the freedom movement, said, "Beautification of a historic place is important, especially Lohia Maidan where it all began, leading to the ‘Civil Disobedience Movement’ in which so many patriots being incarcerated for long periods”
She added, “Building monuments is one thing but spreading awareness about the historic venue is another," she said. "How many of the Margao schools take their students to visit this place and generate a discussion of the event and the aftermath? Tourism is focussed on beaches, temples, churches; it should also showcase the history of Goa to our own people first and then foreigners. The government should, therefore, beautify with caution, and retain the heritage value of the place" advised Mendes. "
One of the stalwarts of Goa’s language agitation, Uday Bhembre added, "The government which we have has no pride of Goa's language, culture and liberation at all. Revolution Day is being held only because it is a continuous celebration, but a government, which is not bothered about the Opinion Poll day and Statehood day is expected to ignore the historic Lohia Maidan.
Meanwhile, the Goa Forward Party President Vijai Sardesai said that the Governor of Goa has expressed disgust over the delay in the refurbishment of the historic Lohia Maidan in Margao. Speaking on the occasion of the 75th Goa Revolution Day public meeting, he said "During my tenure as the minister I facilitated a resolution of the MMC for the refurbishment of the Lohia Maidan and the Governor had inspected the maidan. However, this bankrupt government is spending on other unnecessary things except for this important work of Lohia Maidan.
Vijai alleged that the tender is not happening as someone wants a commission against the work. "We have told the contractor not to give commission at least because this is the work of the revolutionary that was Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia", he added.
