SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024
President Ram Nath Kovind, Goa is honoured by your presence. We heartily welcome you to the Goa you know and love. And that Goa exists and thrives.
At the same time, many of us in Goa feel that piece by piece, little by little, Goa is changing. And Goans do not like all the change that has been happening.
It surely is a place that many in India aspire to come to for rest and relaxation, for holidays, for putting their lives on track. Goa has for decades welcomed tourists and enjoyed being a part of the narrative of hospitality which makes Goa one of the best-known places in India internationally. It’s a destination by itself. Goa is the destination.
At the same time, there is another Goa. A Goa which is preventing Goans from giving their best and making it the Goa we all know, the Goa of togetherness and unity, a Goa where the lives of sons and daughters of the soil has become one of struggle, a Goa where identities are getting lost along with lands and homes.
The good part is that Goans are not giving up. In every village or little town, you will see Goans who are not fighting for themselves, or their families but fighting for a better Goa. They are fighting for the debris on their fields, their lands being taken away due to double tracing of then railway lines, for their chapel in Arrosim whose entrance is getting destroyed to pave way for railway tracks. And Hon President, Goans are simple people. They do not want much. All they want is that their simple lives should remain as they are.
They want a status quo. Fish in the water that will not be sucked away by the LED lights of boats, fertile fields, unbroken bunds, no flooding of their lands, protection for their cashew trees and other farmlands from being bulldozed for construction projects in the name of development, with they hardly getting any compensation.
And now we have a new virus. On this day of your visit, Your Excellency, the people of Goa wish to share with you the new virus and pandemic that has plagued Goa and needs urgent inoculation.
We are talking about the virus of loot and plunder where ancestral properties and houses belonging to hundreds of Goans have been illegally grabbed by using forged documents and through fake inventory proceedings. And such Goans are running from pillar to post to get their properties back.
Your Excellency as you are aware Herald is the oldest newspaper established in 1900 and has always been the Voice of Goa. Herald has exposed numerous stories of such dubious methods and land grabbing and highlighted the plight of several Goans who have been exploited and struggling to get their properties back.
We at Herald are hopeful that Your Excellency will apply the right correctives so that pristine glory is restored in the tiny State.
Goans have from the time that Goa became a part of India have done two things very proudly and credibly. They have assimilated into India they were now a part of. Goa opened its doors to the whole of India and became a jewel of tourism, culture, music, and sports. At the same time, Goans across the state preserved the basic identity of Goa, its language, its culture, and even its laws. Goa embraced both its nationhood and its uniqueness in a manner that benefited both the locals and the rest of the country. It is a state where all faiths have lived and thrived beautifully. It has been an example of plurality, diversity, and unity.
Therefore, it’s not difficult to set wrongs right. Just a little bit of will, which we sure you as the occupant of the highest office in the land, the Hon Governor of Goa, Dr. Sreedharan Pillai who is a people’s Governor who visits the remotest villages of Goa to understand the land and its people better and the Chief Minister who wants to leave a legacy of good governance behind, will jointly give the Goa that Goans deserve, back to them.
Goans feel that today is the time that we must all reaffirm and re-pledge to make the ideal Goa thrive again
You, the Honorable President will be laying the foundation stone of the new Raj Bhavan in Goa. A foundation stone is a sign of new beginnings. It is also a symbol of resurrection and rejuvenation. At this time, it will perhaps be prudent to also look at the rejuvenation and resurrection of Goa, and instead of building a new Goa, let us go back to the principles of the Goa we always knew.
The Goa which led simple lives, where needs were little. The fields were full of produce and the waters were full of fish. A Goa where festivals were the occasion of joint celebration of communities and not an assertion of faith, a Goa where religion-based mega conferences and workshops were not needed because everyone knew the simple lesson that we are one.
Let us not have a Goa where the elderly have to run to courts, weep constantly to see the properties of their ancestors grabbed and robbed, and Goa getting stripped of both its land and identity. We pray to your Hon President, to also lay the foundation stone for the repair and resurrection of Goa.
May God bless you.
