The youth of Goa has decided to step in and add their considerable might in the fight against the three liner projects that are being imposed on Goa. The youth have in the past come out on the road in fights against injustice in the past. The question that is now being asked how the voice of the youth can be heard and what are they doing to achieve this.
Sheryl Fernandes writer and activist who was involved in the youth movement related to the Mollem projects was clear in her thought. She said “We’re not going to stop protesting until our Chief Minister revokes those three licenses. He wanted to discuss with the youth but our demands have been very simple. We won’t tolerate any tokenism. The Goa Government and all user agencies have still not filed their affidavits to the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court. The youth are fed up with these delaying tactics. It shows the seriousness or rather the lack of it that has led to all of us endangering our lives and coming out”. She said they planned to take it forward via peaceful forms of protests which include song, dance, art, and theatre. The youth of Goa, she said was connected with these forests and they were working in all their capacity to help save it in their own talented ways. Sheryl said “We’re just a generation that wants to be liberated from an atmosphere that’s dying and we don’t care for your politics. We also hope to be able to meet our respected President to put our concerns across since the elected government of Goa is failing us time and again”.
The youth, she said had written a letter to the President. She said they had taken the media by storm and they would continue to dissent in a peaceful manner. She ended by saying “We want to send a strong warning that we understand what’s happening and we shouldn’t be taken for fools anymore. We are gathering in numbers day by day and staying abreast in all matters related to our Mollem jungles”.
This campaign has attracted youth from all strands of society. Nikita Braganza an artist and handler of the Save Mollem feed on twitter said the youth had been protesting since June using art, music, singing songs, and having flash mobs and on-ground protests. She said “We held a press conference and are still being ignored by the government. We will continue till they listen to us. We will continue to do flash mobs, art installations, and keep the pressure on. We want to meet the CM and the President. But first, we want the projects revoked first before we talk. There is no point in being sidetracked while the project is still on. The government should listen to us because they have not followed due process. The Environmental Impact Assessment report has not been checked. Due process is important, please do it all properly.”
Mithila Prabhudesai another member of the youth involved in the struggle said it was all about the future which was being destroyed which forced them to raise their voice. She said “Our voice needs to be heard but sadly, the authorities feign ignorance or they showcase tokenism, which is honestly very disheartening. But we will not stop, we cannot give up. We might be tired, but we will go ahead and continue raising voice”.
The entire campaign she said was aimed at expressing dissent, creatively and that is something they would continue to do. She said “We draw, we sing, we dance our way through this journey. The way forward is to make more and more people aware of the discrepancies with the said projects and build resistance against them. We will probably have more tweetstorms coming up or maybe some challenges or contests for Instagram. With regards to on-ground protests we will plan creative protests. There is a whole set of possibilities of how we can express dissent. But one thing that’s certain is that we are not going to back down”.
Priyanka Fernandes has been involved with the campaign and has been part of Fr Bolmax Pereira’s campaigns in the recent past. She said “Firstly, let’s make it clear that the youth of Goa are not inclined to any political party but are solely fighting for the future of Goa. In my opinion, the youth of Goa must try to nationalise this news as far as possible. Give interviews on national platforms and make our voices heard on a global level via mediums like Twitter, Instagram, etc. At the moment, the youth have sought permission to personally meet with the Governor to discuss this issue. But I feel only closing down of MPT can put a full stop to this issue once and for all. People think that MPT has generated jobs for many Goans, but statistics prove that it is mostly the outsiders gaining from this, with Adani being the biggest gainer”.
Mervyn Pereira said everything had been done in a peaceful manner lately but if it was ignored the voices and agitations will grow stronger and bitter. He said “We are watching every move of the government and we will remember each and every statement, promises, and assurances given to us in 2022. If the government goes ahead to cut a single we are ready to die to save it and it will no more be a peaceful protest”.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. One can only hope both the parties meet and discuss the issues because in that lies the future of a peaceful and prosperous Goa.
