Young boys and girls congregating at the Church Square with placards like ‘Save Mollem’ and “No to coal” were picked up and detained. They were driven to different locations across the state. The safety of the President is paramount but it was quite clear, these kids harbored no such harmful intention. It was not protesting, no protests were planned and we wanted to celebrate Liberation Day. Please do not call it a protest. Why can’t we celebrate, we had plays, shorts skits planned. We want to pay respect to our freedom fighters on the 19th. I understand our cops were extra cautious and were following orders. But I still don’t understand the action, was it justified. We love our President. One of the boys felt giddy and yes the police called the ambulance and he was taken care of. Those detained were driven to Ponda, Porvorim to Mapusa, and later Agassaim. The young boys and girls are quite shocked by what happened to them on Liberation day. I know the youth will fight for Mollem. We remained undeterred. -Sherry Fernandes youth activist
We were at the church square to celebrate 60 years of Goa’s liberation from the Portuguese. But the way we were picked up and shoved into police buses like criminals for just peacefully gathering has made us all feel like we’re in no way free! It is criminal on the part of the government to treat us like this. We want a better future and now our resolve is only stronger! -Ezekiel D’Souza youth activist
I had just reached the church square and sat down to relax, whilst a few kids were sitting around, playing the gumot, and celebrating our liberation day. All of a sudden the cops came and just started pulling up anyone who was a Goan and shoved us into busses. When we asked them what’s going on or where or why have we been grabbed, there was no response. The cops had taken off their tags and just drove off. Old, young, minors, men, and women were all dumped into the busses with no regards to personal safety or social distancing. The cops acted as a mob force and action against them needs to be taken immediately! -Clinton Paiva youth activist
Firstly it was not a protest. We had come to celebrate our liberation day, through dance, skit, street play flash mob which would be over by 4 pm. To avoid any inconvenience we told our youth to park their vehicles at Patto and walk silently. But the youth was picked up by police just at the entrance of the city. I would say kidnapped and were taken for a stroll without informing them where they were taken… How would a teenager react to this???? Fear and panic aren’t they?? But our brave youth kept questioning and demanded answers. We were the real freedom fighters of the day. Liberation Day was celebrated on the bus by the youth and not by the govt (they just pretended to celebrate it). Our next move is for the press to show the right narrative of this story and not to term us as protestors and agitators but as warriors fighting to liberate Goa from the clutches of crony capitalist and their puppets. The press has to help us reach out to our susegad Goemkars to wake up and fight for your right… #Amchem goem amkam zai…. Amchem goen vikpak diunchem na…. -Mervyn Pereira youth activist
Despite asking the police several times they were not willing to reveal why we were being detained. On the 19th no one was protesting. We were wrongly framed as protesters by the media. The government planned and wanted to break the unity among the Goan youth. Whatever happened on Dec 19 2020 has made the youth stronger. We will not allow our Goa to get destroyed and will fight till the end for a better future. With regards to our future plans and actions, we will reveal them at the appropriate time. Right now I will say the youth will hit back stronger -Eric Dsouza youth activist
The government has made us stronger by detaining us on Liberation day. I feel the police were only following orders from the Govt. There were policemen who felt sorry for us and said they were with us but had to do their duty and follow instructions. The youth are rising as one and our government is afraid of us. Without winning the battle of saving Goa from the clutches of greedy capitalists & politicians we won’t stop -Romeo Dias youth activist
The incident that took place on 19th December 2020, clearly points towards the cowardice of the Goa Government and already is a patriotic victory for the youth of Goa. We knew we could affect change and so did the Goa government that is why they stopped us. Like always it was just a peaceful parade, and no protest was planned as we too understand what national security is and we wouldn’t like to terrorise our president in our own state. That’s not something we intend to do. Yet we were forcefully stopped and taken around to different places without telling us where and why we were been taken. What about our security? People fell sick without food and water for 5 long hours. Nobody was allowed to use washrooms. Is this how you are supposed to treat the youth who have not committed any crime in the first place? -Sherly Fernandes youth activist
