Goa will extract accountability from museum committee
There is a tinge of acute depression and sadness at the manner in which the Committee and perhaps to an extent the government has reacted to the robbery and murder at the Museum of Christian Art. It has tragically boiled down to the committee expressing regret, concern and sympathy and putting on record their efforts in cooperating with the investigation.
Perhaps, just perhaps, Goa and its fierce protectors of its heritage were expecting a far more proactive redressal of critical concerns over the manner in which our priceless treasures are being protected, besides handing over the inventory contained in one piece of furniture where the stolen items were kept. This act in itself tells the larger story that the complete inventory of each and every item in the museum has not been done.
Herald has asked serious questions, most of which have remained unanswered, not just to rip apart the veneer of “all is well”, with our heritage protection and those who guard it without having the credentials to do so. The questions were asked so that the weaknesses could be the starting point of resurrecting and restoring our heritage protection systems before we went onto protecting our heritage.
The managing committee of the museum should have swung into action and dropped everything else to look at the gaping holes in various aspects of security and initiated an action plan. Yes, the loss has been huge but there is so much else inside the museum that still lies unprotected. The committee seems to be relying on the principle that thieves don’t attack the same place twice in quick succession to be nonchalant about gaps raised. A quick recall of what needs to be done and hasn’t so far. 1) The burglar alarm system needs to be rectified 2) The electrical system needs to be repaired so that a portion of the place is not in the dark 3) The number of guards have to be increased and the security agency’s credentials need to be verified 4) A detailed inventory of each and every item has to be prepared, made available and insured.
Funds cannot and should not ever be a problem. The Chairman of the committee Father Avinash Rebello’s comment to Herald that all artefacts have not been insured because the premium would be too expensive is shocking. He needs to explain if this issue was deliberated by the committee and the minutes circulated. If funds were short to insure the treasures, a fund raising initiative should have been taken. Was that done?
The larger point sadly, is that on too many fronts those managing the affairs of the museum have been caught out. Goans cannot risk such treasures being under the custody of a group of people who don’t care. Their inactions have made it obvious that they don’t care. To start with we need detailed accounts of how the money accrued from received funds for security and other sources have been utilised. This is a public issue and needs a public response and since the states’ archives department gives it an annual grant, the Right to Information shall be used to get basic information on these lines out. In addition, we hope that at least one elected representative takes up the issue and asks questions for which answers have to be provided on the floor of the house. Accountability was so far expected. It shall now be extracted from the committee.
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people’s edit
The time has come…
Praxy Fernandes
The time for maintaining the bare minimum identity for Goans has come again this election. I say bare minimum, because we Goans are already a minority in our own land, thanks to the hypocrisy of politicians and many of my fellow narrow minded Goans who feel outsiders are necessary to help them in their daily lives by employing them to do even menial jobs. We Goans must come together to seek a separate identity, even if it means revisiting the Apex Court Judgment that Goa was illegally annexed by the Indian army. The time has come today for a second Opinion Poll as I read in the newspapers recently that the Marathiwadis have appealed to the voters to support BJP on the basis of that Marathi should be one of the mediums of education for our Goan children. Vote for a party whose candidates support Konkani and English medium of education. Konkani, because it is our mother tongue and English, because it is the only language which can help our Goans especially the villagers, to prosper in life. We must defeat those ugly rotten minded people who say our culture will be damaged if English is promoted as a medium of instruction, and they themselves willingly send their own children/family members to study in English medium schools but want to force others into sending their children to study in Marathi and Konkani in devnagiri script. The time has also come to decide on the natural wealth of Goa which is in the hands of a few people today. I am not surprised that BJP has dangled the carrot of mining dumps to lure a candidate from minority religion by saying they will support sale of these dumps. Shouldn’t we Goans force the government to declare the dumps/mines as state property so that proceeds from their sale are used for our welfare? The time has come to show the door to politicians who took revenge on many innocent people who opposed their wrongful politics. The time has come for us Goans to show the door to communal minded politicians who ruined our long-lived harmony by inciting people on the basis of religion and caste. Apologizing for the past does not erase scars. Some politicians even went to the extent of cancelling holidays and creating false CDs to portray Christianity in bad light. Admitting some Christians into their party as candidates should not convince us of the hidden agendas of this politicians/party. If some have joined proven communal party, they have done so only for their own selfish gains. The time has come to shun politicians who promise regularizing of illegal shanties and dwellings of outsiders, gimmicks only to build vote banks.
Ladies especially must not fall prey to any incentives promised by politicians because Goa is not only about money promised to you. God save my Goa from rogues
