With regard to the editorial of 16 November. “Alina should quit, if special status is indeed dear to her” the following are my comments:-
The questions asked in the editorial are many and pertinent but I beg to differ on the concluding statement “she should resign as minister and then pursue the cause”. In all fairness your editorial should also have demanded the resignation of the Congress and other opposition MLAs who lent their support to the unanimous Assembly resolution demanding Special Status. Both the Congress and the Goa Forward Party have vociferously condemned the BJP ‘U-turn’ on Special Status and have stated that their forthcoming election manifesto will contain the demand for special status for Goa. If the Congress and the Goa Forward Party really meant business their MLAs should immediately have resigned from the Assembly in the same manner as the Punjab Congress MLAs have resigned from the Punjab Assembly on the question of Punjab sharing water with Haryana. Surely you do not expect one MLA to single-handedly obtain Special Status for Goa.
You are rightly questioning Alina on the issue of Special Status. But shouldn’t the Congress also be exposed? Sonia Gandhi promised Goa Special Status many years back but failed to deliver it to Goa when the Congress was ruling at the centre. Now the Congress in Goa claims it will fight for and deliver Special Status to Goa if elected to power in the next elections. The Lok Sabha is now controlled by the BJP so shouldn’t the Congress be questioned how it will secure Special Status for Goa in the changed situation? One wonders why probing questions are not asked of the Congress Party? Is it because Alina is a soft target?
Some of the people demanding Alina’s resignation on the issue of Special Status are doing so in the hope that the vacant BJP Cortalim seat will then be allotted to turncoats and corrupt elements such as Mauvin Godinho or Ramakant Borkar. Don’t you feel by Alina’s resignation, the hopes and wishes of such vested people would be fulfilled? Special Status is no doubt a genuine need for Goa. It would be very interesting if the names of the politicians among the present batch of 40 MLAs who are really interested in attainment of Special Status and their efforts during the last 4½ years in this direction are made public. The number of public/private meetings and other steps taken by them should be disclosed. This will show who is genuine and who is merely paying lip service to the cause.
Goa needs Special Status to protect its scarce land resources, its heritage and its unique identity and not to get a financial package which is the demand of Luizinho & Co.
In my humble opinion the Herald needs to also expose the hypocrisy of the other 39 MLAs and the political parties who are merely paying lip service to the cause of Special Status for Goa. Alina’s resignation is sought “even if it is a token gesture”. Goa does not need or deserve token gestures. Hasn’t Alina, after divestment of her earlier heavy weight portfolios, already paid a heavy price for her standing by and for the genuine needs and aspirations of the people of Goa.
In my opinion the Press should be more even handed in its criticism of Alina.
