The ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme has turned into a political weapon by which to fling mud at certain quarters. While the Goa Forward Party and the Congress Party trade allegations on the scheme, the Church in Goa too was targeted.
In recent days there were anonymous accusations on the social media of the Church opposing various government projects. The announcement of the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme changed that as the Church was then accused of falling in line with the government on the project. While a few people have gone overboard in accusing the Church of capitulating to the government, some of the posts on social media turned out to be unwarranted personal accusations, rather than pointing out to any flaws in the scheme. The church then explained why it had not turned down the scheme that will bring in funds from corporate entities to aid in the preservation of the monuments.
According to the clarification given by the Church authorities, representatives of the Archbishop and the Archdiocese who attended the meeting with the government authorities, said it was explained to them that the scheme envisages to enhance the cultural importance of the heritage site and to provide world class tourist facilities but without touching the core of the monument or carrying out any conservation or restoration works. The Archdiocese also pointed out that the Church, being the owner of the Catholic religious sites in Old Goa, cannot be ignored or excluded from any MOUs that may be eventually drawn with regard to the provision of the peripheral infrastructures or amenities.
The further wordings of the clarification are important as it said, “On these conditions, the church representatives agreed with the rest of the participants that the proposed ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ should not be rejected.” The Church has used the term ‘not be rejected’ in connection with this scheme, rather than an expression that would denote its wholehearted acceptance to the scheme. If the Archdiocese has accepted the scheme, this explanation should put to rest the controversy over the Church over the issue.
But, it has to be understood that it’s not the Church acceptance of the scheme that comes under scanner, but that of the government. It is uncanny as to how a government that had claimed it was unaware of the monuments being listed for the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme and even said it would not be acceptable, quickly fell in line with the scheme, with no hesitation displayed after the initial outburst against the scheme. On the other hand the Church authorities never did speak against the scheme, other than to say they were unaware of it.
What is still not known is who recommended the monuments to be included under this scheme. Will the people of Goa ever know this? Or will the political parties only trade allegations on this, squeezing as much political mileage from it as possible?
A particular monument may be owned by an institution or the government, but heritage belongs to the people. The Church is the people, the government is the people. If a corporate entity is going to be designated a ‘monument mitra’ with the aim being its preservation and boosting footfalls, this corporate also has the duty to be a friend of the people. There have to be systems in place to ensure that there will be no restrictions on the entry of the faithful in the churches that will be part of the scheme. Having assured the Church authorities of this, it is now the duty of the government to ensure that it does not go back on this guarantee. There has not been wholehearted acceptance of the scheme. The people will be watching to ensure that the monuments are not in any way privatised, a fear that still exists in the minds of the people.
