Michael Lobo deserves praise for his request to install a statue of Jack de Sequeira at the secretariat. None of the other MLAs, past or present, raised their voices in favour of Dr Sequeira, even though he was the first opposition leader and father of the opinion poll. The statue of Goa’s first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar can be seen in most places in Goa. Bandodkar and the ex-chief minister of Maharashtra, V P Naik, tried to merge Goa with Maharashtra. If Bandodkar’s dreams had come true, today we would be Maharashtrians. Goa would have been a zilla of Maharashtra, and its current ministers would have been either peons or clerks. Jack de Sequeira fought hard to keep Goa’s identity alive. People from all walks of life used to listen to his speeches during the opinion poll and later, the assembly elections. His statues would have been installed all over Goa had he belonged to the majority community. I was eleven at the time of opinion poll, but I never missed a single meeting of the United Goans Party. I only pray for Jack de Sequeira’s soul to rest in peace.
Inacio Fernandes, Candolim
