Time to be cautious
People are not taking the deadly pandemic COVID-19 seriously and are assembling in large numbers in markets and other places for shopping without taking necessary precautions.
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Being a concerned citizen, I request the government to impose fines on those people who do not wear masks and do not maintain social distancing at public places so that people can fully understand the unintended consequences of the Coronavirus.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
Fallow lies our land
With the monsoons all set to make its return in a few days’ time, it is good to go back to the days of old when the villages in Goa came alive with families engaging themselves in fruitful farming activity. It was an engagement that not only brought families and neighbours together as a community but at the end of it all, provided whole families with enough healthy food grain to last for a full year and beyond.
Our forefathers supported and sustained their families by tilling the land with the sweat of their brow, which today sadly lies fallow and barren. The huge and fertile expanse of agricultural land that once yielded bumper crops beckons us to go back to our roots and experience the joy of relishing with delight the fruits of our hard-earned labour. The recent imbroglio caused due to the sudden and unannounced lockdown that sent many running helter-skelter in search of basic necessities, is a grim reminder that we cannot always remain dependent on our neighbouring states, much less in a crisis situation like the one we’ve recently experienced.
The recent happenings have undoubtedly served as a wake-up call to return to the basics of traditional farming while taking the cue to be self-reliant and self-sufficient especially in the area of food grains, fruits, vegetables and the like. Understandably, considering the negative factors such as shortage of manpower and costs escalating by the day, community farming in the present circumstances, would be the best option to keep our fields green and growing.
In their connectedness to mother earth our forefathers admirably outshone in wisdom and foresight which we have unfortunately failed to pick up and follow. In these times of uncertainty, may their wisdom guide us to our land lying fallow and may their foresight lead us on the path to self-sufficiency.
Tomas Lobo, Pilerne
Taleigao p’yat issue
My house hall room is under repairs and when I went to search a worker at Aivao they told me that police has come for law and order where protesters have assembled in Taleigao site on account of land filling of fields adjacent to Taleigao Panchayat.
Immediately, I went to see what is happening and I was happy to see police force standing peacefully. I spoke to a Sub inspector Parab who told me that they will not harm them as they are sitting down peacefully. I only told him that they are sitting in very hot sun without umbrellas and they are waiting for some officials either from Panchayat or MLA of Taleigao or Panjim or from Govt authority like Chief Secretary to deal with problems faced by poor farmers whose paddy fields are being dumped with debris as they will lose their bread and butter.
I told him (Parab) please hurry up as they are suffering in the hot sun and you go to the Panchayat ghar and request anyone there, if not Sarpanch, to come and have a dialogue with the protesters and settle the issue amicably. He just heard but did not react. Why is such a tamasha going on near the Panchayat? If they think they need a good Panchayat ghar why take fertile land?
Brandishing papers and claiming they have permissions is meaningless. Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t make it right. Hasn’t the lockdown taught us anything? We survived the first weeks of lockdown because of the few remaining fields in Taleigao. And now our elected representatives want to destroy those also. I heard the Panchayat people want to set up HiFi ghar for the Panchayat? Being part of the Babush panel they could very well find a locality even bigger in size and accommodate whatever plans they have such as market, telephone, electricity, mall, post office and what not under one roof instead of troubling these 8 poor farmers. Why did they wait to get these trucks to fill these fields during lockdown period?
I understand they are working in the basement, but why don’t they raze down the community centre and build more floors or get a place anywhere in Taleigao but not in fields of low lying areas. I saw the video and I was really shocked that people were dragged on roads by lady police constables and physically dumped in the vehicle. This is Goa and we have always had a high standard of behaviour and given a good example to other states. This is not the way to treat human beings. We are not animals! Does Pramod Sawant know this desperate scene?
The government should modify the order and give these poor farmers their fields to cultivate and earn their bread and butter.
Stephen Dias, Dona Paula
Justice Misra, Judge who walks the talk
Greg Olsen had very aptly said ‘Change happens through example and not through just talking about it’. And this is exactly what Justice (Retd) Prafulla Kumar Misra has done, right from the day he took over as Lokayukta of Goa on April 28, 2016.
A very meticulous and no-nonsense Justice Misra was earlier heading the Goa Human Rights Commission and is now due to relinquish office as Goa Lokayukta on September 16. An awfully embarrassed Goa Government must be counting the days.
While leading an exemplary life with the utmost form of ethical conduct, Justice Misra has kept away from socializing. He has even kept aloof from the Independence Day, Liberation and Republic Day receptions hosted by the Governor at Raj Bhavan. Justice Misra is of the opinion that as Lokayukta it is not proper for him to mingle and jingle with politicians and public officials whose acts of omission and commission he has to oversee. Justice Misra has always recognized and ensured that the important role of the Lokayukta as an anti-corruption ombudsman was maintained to enable people to bring corruption to the fore mainly amongst the politicians and officers in Government service. Frequent socialising with particular members of the legal profession or with the litigants, including potential litigants raises suspicion that the judge is inclined to undue influence in the discharge of duties. A judge must inevitably choose to be quite aloof and isolated from the community at large and should not socialize with lawyers including the Advocate General, individuals or political leaders and Ministers.
Many years ago we have all been witness to that frequent socializing by the then Advocate General with a High Court Judge. A good Judge was led into the world of vices that even his wife had to request the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court not to post her husband in Goa again. Once you become a Judge, one without doubt has to self impose certain palpable limitations. Judges owe a solemn duty to the community at large and everyday must question themselves whether they have done or said anything which is inconsistent with the oath of office they have taken and which otherwise is conflicting with their obligations as a judge.
In Goa the Judges and those aspiring to be one could never find a better role model than Justice P.K Misra, who firmly feels that clean persons in black robes are required to uphold the independence and the integrity of the judiciary.
It is vitally important in a democracy, that individual judges and the judiciary as a whole are impartial and independent of all external pressures.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
