Unite and save Goa
We Goans are lucky to be born in Goa because God blessed us with nature’s bounty. But now because of the 3 projects Goa will suffer in future. Sadly the attitude of many Goans is still Amkam kiteak podlam? The 3 linear projects will cut forests, pollute Goa and ruin health. MLAs are silent, or supporting or just giving lip service. Still amkam kiteak podlam? If Dr Jack Sequeira and thousands others had kept silent, we would have been part of Maharashtra now.
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If these 3 projects ruin Goa, can anyone reverse the damage except God? We Goans rather trust the scientists and NGOs than the U-turn politicians. Let us all unite and support them.
Godwin D’Costa, by email
Dogwhistling and suppression of dissent
It seems that suppression of dissent is the new normal and is here to stay, also being an echo chamber of the Centre has now been institutionalised in most States .When the country is reeling under the horrific tragedy of the Uttarakhand disaster, the Rajya Sabha is discussing strange terms like ‘andolanjivis’, ‘parjivis’ and FDI (foreign destructive ideology). This is simply dogwhistling, a clarion call to the faithful to seek out imagined enemies of the State and crush them. Within hours of this, our Hon’ble CM let fly a tweet quoting the exact same words drawing parallels with the Goan context. Oxford dictionary shall have to issue new volumes to accommodate these new terms flying thick and fast.
Dissent is anathema to governments and crushing it is mandatory for the police and law enforcement authorities. Recently anti-coal and Green activists voicing their opposition to the three linear projects were stopped from entering Vasco, Mopa airport zone where due compensation was not paid to farmers whose land had been acquired was notified as ‘prohibited place’ to prevent protests. Every failure of the government is now being conveniently blamed on conspiracies hatched by foreign forces inimical to India’s interests. The State is truly running amok, soon ‘democracy’ is something our children will only read about in history/political science textbooks, maybe it will be expunged altogether. The courts can do precious little to break this chain of events for they too are fearful of the State’s wrath. We are hurtling down towards an extremely bleak totalitarian future where every individual and institution not doing the government’s bidding shall be punished and made an example of. God save us.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
So near yet so far
On Feb 4, 2021, Patricia H Dorsey, wife of Arnold J Dorsey, alias Englebert Humperdink, the legendary ‘Ten Guitars’ crooner, passed away from Covid 19. She was his wife of 56 years and the words he used to disclose her demise is thought provoking: “After nearly a year of an abundance of caution and care, Covid has caught up with us and found a way into our home.”
Sadly, the vaccine too is just around the corner! Imagine, with his wealth, in Goa, he could have bought a hospital, declared her a health worker, and got her vaccinated, with help from the IMA.
In Goa, every alternate day, two people lose their lives to Covid. The vaccine is just a few months away for the common people: should not we ‘keep our senses’ and tread even more carefully now? Make that little bit of extra sacrifice? Those living off the tourism pie, including politicians, have lost all sense. They want everything, even the Carnival, caring two hoots for those people, striving with an abundance of caution and care for themselves, providing more avenues for the Covid to creep into their homes.
Will people die if the Carnival is cancelled this year? It is not just senseless greed for money alone that is clouding our thinking: it is a big fat ego of our ‘intelligence’.
R Fernandes, Margao
Let us make ours, a healthy democracy
I agree with AC Menezes’ views on the disturbing state of our democracy expressed in his letter ‘Debasement of Democracy’ (Herald, February 9). Our power seeking politicians are making a mockery of our democracy by taking the voters for granted. Yes, our vote is sacred and not to be treated as garbage by the victorious candidate. In recent times, we have witnessed how elected representatives have junked their party after the results or after the government has been formed.
I second Menezes’ plea to the authorities to do something to ensure that Democracy in India is given the respect it deserves. To be fair to all and without getting into controversy, there seems to be a way out. They could make it mandatory for all candidates to execute some sort of an ‘irrevocable bond’ at the time of filing nominations, which would debar them from changing sides during their term in office.
Power should be in the hands of the people. Let’s make our Democracy a healthy Democracy.
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Foreign celebrities are paid Twitter handlers
The law should take its own course against Swedish teen climate campaigner Greta Thunberg of conspiring to defame India through her tweets in support of farmers in India. Among to that, social-media handles are being used to push malicious and hateful content by some unknowns who have vested interest in spreading disaffection and ill-will against the Government of India.
Moreover it seems like that these foreign celebrities are paid Twitter handlers. The farmers’ protest as part of an “international conspiracy” to defame India, in which teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, singer Rihanna and some other celebrities are involved.
Farm laws are an excuse to target our holy democracy. Under the garb of these protests an international conspiracy is being hatched against India. It also indicates execution of a conspiracy behind the January 26, 2021 violence. Surprisingly, Sweden and other Scandinavian countries have world’s highest per capita carbon emissions. But activist Greta Thunberg never addresses those countries and looks within. This itself shows that she is a pawn of a larger conspiracy of business in the name of climate change. These foreign celebrities take undue advantage of their popularity and try to poke their noses. The fading stars rely on controversy to stay relevant.
KG Vilop, Chorao
Bypassing rules leads to disaster
They call this Chanakyagiri but it is nothing but sly ways to bypass rules/laws. They did it when they passed Electoral Bonds as a money bill which rendered the Rajya Sabha, where they did not have the numbers irrelevant. Char Dham project, a 900 km of highways, are being built in one of India’s most fragile and important ecosystems without a study measuring the environmental impact. Ordinarily, a highway project on this scale would require a full-scale environmental impact assessment under India’s laws without which the project cannot be implemented. But the Modi government found a way to avoid an environmental scrutiny of the Char Dham project.
This project was divided into “53 civil works”, each less than 100 km in length, separated by 16 bypasses. Highway expansion projects of less than 100 km in India have been exempt from an environmental impact assessment. In reality, it has always been one continuous project. This was a tacit used by the road ministry to bypass environmental scrutiny. Avoiding an environmental scrutiny is short sighted development that leads to long term environmental disaster.
Goa needs to be alert to the sly ways of government in the three projects that are being pushed down the throat of Goans.
DC Dias, Taleigao
