Fr Stan got his freedom finally
Fr Stan Swamy has breathed his last after being repeatedly denied bail. He has finally got his freedom after being unjustly imprisoned for around 8.5 months, without getting bail. He has gone into a land where no bail is required, into the hands of a Loving father. But a question comes to mind, when did Fr Stan die? Did he die on July 5? No, Fr. Stan died the day he was wrongly implicated in the Bhima-Koregaon case in which he was seemingly not connected at all. He died the day he was imprisoned. He died the day he was denied a sipper which he needed desperately on account of his physical condition. He died more than 8.5 months back when he was repeatedly denied bail on frivolous grounds.
Yes, Fr Stan died when all those right thinking, highly qualified professionals who have passed out from the portals of the Jesuit and other Christian institutions in the country, and the so-called peace loving citizens of this country, remained silent while he languished in prison, for fear of incurring the wrath of the authorities.
Fr Stan has received his reward for fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, underprivileged class of society. What reward can we expect for remaining silent while unjust treatment is meted out to others in society? Yes, if anything, it is our conscience which has died a long time back. When are we going to speak up, when there is nobody left to speak up for us?
Melville X. D’Souza, Mumbai
Award in Fr Stan’s memory
To honour the memory of Fr Stan Swamy, and to keep alive his legacy, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) must institute an annual award to be given to one or more activists working for social justice. This award must not be restricted to Christians only but open to people of all faiths. The award should carry a substantial sum of money as many of the activists are facing trumphed up charges but lack the financial resources to retain competent lawyers.
The award will help boost the morale of social activists who at present feel that they are alone in fighting the injustices being meted out to the marginalised. It will also show that we are not cowards and support actions that are just and righteous.
Robert Castellino, Mumbai
Diesel hike and fishing community
Over the past few months citizens of the country had to bear with the steep rise in the price of fuel. Goa being a coastal state, fishing happens to be one of the main activities which involve thousands of Goan families. Many of them own fishing trawlers and large fishing boats which go out in the deep sea to catch the big fish. However, the rising price of diesel could put a huge dent to their profits. Large fishing boats consume hundreds of litres of diesel. However, at times these fishing boats have to return with a small catch thereby suffering a huge loss. Rise in price of diesel affects the operating time, the frequency of fishing trips and areas covered during fishing. Many fishing boats could have stopped going into the sea altogether due to the prohibitive price of diesel.
As a result of this, the quantity of fish available for the general public in the market is considerably less, leading to price-hike of the staple food of Goans. The government needs to come to the aid of the Goan fishing community by providing diesel at a subsidised price. If the price of the fuel keeps on increasing further, the fishing activities in the State could die a natural death. Goans will then have to rely on fish coming from other States which could be laced with preservatives since this fish could be taking a couple of days to reach Goa.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Honour arbitration judgements
Recently a French court ordered freezing of over $ 24 million of Indian sovereign assets in the country to force the Government of India to make good an International Arbitration Tribunal order. A private transnational conglomerate, ironically owned by a Non Resident Indian had taken up the matter of arbitrary slapping of the ill conceived retrospective tax amendment Act 2012 on his energy company with the GoI but matters could not be sorted out amicably and the government sold off the company’s assets to recover what it perceived as justified taxes calculated on a retrospective basis.
Disputing the GoI’s claims the entity sought arbitration proceedings, the judgement of which swung in the transnational’s favour citing violation of fair and equitable standards of bilateral investment treaties. A telecom major earlier had won a similar award against the GoI on the same grounds. There is also a war with a social media giant which is hogging headlines at present, we seem to be at loggerheads with everybody. India might soon become an international pariah as a jurisdiction which is not reliable and possibly Foreign Direct Investment will take a big hit.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Dilip Kumar, a cinematic legend
Dilip Kumar was one of India’s most talented and respected actors and was known for his roles as a tragic hero in Bollywood films. Born Mohammed Yusuf Khan in 1922 in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, he was known by the screen name of Dilip Kumar once he joined Bollywood in the 1940s.
His death is a loss to both India and Pakistan. His first film was ‘Jwar Bhata’ and his last film was ‘Qila’. He was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015. He will be remembered as a cinematic legend.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
