Resumption of mining in Goa
These days everybody is shouting at the top of their voices for resumption of mining in Goa. But Goans are still waiting to know the names of those mine owners who were extracting mine illegally from 2007 till 2012 due to which there was a huge loss of Rs 35,000 crores to the State exchequer.
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It’s time to identify them and take action against them, if necessary even put them behind bars. Simultaneously recover from them the said loss of Rs35,000 crores. Then only mining can be resumed legally.
Why is the State government quiet? Why there is no transparency? If the above steps are not taken and mining is started then the same mess will be repeated and again Goa Foundation will be forced to approach court and the results everybody knows.
Natividade Fernandes, Cavelossim
All things have small beginnings
This has reference to the article ‘A promising young robber’ (Herald, May 9, 2022). That was some interesting insight into the subject of robbery, about the increasing trend of robbing gold chains. And then to the subject of robbing mangoes. All big things, they say, have small beginnings, and so does robbery, that’s true.
As Joseph narrates the incident of the young man in jail who graduated from small crimes like robbing mangoes into a big criminal.
It is indeed a traumatic experience for the person who has been robbed of a gold chain, straight from his or her neck. And now in urban cities like Mumbai, there have been disturbing incidents of mobiles being robbed on the streets and especially in running trains. The tragic part is that, the victims have either got seriously injured while resisting the robbers or have lost their lives in several incidents. The police of course are at their wit’s end as to how to handle such crimes. This indeed is a difficult task.
In the meanwhile, the people are struggling trying to protect their precious belongings, including their mangoes. Shifting the blame on to somebody else is not ethical. We need to take responsibility for our own actions. Of course, elders should not shy away from their responsibility of imbibing good values into our children while they are young. A robber is not beyond redemption of course, as we have seen how the thief hanging on the cross at Calvary, owned up to his crime and secured his place in paradise.
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Maintain communal harmony
We hear what is happening these days in Goa regarding issues related to Catholic religion, I don’t understand why no Goans 400 years ago raised any objection to calling St Francis Xavier as Goencho Saib.
It looks like people were living in communal harmony then why not now? People are raking up this only to create a communal divide between other religions. It is not correct to say that the government will rebuild temples demolished by Portuguese there were also forts, churches, temples and mosques destroyed by different rulers before, so in a secular country the government should rebuild all and not only temples.
Some disgruntled people want to make Goa Files to show that there were only Hindu freedom fighters who were killed or atrocities made on them and not Catholics and Muslims. Are this people saying that there were no Catholic and Muslim freedom fighters fighting the Portuguese regime there will be many if we go through the history so saying only Hindus have gone and fought to liberate Goa is absolutely wrong and unethical as they are doing so to give a communal colour to the liberation of Goa. Hence we should not be concerned about this trivial issues instead the government should focus on development, working for the benefit of the underprivileged aiming at social transformation of people.
The unnecessary comments are trying to destabilise the otherwise good relations between communities. The Honourable Courts should intervene and direct all the State governments to direct people to refrain from agitations pertaining to religion in the interest of peace and tranquility.
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
Domestic cooking gas costlier again
Domestic cooking gas hit the four-figure mark after a bottle of LPG became dearer by Rs 50. This is the second hike in domestic LPG prices in six weeks and could hit households already grappling with soaring prices of essentials. Since 2014, when the Modi government assumed office, domestic LPG has soared by a whopping 144 per cent. With oil on the boil, India is vulnerable to higher crude prices.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Communal riots, a political strategy?
It seems communal violence can be a most potent tool to secure an electoral majority, the clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the poll bound States over the past few months suggests so. Over the last two decades hardline saffron outfits have used low intensity communal riots to instigate a large section of the majority to wreak havoc on their minority brethren to win polls.
Both media and civil society tend to weigh communal clashes in terms of fatalities and the injured, no one sees how communities are being forced to shift to alien lands and the fact that we are being torn apart as a nation by these vultures masquerading as political leaders. The 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots led to the displacement of @ 60,000 Muslims, such was their uprooting that the riots caused a demographic transformation in the region.
A karaoke club plays just one song and that is marginalise or exterminate the minorities, but what is more distressing is that we worship these same bigots and hate mongers and elect them over and over again. Riots are like oxygen for parties but the educated class has been so brainwashed by the netas that they don’t care anymore, they are complicit by choosing to remain mute spectators to all the injustice happening around them. Our only hope is that hubris meets its end sooner or later, for the sake of the country we hope it is more sooner than later.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
LPG price at a record high
The LPG price is at a record high after the government announced Rs 50 hike; a non-subsidised cylinder will now cost over Rs 1000 in Chennai and Kolkata. Likewise, the hike is not a burden for the rich, but a heavy burden to the poor. House wives are most affected as they could not meet both ends for quite some time. The central government should try to reduce the cooking gas price. It is difficult for poor and middle class people to meet high expenditure. Inability on price control will lead to public dissatisfaction on government performance and the opposition will take a plea on this issue although they know the government has nothing to do on international price control.
The double trouble will have a direct impact on the monthly budget, which will take a long time to recover. Moreover, the hotel authorities will increase the price of food items accordingly and the people depending on outside food will have to pay through the nose. For salaried class people DA is increased once in a while whereas the cost of commodities is increasing without control during and after the pandemic.
In Kolkata the cost touches Rs 1026 and in Chennai Rs 1015.50 and thus pinching the pockets in metro cities.
C K Subramaniam Iyer, Trichy
