Zuari Bridge viewing towers
Just because something may have worked out abroad it doesn’t mean we should ape it blindly in Goa. Our state falls on the same seismic fault line as Gujarat and Maharashtra. In case of an earthquake such towers risk falling down. They could further fall on the nearby bridge as well. We do not need a WTO twin tower style repeat here. What is the Charminah Tower Today?
The priority now is to build a new Borim Bridge. We already have an example of a cable stayed bridge in Aldona which is a visual treat. We could now perhaps have an example of a Cantilever Bridge built. Rather than extravagance we need projects that leave behind a lasting fragrance.
Vinay Rodrigues, Margao
Reform, don’t lambast
Indian police are never known to be the underdogs in public interactions, and they always sport a lordotic demeanour. Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra recently compared the police to “sleeping dogs”.
During a telephonic conversation with a senior district police official, that went viral, the home minister went hammer and tongs at the police. In a rare show of anger in public, Jnanendra talked about how police and corruption had become synonymous. He reeled off his perceptions of the police. The home minister’s anguish against his own police has earned him both bouquets and brickbats. Law and order, and crime control, are directly linked with police efficiency. However, politicians like Jnanendra, who have a long experience in public life, should know that honour and prestige of the police are directly proportional to political non interference.
Intrusion of politicians into police behaviour tears the morale of the police. When that happens, it is the police that fall in the eyes of the public because politicians are no longer considered amenable to repair. Policemen desirous of plum postings are at the beck and call of the politicians. There are identified “prized posts” for the police that come at a cost. A wily politician understands which side his bread is buttered on. To keep his foes at bay, a politician tends to post obedient policemen to areas that are under his direct control—-native district or administrative district. The pliant police officers stand to gain later because today’s minister can be tomorrow’s chief minister.
Here there is a catch: life is all about “give and take”, and a favour earned is not fully satisfying unless it is returned. Latest examples prove how deeply the politician: police nexus is embedded in the system. Police corruption is no more a business; it is a money spinning industry. All this warrants belling the cat. The nearly incorrigible system requires a massive shake–up. Top leaders like Jnanendra have to take the lead instead of lambasting their own force.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Rest in peace secularism
With respect to Alwyn M D’sa’s “Karnataka and the anti-conversion bill” (Herald December 11, 2021). It indeed gives goose bumps to think what kind of horrific fate awaits minorities under the current dispensation.
When the law enforcing authorities dispense “friendly advice” to members of minority communities to refrain from holding prayer meets and services, we know that our days are numbered. Mixing of politics with religion has culminated into present day scenario wherein minorities are scared of practicing their faiths in public. There was a time when under the guise of secularism, some political parties encouraged minorities to rise up in arms against an imaginary bogey called “our religious sentiments are hurt” at this particular book, movie song or film – total works of fiction.
Now it is the turn of majority community to play the same card and harass minorities with impunity while police look the other way. What kind of India are we passing into the hands of Gen Z? Is the “Idea of India” still alive? We must ask these questions to protect the secular ethos of this great country enshrined in our Constitution.
Gafaar Shaqoor, Margao
NJAC Bill should be hailed
Cutting across party lines, the unanimity that the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill be revived and implemented should be hailed not because the pure legal Collegium is to be replaced with an appointments commission consisting of the Law Minister, Chief Justice of India, two Supreme Court judges as well as two eminent persons, but because with the diversity of the NJAC.
Verdicts of the Apex Court and High Courts should now find not only wider acceptability but almost near total acceptance by all as the NJAC is now a balanced appointments commission that is represented by eminent jurists, a politician as well as eminent personalities and thus the selection process having wider representation, adjudication of all cases becomes more widely accepted. The NJAC Bill could thus herald the era of supremacy of the legal system to everyone’s acceptance.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
Promise of women safety necessary
National leaders of various political parties are making a bee-line to Goa in order to woo the electorate just before the assembly elections. Political parties from outside the state are making their presence felt in these elections like never before. It must be said in Goa, women form a bulk of the electorate. Hence wooing the women voters forms an important part of any political strategy. Promise of women empowerment forms an integral part of this strategy.
It is understood that one political party has formally launched the registration drive for women’s guarantee. If voted to power the party has promised to hike the payment for beneficiaries under the Griha Aadhar scheme from Rs. 1,500 to 2,500 per month. Besides this another promise that has been made by the political party is that all women above 18 will get Rs. 1,000 per month.
Another national party has promised a 30 percent quota for women in government offices if voted to power. However what comes as a surprise is that no leader of political parties has laid stress on a very important issue, which is women safety.
There have been several cases of rape reported in Goa. There have been instances of even minor girls being kidnapped and raped. Women may not feel safe roaming on the streets after dusk. As if to add salt to injury, some politician is also allegedly involved in a sex scandal. Besides women empowerment, safety of women is of prime importance and political parties should also promise a safe environment for women in the state.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Vote for those who will work for Goans
Mahatma Gandhiji once remarked, “I would remain a slave for the next 300 years if I don’t get successful to get my country free with fair and just means”, but today we Goans have become too narrow minded, we think of our religion, region, caste, and not Goans as whole single unit. Politics has become a reflection of our own mentality and not having a common goal to save our Goa. The main cause is the illiterate leaders .
Imagine, some are less than 10th pass leaders who have held power in Goa and we the educated have voted them to power, where do our education stand?
So let’s make an attempt in that direction by starting to speak with our hearts and mind so that hopefully we can be able to make our 2022 election, a dream come true, by voting for the party that looks after Goa and the Goans at large.
Gaston Dias, Sarzora
