Portuguese Passport effect on Goa polls
The Portuguese government in their abundant largesse has to be praised for having kept a window of opportunity, so that sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of those whose birth were registered in Goa on or before December 19, 1961 could acquire Portuguese nationality and thus find lucrative employment in especially the United Kingdom as well as to a certain extent, in France. Several tens of thousands of Goan youth are now employed in Europe and they mostly hail from South Goa as well as places such as Siridao, Agasaim, Santa Cruz and Merces in particular.
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However, alas, since these Portuguese passport holders relinquished the right to vote in Goa on surrendering their Indian passports, by a conservative estimate, in the past 15-20 years about 4-5 lakh names have been deleted from the electoral rolls in Goa with the result that a sizeable percentage of the Goan electorate has shrunk. Make no mistake about it, these 4-5 lakh voters were mostly supporters of the Congress in Goa and so the support base of the Congress has reduced considerably thus resulting in the defeat of the Congress even though Congress till the 2017 Assembly polls managed to garner 17 MLAs. It is very difficult to apportion responsibility and blame for this turn of events because the youth who chose to migrate to Europe in particular were not able to find gainful employment in Goa and thus were left with no other choice then to acquire Portuguese nationality and thus earn their livelihoods in foreign shores.
Stephen Dias, Dona Paula
Gag order?
A list of ‘ unparliamentary ‘ words or phrases published by the Lok Sabha secretariat led to opposition leaders accusing the government of trying to gag them; this was a bit odd as publishing such words has been happening since the 1950s.The list is not a diktat, it’s based on rulings by presiding officers in parliamentary and assembly proceedings in India and the Commonwealth countries. None of the words are banned, but the Speaker will expunge remarks he/ she deems unacceptable. Therefore it’s not really a gag order. Also there are easy workarounds for many words listed as unparliamentary , for instance ‘ jumla’ can be replaced by ’empty rhetoric’, it makes the same point but doesn’t sound like a sweeping judgement. Having said that, while expunging content from records, discussions must also reflect the liveliness that animates politics in a voluble and sometimes volatile democracy. Ultimately a Parliament is judged by the quality of its debate and productivity not by disruptions. What’s needed in greater measure is extensive deliberations in smaller executive committees and deeper House debates on complex issues. The problem is that the government of the day does not believe in debates but simply bulldozes its way through on account of brute majority; in fact it disallows informed, erudite discussions on any contentious issue which it feels will show it in a bad light. Unless it mends its ways, such supposedly ‘ unparliamentary ‘ language will continue to be used by the elected public representatives.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Destruction of forests will hit entire ecosystem
Apropos to the article ‘Save the Tiger and its habitat’ by Jubel D’Cruz (Herald 15 July 2022), at a time when forests are being destroyed for whatever reason, especially for infrastructure projects, International Tiger Day assumes great importance. In our country, forests are being destroyed and inspite of so much of awareness with regard to saving the environment, we still continue with our suicidal act. There have been agitations in Goa over infrastructure projects. In Mumbai presently, there is this issue of the metro car shed at Aarey which is basically a forest. A newspaper today shows wild life very much present in Aarey. The authorities in Mumbai and elsewhere need to understand that destruction of forests would lead to destruction of wild life and the ecosystem we well. Needless to say, it is not just the Tiger which needs to be saved, all wild life is important and needs to be saved. The Earth itself needs to be saved. By the way, we need Tigers to save our nation as well. Is anybody listening.
Melville X. D’Souza, Mumbai
Speak for Goa and win the hearts of Goans
Feel proud today to see that the people of Cuncolim constituency has voted for the right choice Bab Yuri Alemao who is educated and becoming the voice of people of Cuncolim constituency and Goa. We wanted a MLA who open his mouth in the Assembly session and not warm the chair and comes back home. It was observed that Yuri was the only MLA who in his speech on motion of thanks to Governor has categorically appreciated the efforts of the NGOS for their fight against the destruction of the environment in Goa by the three liner projects. Yes, for the love of Goa and Goans these NGOS have given up their lucrative careers and valuable time and should be felicitated someday Alemao said. Yuri Alemeo was present in the protest against coal in Chandor among seven thousand people who have come from various parts of Goa. The FIR against the NGOs must be taken back by the government and railway authorities. Even various types of issues related to Cuncolim constituency and Goa were highlighted in the assembly session and we hope that the present government, CM without any personal internal politics will solve the issues which are affecting the common man. Hope our newly representative will solve most of our pending issues in Chandor Cavorim village too as soon as possible and continue his good work by becoming the voice of Goa along with other MLAs as a niz Goenkar.
Ronnie D’Souza, Chandor
