Addiction of the Goan electorate
Once again it has been proved by the Goan electorate, come what may, elections mean voting for the Hand or the Lotus, rest are all nomads. The Goan voters are unique when it comes to elections. They have a fixed mindset to exercise their voting preferences and are not ready to deviate from the monotonous voting. They blindly vote for the parties irrespective of the candidates’ characters, tainted or not.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The contest is always North vs South and Hindus vs Catholics, be it the literate or the less literate. Goans never see the past performance of the parties. We will stick to these old parties.
I won’t hesitate to say that elections in Goa don’t need any canvassing as long as voters’ mindset does not change.
Anselm Baretto, Assagao
Hijab, an essential practice of Islam
The verdict of Karnataka High Court with regards to Hijab issue is fallacious and instinctive. The concept of the Hijab is being misinterpreted, considering it to be an unessential practice of Islam. The following verse in Quran completely signifies the importance of such covering.
“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them. That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (Quran 33:59).
Some believers choose to abide by it and others choose to dismiss it. But that doesn’t repudiate the teachings of Islam just because they don’t fulfil the requirements of their religion. It’s a matter of their faith and will.
Today we are witnessing an adverse situation, where girls are forced to give up on their mandatory religious practice that was being smoothly practised in our country for ages.
It is always misunderstood that our covering is an oppression to us but little did they know that we adorned it as crowns on our heads. So how can we give up on our faith and our choice so easily?
We see so many women as pilots, athletes, astronauts wearing their head coverings and setting benchmarks and at the same time there are those girls who are prohibited to enter their educational institutions with Hijabs, snatching away their fundamental rights.
It is an evident state of injustice and despotism. The verdict with regards to this Hijab controversy and the grounds on which it has razed down the faith in the judicial system of our country but the belief that ‘truth always wins’ remains profound in our hearts.
Simran Shaikh, Ponda
Cyber fraud on the rise
The Goa police cyber cell has already recorded 14 instances involving online fraud in the past @ 3 months as compared to 24 cases in the whole of last year mostly involving use of social media platforms especially Facebook.
The scamsters first create fake profiles using photographs and names of persons having FB accounts, subsequently friend requests are sent to these person’s contact lists which if accepted are followed by messages asking for money. The messages will invariably refer to some urgent financial need that has arisen or trouble with authorities in a foreign land. Even our CM’s account was hacked last year on similar lines.
The modus operandi is simplicity itself and @70% people fall for the guiles of the fraudsters; moreover all cases are not reported for fear of social stigma or being made fun of. Bank frauds, SIM swaps and honey traps are par for the course for these criminals.
Beware of phising messages or emails and don’t open any suspicious link sent especially from cloned bank websites or financial entities. Be circumspect and stay safe from the clutches of these new age criminals.
Rekha Sarin, Benaulim.
Bars and wholesale liquor stores
Ever since the pandemic (Covid-19) broke out, the bar owners in Goa keep on suffering due to lack of business, and the fact that wholesale liquor stores are open during the bars timings has worsened the problem; customers are even seen drinking near the wholesale liquor stores. Therefore, essentially, the concerned government authorities must revise the wholesale liquor stores timings strictly to be from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm to minimise the business clash; bars must continue to be open until 11:00 pm.
Moreover, the bars licence fee must be reduced to relieve these badly affected bar owners. I hope the government will be wise enough to introduce such changes as soon as possible.
Augustus Alphonso, Vasco
44th Chess Olympiad: Pride for Chennai
It is a matter of pride and delight that Chennai city has been awarded to host the 44th Chess Olympiad, which was originally scheduled to take place in Moscow, but has been shifted out of Russia in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war. This will be the second major world event of chess to be held in this city after the World Championship match in 2013, which was won by Magnus Carlsen. Not for nothing Chennai is known as the ‘Chess capital of India.’ Statistics underscore Tamil Nadu’s stature in the ‘game of squares’ – 24 of the 73 Grandmasters of India, including the iconic Viswanathan Anand, who is credited with making a revolution in the board game in the country – come from this State.
And the chess prodigy Grandmaster Praggnanandha, who hails from the city and whose recent stunning win over world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen adds pertinence to holding the Chess Olympiad in the cultural city of Chennai.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
A welcome judgement
Karnataka delivers welcome judgement on Hijab row. As the court also pointed out, wearing hijab is not banned. People are spreading rumours and lies about hijab ban. Since I was a kid, I have always abided by decision of school regarding uniforms. Uniforms must be same for each and everyone, while wearing uniform we all feel equal irrespective of caste, creed, religion, ethnicity and financial status.
Hijab is not banned, it’s just that it’s not part of school or college uniform and Educational Institutions have the complete entitlement and carte blanche to decide uniforms and dress code. Constitutionally, people are free to wear want they want as well as Institutions regards to uniform. Students must focus on their studies and respect court’s judgement.
Khushi Rathore, Panjim
Sanctity of judiciary breached?
To ensure highest standards of judicial independence at all times and to ward off even the faintest trace of governmental influence on the judiciary, there needs to be at least a two year “cooling off period” for retiring judges before they accept any post retirement position. This would help maintain public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary.
We have been witness to the manner in which even Supreme Court Chief Justices and High Court judges have been rewarded with post retirement postings. But this most recent one may be the first of its kind where even before the judge retired, the order of his post retirement nest was issued. Needless to say he hails from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat.
Whilst we watch with anguish such greed of some retiring judges, let us take a bow to those brave judges who do not fall prey to such immediate retirement postings and maintain highest and upright standards which are expected from all judges dispensing their verdicts without tilting the scales of justice.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
