June 14, 2017 will go down as a Black Wednesday on the Goan calendar, when we were awakened from our slumber to witness two ugly incidents that took place tarnishing the image of our beautiful and peaceful Goa.
In the first incident four local boys got into an altercation with a group of 50 Maharashtrian tourists in Merces following a petty quarrel which resulted in the tourists being attacked by iron rods and coitos. The tourists also beat up the goons and the Merces villagers did not sympathise this brutal attack. The villagers also administered first aid to the injured and refused help to the injured local boys as they realised that they were on the wrong and as such there was no mob fury from the side of the villagers on the tourists.
In the second incident members owing allegiance to the Hindu Janagagruti Samiti (HJS) verbally attacked locals in Ponda and threatened beef eaters with death sentence by declaring that India is predominantly a Hindu state and the way should be paved for Hindu Rashtra. This has connotations to the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti convention that is taking place at Ramnathi in Ponda where the speakers include the self-styled Sadhwi Saraswati and others who spewed venom and ridiculed us in our own backyard.
In the case of the first incident there was immediate reaction from the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLAs and they directed the police to come down heavily on these anti social elements who are disturbing the peace and tranquility of the land and warned that such history-sheeters should be externed from the state in case bail was granted to them by the courts.
Conversely in the case of the second incident there is a deafening silence from the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLAs who have deliberately overlooked and downplayed the happening in Ponda by not condemning the outbursts of the HJS which is spreading communal disharmony in the State. The police should have been directed by the powers that be to also come down heavily on these self-styled Sadhus and Sadivis in the interest of peaceful co-existence of our Goan ethos which has survived the test of time.
God save Goem, Goenkar and Goemkarpon.
