TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: They hopped from one house to another in the commercial capital, extending warm wishes to their Muslim brethren on the occasion of Eid festivities, after staying away from the Goa Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
While former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Digambar Kamat ensured that he did not miss wishing his Muslim supporters from both Margao and Fatorda, Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai concentrated mostly around Fatorda ~ moving through the migrant gullies of Pajifond to Chandrawado ~ the hub of Muslim population in Fatorda constiutency.
Almost every house he visited, Vijai made it a point to explain why he and other his Congress colleagues in the Legislative Assembly preferred to boycott the session.
Later speaking to the media, Vijai said that by boycotting the session, it helped them to be with their Muslim brethren in their constituencies. “Goans enjoy a rich tradition of communal amity and brotherhood. We visit each other to wish on religious festivals. If some people think that fostering communal harmony is politics, then they are sadly mistaken. To foster unity amongst different religious communities is the duty of elected representatives, especially when the Muslim community is part and parcel of society. To alienate the community on a festive occasion by holding a session and not giving the elected representatives to meet their constituents is a big insult,” he said.
The Independent MLA further asserted that there’s no politics involved behind the decision to boycott the Assembly session. “Those who say there’s politics behind the boycott practices anti-minority politics. Our politics is clean, that we want to take everyone and all religious communities together. This is the duty of everyone and we have done it today”, he said.
