TEAM HERALD
MERCES: Chiding the ‘Think Fest’ as ‘Stink Fest’, a group of concerned citizens gathered outside the venue of the festival in Bambolim, to lodge their protest over the involvement of scam-tainted sponsors for the event, on Friday.
The ‘Think Fest’, a three-day event, got underway on Friday and will feature prominent personalities from India and abroad, who will air their views on a wide variety of subjects.
Armed with placards, the protestors also came down heavily on the organizers of the festival for offering a platform and collaborating with the corporations that allegedly have a blemished record of working and acting against the interests of the people. The protestors also distributed leaflets to the audience attending the festival and also to the passersby.
“As the fourth pillar of democracy, it is surprising that the organizer is trying to hide the misdeeds of the sponsors when it is their duty to bring out the truth,” a protestor Abhijit Prabhudessai informed Herald.
“These corporations sponsoring the festival are involved in major illegal activities like illegal mining scams, telecom scam, etc,” he added.
On the protest, Prabhudessai informed that it is an attempt to bring about awareness among the audience and the speakers attending the festival to either stay away from the event or question the organizers over the involvement of scam-tainted sponsors.
“The exorbitant registration fee of Rs 35,000 for the festival, beyond the reach of the common man, also shows the type of audience the organizers expect – the rich and the powerful,” Prabhudessai said and added that this is being done so that the organizers do not have to face uncomfortable questions from concerned citizens.
When questioned whether they raised the issue with the organizers, Prabhudessai replied in the positive but said that their concerns were rubbished as ‘frivolous’.
“Some of the personalities who will feature at the festival also feigned their ignorance over the involvement of scam-tainted sponsors for the event,” he added.
