MARGAO: The State government’s attempts to bring in an amendment to the Code of Comunidade to prevent the demolition of houses on comunidade lands has received strong criticism from the public, with comparisons being made to the much-opposed Bhumiputra Bill.
The intent behind Chief Minister Pramod Sawant advocating for such an amendment was also questioned.
“I think this is an election gimmick to fool the electorate since the Lok Sabha elections are fast approaching. These statements appear to have been made to appease the migrant vote bank and also the encroachers so that he (CM) is the saviour. However, the migrants or encroachers should not think that they will escape. Ultimately the law will take its own course and the illegal encroachments on comunidade lands will be removed,” said John Phillip Pereira, Attorney of the Nagoa Comunidade.
“I want to mention that this is the first time I am hearing that illegal houses or illegal encroachments can be regularised because there is no provision in the law to regularise illegal structures,” Pereira added.
“I firmly believe this has a direct nexus with the latest move to bring about such unconstitutional laws, essentially to thwart the hands of the Courts. The government must understand that it only exercises administrative tutelage over the comunidades, and bringing such laws would be tantamount to abdicating such a responsibility,” said Celestino Noronha, the Attorney of Comunidades of Margao and Aquem.
“Such statements purporting to put a premium on squatting on comunidade land coming from high constitutional functionaries is unfortunate. The petitions before the High Court challenging the Moti-Dongor and Torsanzor demolition are scheduled to come up for final hearing shortly. Recent pronouncements by our High Court regarding regularisation of encroachments on comunidade land must have rattled the government,” Noronha added.
“Who does ‘Bhivpachi Garaz Konkak Na’ refer to? The Goans or outsiders settled in Goa? The Chief Minister of Goa needs to address this issue and provide clarification. Your actions to legalise Comunidade land suggest that there is no need to fear for outsiders, which further reinforces the perception that your government prioritises outsiders over native Goans,” said activist Vikas Bhagat.
