Shoaib Shaikh
shoaib@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Those affected by the Supreme Court’s March 31 order banning the sale of liquor along highways, slammed former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar for doing nothing on the issue.
Bar and Restaurant Owners Association President Michael Carassco said the former chief minister did nothing despite the association’s warnings on the disaster in waiting.
He said, “As soon as this ban was ordered, we approached the then Chief Minister and told him that this is going to affect Goa very badly. Subsequently we gave him a memorandum asking him to do something. He assured he would do something.”
He said Parsekar used the excuse of the code of conduct and did not even proceed with the documentation. “We said at least let the bureaucracy do the paper work and as soon as the new government is formed, they can take the issue further. These were the warnings we had already sounded to the previous chief minister,” he added.
Carassco said that the industry felt neglected by the previous government. He said “They didn’t do anything and when the new government was formed, they took time to settle. But if the paper work had been done, then the new government would have had the opportunity to approach the Supreme Court.” Carassco said that an estimated 3 lakh persons would be losing their source of livelihood.
Responding to the views of senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, that beef would be banned in Goa, Carassco said that in a democracy nothing should be forced. He said, “I feel slowly we are being deprived of our rights. We live in a democracy and we should have the freedom to decide. No leader should try to impose what one should follow.”
