CALANGUTE: Calangute Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira on Friday refuted new reports that the panchayat had planned to demolish the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj which had been erected on the Chogm Road near Calangute Police Station, recently.
On Tuesday, a large number of ‘ShivPremis’ had mobbed the Calangute Village Panchayat, leading to police shuttering the panchayat ghar with Sequeira inside from 11 am to 5 pm after the panchayat had issued a notice to the Shivswarajya Calangute Trust to remove the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Speaking to reporters at the Calangute Panchayat premises on Friday, Sarpanch Sequeira said that the panchayat had only wanted to remove the statue as the spot had been earmarked for a high-mast lamp.
“I have the highest respect for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and when the statue had been erected in March last year on the side of the road there, I had suggested that the spot be developed along the lines of the fort at Farmagudi as a suitable monument to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” he said.
Stating that his suggestions were ignored, Sequeira said that news reports that the panchayat was going to demolish the statue are completely wrong and gave the wrong impression.
“We only wanted to shift it to the side where it was originally erected,” he said.
He said following the panchayat resolution to remove the statue, they have written to the Chief Secretary and other authorities. “It is now for the State government to decide what to do,” he said.
MLA Michael Lobo, in a separate statement, said as it is the wish of the people to erect the statue, their sentiments should be respected. “We never objected to the statue. People protested due to a misunderstanding,” he said.
