Goa Su-Raj Party, NCP say it is an insult to Goans
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Goa Su-Raj Party and NCP have lambasted Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for naming of the new Indoor Stadium built at Taleigao plateau after Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, saying it is an insult to Goans and shows the communal colour of the BJP in naming the stadium after someone who did not contribute anything to Goa.
A section of the people too is unhappy with this government to name the stadium after Mukherjee, who was ideologically close to the RSS and considered the leader of the Hindu Nationalist movement move. People expressed fear that the move is a means to ensure a backdoor entry for the ideological icons of the Hindu right wing in Goa and saffronise it.
Savio Rodrigues President of the Youth wing of Goa Su-Raj Party said that the practice of national parties of utilizing names of their deceased leaders who did not contribute anything for the benefit of Goa needs to be stopped.
“It is a known fact that along with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Mukherjee is considered the godfather of Hindu nationalism in India, especially the Hindutva movement. The message that the CM is giving to the people of Goa is that he is going to appease those that promote the Hindutva ideology,” Rodrigues said.
“Dr Mukherjee has not contributed to Goa in any manner. This kind of appeasement is only showcasing the communal color of the BJP and it’s sad,” he said.
The NCP speaking out against the government move said that they will call on the North Goa Collector and hand over a memorandum seeking that the name be changed. “We condemn this move of the government. It is an insult for every Goan for having put this name. It seems like a move to get the RSS ideologically strengthened in the state. It is high time the minority MLAs open their eyes and not sell their community to crumbs thrown by the RSS,” its spokesperson said.
Mukherjee, who hailed from Bengal, was a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Interim Central Government as a Minister for Industry and Supplies. But on issue of the 1950 Delhi Pact with Pakistani Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan, Mukherjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. After consultation with Golwalkar of the RSS, he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh on October 21, 1951 at Delhi and became its first President.
The BJS was ideologically close to RSS and was opposed to what it called appeasement of India’s Muslims. It favored a uniform civil code governing personal law matters for both Hindus and Muslims, wanted to ban cow slaughter and end the special status given to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, it is not just the political class that has raised eyebrows at the naming of the indoor stadium by the BJP government, but even the common man has expressed reservations about the government’s moves. “After the Modi rally, where the government bulldozed its way into the fields of poor farmers to conduct its rally, it has now named the stadium after a ‘RSS man’,” a restaurateur who did not wish to be named, told Herald.
The BJP has however defended its government’s decision. “Dr Mukherjee is a national leader, his stature is such that he can have infrastructure named after him anywhere in the country,” Dr Wilfred Mesquita of the BJP said. He also questioned the predominantly Congress practice of naming infrastructure in Goa after the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru or other persons from the Gandhi clan. “What has Nehru done for Goa?” he asked despite Nehru finally conceding to the Liberation of Goa.
