TEAM HERALD
VASCO: People cutting across party, religious and geographic affiliations in Vasco have come down heavily on Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar’s recent outburst against the Herald in response to its front page call “Utt Goenkara Utt..” to wake Goans up against the government’s purported move to examine the setting up of a censor board for stage performances including tiatrs.
Even non-Goans residing and working in Vasco opined that the outburst was not good in taste and has hurt their sentiments.
“We are definitely non-Goans working in Goa, but we love Goa the same way as we love our state. During elections, politicians like Parsekar go begging to non-Goans for vote and promise all sorts of goodies. But once elections are over, they pass such arrogant comments,” said Krishna Iyer.
“Non-Goans are also working towards the betterment of Goa and they have every right to highlight the wrongdoings by politicians, whom we vote into power,” added Iyer.
A senior BJP worker, while speaking on condition of anonymity, told Herald that the arrogant attitude of the BJP had led to their downfall in the recent Delhi assembly polls.
“It is surprising that BJP in Goa has not learnt a lesson from the Delhi polls. We thought that the Delhi elections would have had some impact on Goa’s BJP political leaders who were arrogant even with their own workers. Parsekar’s outburst against non-Goans on Wednesday has put us in an awkward and embarrassing situation, as we workers go house-to-house to campaign and request all people, including non-Goans, to vote for our party. The comment has pushed us to a corner,” said the BJP worker.
Peter Rebello, a senior citizen, said non-Goans also work for the betterment of Goa. “In passing such a controversial comment, the BJP chief minister has not only portrayed his arrogance, but also his feelings towards non-Goans. We strongly support the Herald newspaper, as we know that Herald always fights for the cause of Goans. Herald has awakened Goans once again to protect their rights,” said Rebello.
“Parsekar’s outburst that the government will not tolerate the newspaper spreading communal tension is surprising, as it is the political parties which create communal divide for their own benefit. Elections are not too far and just as Goans and non-Goans showed the door to the Congress, BJP could meet with similar fate,” he added.
Another senior citizen, Shekar Shetgaokar, said: “Unlike the other papers, Herald is doing a commendable job by highlighting peoples’ issues. The BJP government in Goa forgets that if at all they got maximum seats, it was due to the tiatrists and Herald newspaper, as they were always in the forefront to highlight the wrongdoings of the previous Congress government.”
“I am a strong lover of tiatr, as it highlights social and political issues and keeps the society informed on events in the State and in their neighbourhood. The government is trying to gag the tiatrists by trying to curtail the freedom of expression,” said Shetgaokar.
“There is no need to tell non-Goans what to do and what not to do. It is the politicians who need to work towards betterment of the society and people of all sections. If at all Parsekar feels that non-Goans should not interfere in the betterment of society, then they should desist themselves from going to non-Goans, who form a big vote bank during the elections,” added Shetgaokar.
