TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Controversial play “Me Naturam Godse Boltoy,” which was scheduled to be staged at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, has kicked up a storm.
As the issue threatened to snowball into a major controversy, Chairman of Ravindra Bhavan Damu Naik told the media around noon that he has cancelled the permission granted to a Bicholim-based troupe to stage the play.
This, however, failed to silence his political rival and Independent MLA Vijai Sardessai, who protested over the decision of the Ravindra Bhavan. “Staging the play itself is a controversy. But, staging it on Gandhi Jayanti is a great disrespect to the Father of the Nation,” Sardessai said.
He claimed that Ravindra Bhavan was directly involved in staging the drama along with another organisation free of cost. “The decision of Ravindra Bhavan to stage the drama comes days after the Chairman Damu Naik accorded a welcome to the RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat. Maybe, some persons are trying to get closer to the RSS organisation with an eye on the ticket for the ensuing 2014 Lok Sabha polls,” Sardessai added.
Damu, however, begged to differ. He said that Ravindra Bhavan is in no way involved in staging the drama and the permission was granted to a Bicholim-based troupe to hold the drama at the institute. “Normally, Ravindra Bhavan offers free infrastructures for dramas and nataks. This drama too was not an exception. Whenever we give the hall free of cost, the name of Ravindra Bhavan is associated with the programme,” he clarified, adding that the decision to cancel the drama was taken since certain vested interests were out to blame and target me for the programme.
