Allow no one to take the sword in his hands
SUJAY GUPTA
There comes a time in life when you need to heed certain calls. Nine days ago, two young men were having a laugh at the end of a long evening of merriment. Innocent simple boys, comfortable in the town they grew up in, in the company of folks they have known. In the town that will always be home– Panjim, Panaji, Ponje
As it happens, Panjim, at heart is still a lovable small town when the older generation of uncles and aunties watch over the middle and younger generation, themselves getting married and having children of their home.
Even as they go about leading their lives, there’s the snuggle feel Panjim always has. It’s like a worn out comfortable quilt, or your old pair of shorts that has survived several summers. This town is just that, meandering through mirth, laughter, stability and above all, no fear of the unknown.
On the morn of April 21, Easter Sunday, a day when hope is resurrected, Rafael Peregrinho Da Costa and Raju Sarin, found it completely gone. Not as much from their lives even as they lay bleeding almost butchered by a sword-wielding Zaine Almeida in the middle of a road, in the old quarter of their town, but from this town which was their home, backyard and above all buddy. A menacing intruder, who cannot possibly have the same DNA as people who love and live in Goa was attempting to hack them to pieces for no reason at all. You know by now what happened. Raju’s throat was slit missing the jugular by millimeters and Rafael’s eye was gorged out and his nose sliced in one sword blow. As he turned and walked and nonchalantly flung his sword in his car and went away with his companion, Panjim turned from a home to a hell hole.
We perhaps don’t yet realize this. That sword did not just slice skins and nerves and bones. It cut the fabric of civility, decency and above all the comfort that a home town comes with.
But the nightmare didn’t end on the bloody street near the post office and at the edge of the small Patto bridge. It began. Horrified eye witnesses, Rafael and Raju’s friends and the broader circle who know their families (as it always happens in Panjim), realised to their shock, that a crime such as this that should be followed by swift punishment, was followed by reports of intrigue, plotting, strategy and “pull”, by the extremely influential, powerful and connected family of Zaine Almeida.
This fear is not unfounded. Even if we concede that Steve Almeida, the head of Loss Prevention of Marriot hotel, a dog breeder and the organiser of dog shows, is a worried father and is doing all he can to protect his wayward son, every member of the team that supports Rafael and Raju is living in dread that justice for the boys and punishment for the man who did this crime, will be surrendered at the altar of high influence.
Herald has stepped in to fight to see that this does not happen. Zaine Almeida must be given every chance to defend himself, because even now, the law of the jungle, the law of an eye for an eye, (literally in Rafael’s case) cannot be the answer to what Zaine has done. The law must take its course as they say, but if there is every possibility of it getting bent, we should be right there to steer it back to its course. This is because this fight is not just about justice for Rafael and Raju. It’s a fight to get the comfort and safety of our home back. The home we call Panjim, Panaji or Ponje
We have a situation where witnesses who should have felt safe in the arms of law giving statements, feel threatened and worried, of friends and family wondering if the lawyers of the state will be match to the defense lawyers. Has this come to that even as Rafael’s family breaks down each time they see their boy on the hospital bed, far from recovery with a swelling in his brain.
The Herald has received calls- polite ones, from people in touch with the Almeida family and those in his workplace, asking your newspaper to “go slow”. You the people are our custodians. Should the Herald “go slow” on this. Should it step back? Can it step back? Where do we go slow? Against the destruction of the values that have covered this city, against the cocoon of bonding and friendship Panjimites have or against what Panjim or Goa is slowly becoming.
With your support, we aim to do just this. Not let another intruder with a sword spill blood our streets and tear the fabric of our town. Let this be known to the government, the police force and all others who block this path of ours.
That is the call we need to heed today.
