In just a matter of a few weeks, almost every aspect of normal life has altered. There is a new normal that has swept the world. This change was not anticipated, and when it came it was not welcomed. It was grudgingly accepted. In these times that keep varying, there has been one constant in Goa that has remained anchored to the land’s red soil and not been swayed by the sweeping winds of change. Your newspaper, your voice, your Herald has remained as strong and committed as ever.
In the darkest of the lockdown nights, when the lights were all off and people stayed home to stay safe, the bulbs in the Herald office burnt bright as the edition was put together and sent to the press so that you would have your newspaper along with your breakfast the next morning.
A newspaper cannot remain silent, a newspaper cannot be silenced. Even in the silence of the lockdown, Herald didn’t skip a single day’s edition, and that is our commitment to Goa and to the Goans. When everything is down, Herald will be up there to safeguard the land we all love so dearly. Since its inception, never has Herald wavered from its policies and from being the Voice of Goa, and never will it, for this is a commitment made a generation ago, when the O Heraldo had been purchased to save it from being shut down. It’s a pledge that cannot be broken.
In the 1960s, when the Portuguese presses were beginning to pull down their shutters in Goa, Antonio Caetano Fernandes had the foresight to keep them up and running. He purchased not just O Heraldo, but also Heraldo and Diario de Noite. Of these, in 1983 O Heraldo migrated to English and captured a place in the hearts of Goans, by its very bold journalism, setting benchmarks for others to follow.
Over the years, Herald has reported from every corner of Goa, it’s reportage has been balanced, taking a stand on issue but never standing on the fence. It has enlightened the Goans to the policies of the government, and will continue to do so, without favour or fear. It is, and will remain, the Voice of Goa, and on this Statehood day, as we briefly introspect to see what we have gained since the time our land’s status was changed from Union Territory to State, Herald asks the people to speak out.
And the people, emotionally-charged Goans who shed a tear for the land that has been ravaged, have opend up their hearts to the devestation and change Goa has been subject to over the years. If Statehood got us more autonomy, then we haven’t used it judiciously, as successive governments have readily toed the line of the Centre, at the expense of the land. Here’s a recent example, if the people don’t want coal handling at the port and coal transportation through their villages, couldn’t the State have stopped it? Even during the lockdown coal and ore transportation didn’t stop. If the people want the environment to be protected, can’t the government stand with them on this? It can, but it hasn’t.
When will Goa get a government that will stand for the people and the land? A government that will stand up to the Centre, firm in its resolve that it wants the best for Goa?
We have seen political parties emerge, promising to hold the Goan flag high, but then gladly ditched the ideals they espoused as they succumbed to the lucre of power. It was their welfare, and not that of the people and the land, by which they based their selfish decisions. Goans watched as unlikely coalitions were cobbled and party affiliations were changed. How much longer can we remain blind to unsuitable political machinations? Goa’s political outfits need to unshackle themselves from the chains that keep them fastened to New Delhi. Goa needs a regional outfit that will champion the causes of Goa and not be dictated to by a power centre in the national capital.
This Statehood Day, as we wait to emerge from the long lockdown, Herald thanks the Goans for having stood by it these past weeks, and recommits itself to serving Goa and the Goan in the changed world that is opening anew.
– Editor
