Says conspiracy to malign image is work of defeated political candidates
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: There are more local policemen arrested for crimes than Russians, Russian Dy Consul General of the Russian Federation in Mumbai and Minister Counsellor M Mzareulov, said, calling the conspiracy to malign the names of Russians in Goa as the work of some former members of the state government.
Mzareulov argued that most of the negative news about Russians being involved in illegal businesses and crimes was pushed by defeated political candidates.
Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Russian Information Centre Sunday at Candolim, Mzareulov said that the number of cases (against Russians) were close to zero in terms of percentage.
“There were about 10 cases of Russians involved in crime in India, but during the same period during when the previous government was in power there were 20-30 cases of policemen being arrested for covering up for Goan criminals,” he said referring to the police-drug mafia nexus case and several others.
“There are several cases, but compared to the quantity of 2,00,000 tourists who visit the state every year, it is close to zero in terms of percentage,” he said.
“Some defeated political candidates want to see a Russian hand. They want to cover their own tracks. Relatively, criminal cases are very low compared to four or five years ago,” he added.
Responding to a query on whether the ‘news media reports that Russians are involved in ‘prostitution’, Mzareulov said it was a ‘legend and a fantasy (created) by some members of the former government in Goa.’
“They themselves want to wear an umbrella for Indian’s crime,” he said.
“You wouldn’t want Goa to become another Thailand and having us issue an advisory against travelling there on account of deteriorating law and order. We have done (this) for Thailand,” he said.
Ekaterina Belyakova, managing partner, Tara Leisure Travel, which has put together the Russian Information Centre, said that there are several fully legal Russian businesses in Goa and that “there are legal businesses and there is a way to do it legally” and there would be only “very few” who are doing illegal business.
She also said that “it is no secret that most Goans do not speak Russian and that most Russians do not speak English” which was a primary cause of many of the misunderstandings between the communities.
Victor Albuquerque, the honorary consul general of Russian in Goa said that it was the responsibility of the local government and the law enforcing agencies that the law is implemented.
“We cannot blame the Russian government if some of their individuals are caught on the wrong side of the law. It is the duty of the state government,” Albuquerque said adding that many of the crimes that were conducted by people from central and eastern Europe were attributed to the Russians, which wasn’t always true.
The year could see the highest number of Russian arrivals with as many as 1,000 charter flights scheduled to arrive in the state from Moscow and other Russian cities, up from around 50 that used to arrive in the mid-90s. This year, the state could see anywhere between 1.5 lakh to 2-lakh Russian tourists thus making up nearly 50% of all foreign arrivals in the state.
