TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: They were jeered, heckled and their core committee member Sidharth Karapurkar even assaulted at the EIA hearing at Pernem on Sunday, but members of Goans for Dabolim Only (GFDO) and others spearheading the anti-Mopa movement said such a tamasha will not cow them down in taking the battle to its logical conclusion.
Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai accused the pro-Mopa lobby of turning the EIA hearing into a trial of strength. “Numbers do not matter at an EIA hearing. If the government decides to go by this yardstick, we have the capacity to call a mammoth meeting in Margao against Mopa,” Sardesai said.
GFDO member Jose Maria Miranda said that jeering and shouting has also showed the emptiness of those supporting Mopa. “No, not at all. We will not be cowed down by jeering and shouting. The EIA hearing at Pernem has only strengthened our resolve to continue the battle,” Miranda said.
In fact, Miranda, who had been a victim of heckling from the mining lobby in the city over a year ago, said the GFDO did not lodge an FIR simply because nothing would come out of it. “When I was heckled by the mining lobby at Margao, nothing came out of the FIR,” he said.
Another anti-Mopa activist Rajendra Kakodkar said the ‘tamasha’ at Pernem is a positive development for the anti-Mopa movement. “When the Shah Commission was conducting the hearing in Goa, the mining lobby had done a similar tamasha and everything went against them. The EIA hearing on Mopa was hijacked by Laxmimant Parsekar and Rajendra Arlekar. Our movement has reached a pinnacle and we will soon taste success,” Kakodkar said.
Activist Zarinha Da Cunha said the cowardly act at the EIA hearing will not be able to hide the truth. “Arm twisting will not help the pro-Mopa lobby. Truth will finally prevail. Our movement will continue,” she said.
GFDO Convenor Fr Eremito Rebello strongly condemned the assault by some goons on Karapurkar that occurred towards the end of the hearing. “Karapurkar had stood up to record the omission in the minutes of his remarks regarding the value of the agricultural produce on the Mopa plateau, which was not reflected in the EIA. At that stage, he was heckled by pro-Mopa supporters and physically attacked and hit on the head by one of them. The police acted swiftly to take control of the assailant and thereafter escorted Sidharth to the main road. The incident was recorded by the cameras as Sidharth drew the attention of the Collector to what was happening. However, strangely, she immediately directed that the cameras be put off. So much for fairness and objectivity,” he said.
Fr Rebello said that while the police contingent thankfully moved to prevent physical clashes between opposing groups, it was deplorable that they remained mute and silent spectators to the constant, loud and disturbing heckling and dancing in the aisles. “In fact, it was shameful that the Collector did not feel fit to instruct the police to evict those continuously disturbing the proceedings,” he said.
