Father Bismarque is still all over St Estevam. In its air and in its waters. And above all in the minds of the people of Juvem, as the village is called. Surrounded by rivulets, streams and water bodies St estevam is not any other island bobbing on the Mandovi. It is one of the last remaining treasures of Goa- pristine and mangirve filled, with the bounty of nature having no limits.
It is this that Father Bismarque lived to protect. It is this that Father Bismarque, died protecting
Exactly year ago, to the date, people of Goa, and especially members of the musical warriors of Goa, his group which sang songs and poems of protest against Goa’s destruction, woke up to the shocking news that Father Bismarque was missing. A frantic search was initiated and is body was fished out of the water the next morning with signs of damage visible.
A year later as Father Bismarque’s body still lies in the morgue at GMC, with the family refusing to bury him, the villagers of St Estevam, cannot bring it upon themselves to accept that their beloved activist priest died naturally
Though, the inquiry, initiated by SDM, reported that he died from drowning but the villagers of St Estevam haven’t settled to this conclusion of Goa Police investigation; they are sure enough that that Fr Bismarque has been killed. And even after a year of his death they stick to their belief that it’s the land sharks have a role to play in his death
The whole village of St Estevam, have only one say: even after a year the village has lost a son and Goa has lost a warrior who was always seen fighting for the his village and land. “ All he did was work for Goa”, said an elderly woman on the Island, which is presently in the eyes of real estate developers.
“He died a sad death. I believe that he was killed. But he became a martyr for mother Goa to preserve the identity of our state” she mentioned.
Stephen Godinho, a resident of St Estevam, said that Fr Bismarque was murdered and this belief has settled strongly in the gut of the villagers, who are fighting a losing battle against big time real estate developers who have placed major proposals for resorts and other projects, before the State Investment Promotion Board.
“He is murdered; there is no other cause. The government has tried their best to cover up the case. He made a video recording of who he felt were after his life a few months before he went missing at the sluice gates. Where is that” Godinho said.
“He was a very good swimmer and the drowning possibility is completely ruled out in the death as the police themselves have not able to confirm their own theory that Fr Bismarque had liquor and he went swimming under the influence of liquor”, Godinho asserts.
Bonifacio Fernandes another resident of St Estevam too challenged the theory of police and believed that he was murdered by the strong lobby of real estate developers. “He was my classmate; the activism was within him since his childhood. I have worked with him, he had even told me that there is every possibility of an attack on him” Fernandes said.
The entire village is appalled by the cop probe and refusal to register the death as a murder. Fernandes said that the approach of the Goa police itself, which initially handled the case, made them believe that something was very suspicious
Justice still eludes the warrior priest. As the second year of his passing begins.
