From: Joseph Fernandes.
To: goa-kranti.
Dear Mr.Veronica,
I am from Sernabatim (Colva) and I’d like to thank you for highlighting the “Dogui Bodmas” CD case in a big way. It takes lots of courage to come out with alternative news that is not covered by the so called ‘fourth estate’. It is highly appreciated by us in Sernabatim that you put in that extra effort to meet Calvert regarding his CD and got to be aware of the ground situation first hand. The CD producer has only tried to convey a message to the people of Goa through a medium they best understand. I know Calvert personally and all that he is trying to do is to get the church authorities to wake up and act against some errant priests who are out to rob various parishes of Goa. In no way the CD is trying to defame or malign the Catholic faith. It has only tried to expose the scandalous lives of some priests like Fr.Diogo in the Catholic church of Goa and the reluctance by the church higher ups to correct these priests.
Since the release of the CD, Calvert has had to undergo a lot of distress in his life. People were even hired to attack him and his family. That is the price that one pays in Goa for speaking the truth against ministers and the church. Harassment at the hands of police and authorities is nothing new for Calvert; it has been going on for the last few years since the time he was elected back by the people of our ward in spite of political pressure by Mickky. Calvert is always known for being unconventional and is not the type who will bow down to political or any type of pressure. He has always had the courage to say that white is white and black is black. We have always supported him whenever he has had to make tough decisions and this time too we are with him in order to save our church properties from this ‘builder’ priest.
I read somewhere one so called journalist was wondering what kind of people have elected Calvert to the Panchayat. Let me tell this ignorant gentleman that builders are kept away from Sernabatim by electing Calvert to the Panchayat. When the minister tried to force his uneducated, rougish, fighter bull owner candidate on the people, they resisted and rallied behind an educated, smart and courageous leader who has done a lot of development for not only his own ward but entire Sernabatim. Many people have sort to criticize Calvert for producing the Konkani CD by stating the classic goan phrase ‘padrincher add ulounk zaina”. But should we remain mute when the priests live immoral lives? Should everyone remain silent and let the the priests sell our church properties?
The sensible people of Colva have decided not to allow this priest Fr Diogo to get away with his foul intentions. That is the reason why proper representations were made to the Bishop asking him to intervene and address the issue. The people did not even get a proper audience with the Bishop. I guess that the letters handed over to the Bishops palace must have been dumped in some dust bin because the Bishop and his associates at Altinho feel that we have to blindly obey their orders come what may. It is quite amusing to read the allegations against Calvert in different forums. One allegation was that Calvert is a real estate developer. Let me correct them by saying that it is true that Calvert has done several property deals in and around Colva - Sernabatim. However none of these properties have been sold to people outside the village, forget selling them to non goans. All these properties were bought by Calvert from the landlords of Sernabatim and sold to the youth mostly coming from fishing families. The properties were even sold at a price well below the market rate so that our local boys could afford them. Today the youth of Sernabatim are doing tourism related businesses or have built new homes for themselves in these properties. It is wrong to categorize Calvert as a typical real estate developer of Goa.
Another allegation I read was regarding lamanis. It is not a recent allegation against Calvert. It was first started in 1992 when Calvert was in the forefront to drive away lamanis from Colva beach. I can recollect that a lady Panch member had taken the market fee collection. Hence Calvert’s drive to get rid of lamanis from the beach area only angered her because it deprived her of a huge additional money collection. This Panch member concentrated on her pocket and the village did not matter to her. Hence the allegation was invented against Calvert to discourage him from conducting the drive to get rid of Lamanis from the beach area. Unlike Colva the Sernabatim beach does not have any ‘lamani’ settlements and it is almost completely free from these pesky hawkers because of efforts put in by Calvert. The only lamanis present are in a few shops belonging to a henchman of the minister.
I would like to conclude by stating, ‘Don’t kill the messenger”. We the parishioners of Colva need support from all quarters to save our church properties. We need support to stop the moral bankruptcy and bankruptcy of the minds of our gullible villagers. At the recent inauguration of the new Colva School, Francisco Sardinha openly said “Fr Diogo is the Shahinsha of builders”. Not Shahinsha of Priests. What a shame!! A Priest is suppose to be a spiritual guide etc and an ambassador of God. Sardinha is not wrong in his description. Today it is happening in our parish and in our village it could be your parish tomorrow.
Adeus. Mog Assum Dhi.
Joseph Fernandes.
