In Candolim there is
one small Vaddo touching the Hill which if you cross on foot you can easily
reach to Saligao Seminary. In this Vaddo
till a few years back there were hardly 30 houses and as such it was thinly
populated. Major portion of the land in
Araddy was deserted. Since the shooting
up of land prices in Candolim as elsewhere in Goa due to the heavy influx of
non-Goans, one deserted and isolated area touching the hill in Araddy was sold
in pieces by the local landlords to the Migrants who are named as “Ghanttis and
Lamanis”. With the blessing of the local
Congress led Panchayat under the control
of the local Congress leader, the new settlers were allowed to construct their
houses there even without licenses or official authorization thus making these
migrants to remain at the mercy of the local Congress leader. This Congress leader including local
Panchayat body even allotted these migrants Election Cards without even
verifying the fact that they have defranchised themselves in their States from where they came. The number of these migrants
is swelled now making them a force to reckon with in physical as well as
financial might. Though this place is commonly called by the locals as Ghanttianchi
Araddy yet it is named as New Araddy.
A week back during the
Holi Festival, there was a physical clash between a few local boys and these
Ghanttis for reason still unknown properly though the local boys are blamed by
some for this physical clash in which the local boys were not only outnumbered
numerically but heavily assaulted by the Ghanttis. According to one source even the bones of one
local boy were broken sending him to the hospital.
Immediately, the matter
as informed, reached to the local Congress High Command in Candolim and the local Congress
leader along with some Panch Members including the Sarpanch came to the scene
to discuss this matter and as some said, to support the Ghanttis. During the course of discussion and meeting with
the Ghanttis, the local Congress leader as per the available information, told
the Ghanttis there that “Next time if such incident repeats, take
the law into your own hands and break
the bones of the locals”. And as per
another version, the local Sarpanch made a statement saying “Since these
Ghanttis are my voters, I have to support them”.
Is it right on the part
of the local Congress leader to encourage the Ghanttis to take the law into their
hands even though the local boys may be wrong?
There is law enforcing authority to decide but it is wrong on the part
of local Congress leader to make such a brute statement to tell the Ghanttis to
break the bones of the locals. I hope Luizin Faleiro and other Goan Congress
leaders and also other leaders of Goa fighting for justice will take note of
this cruel statement of local Congress leader and also of the local Sarpanch.
Zilla Parishad election
is very close now and people in the locality are deeply hurt by this harsh
statement of the local Congress leader who is supporting one candidate in this
election. Overwhelming majority of
locals are annoyed at this statement and they want to defeat this candidate in
the coming election. I think this will
be a right course of action for the locals.
The local Congress leader is relying too much on the votes of Ghanttis to destroy Goans. For this reason
not only locals from Candolim but also from other villages volunteered to join
hands to defeat the candidate backed by the local Congress leader who is also
known as Godfather general of Ghanttis in Candolim. This election in Candolim will
be fought on the basis of locals and Ghanttis led by the local Congress leader.
According to the latest
information, the situation in Araddy is very fluid and these Ghanttis like “Khapris”
during Portugues rule are ready to do anything to please their Godfather
general. In view of this, if any
untoward incident takes place for any local who is opposing the dadagiri of
Ghanttis then the only person should be
held responsible for this will be none other than the Godfather general of the
Ghanttis who advised the Ghanttis to break the bones and limbs of the locals.
Social activists and Church leaders must not keep their silence on this topic, they must raise their voices in unison to stop the language of brutes and of Goondas.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim, Goa.
Tel: 7507394349.
