WHITE ANTS "ATE" 24 KG CHARAS.

White ants 'ate' 24 kg charas: Prosecution tell court Humans over the period of evolution finally set up courts to deliver justice and punish the guilty, but men in all his wisdom says “innocent till proven guilty” for this men came up with the judiciary, where the judge is the arbitrator of justice, sometimes helped by a nominated jury, so far so good, but what comes next has often made a mockery of our renowned system of justice.

In any court case, there is always the transgressed and the transgressor, whereby one of the two has to be guilty, but the irony of our justice system is, both swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and yet one of them is lying and to complicate it even further we have two guys in black coats knowingly or unknowingly trying to prove the other wrong or guilty. From personal experience I know a lot of innocent people have been proved guilty or a lot of guilty people have been acquitted of their transgressions. As far as I am concerned I would prefer a solution outside the court any given day. Our justice system has been hijacked by the brilliance and manipulative powers of some of the men in black coats called Lawyers. Are they a blessing or a curse on humanity ?

If my memory serves me right, the case of the old Zuari bridge where one of the pillars of the bridge was knocked down by a barge, the owner of the barge won the case saying that the unstable pillar fell on his barge, and was paid compensation for the damage to his barge, is that what really happened ?

Here is another case of the vanishing drugs, the lawyer for the defendants claiming that the drugs were devoured by an army of white ants, incredible ants and even more incredible lawyer. First and foremost, where these drugs kept in a mud house or a secure cemented and concrete structure ? Why is it, nobody noticed the receding amount of drugs ? I am sure, all those drugs could not have been consumed by the ants in a jiffy. So who is selling the cock and the bull story and the important factor is, who is buying it ?

When asked about the drugs imbroglio in Goa, our Home Minister Mr. Ravi Naik, not so long ago proclaimed in public that there were no drugs in Goa, is now finally convinced that it is not so and is trying to assure Goans, that he will get to the bottom of this issue and punish the guilty, I won’t be surprise if this issue turns out to be a bottomless pit like many others, wherein he could never reach the bottom, it just occurred to me, could these white ants be domesticated and trained by our politicians ? Today in Goa our politicians are capable of doing anything !

It would be most appropriate to put up boards around the parameters of the said drug storage facility warning people, to beware of any “zombie” white ants, highly contaminated, dangerous and armed with potent drugs, in the vicinity and to report any suspicious acts by any other reptiles in the vicinity to the nearest police station or the court in the area.

Zombie white ants, God Almighty !! What next !!

Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE.

GALLANT GOANS IN THE SKY-2. By Valmiki Faleiro.

Up, up and high...
Gallant Goans in the sky-2

=========
VALMIKI FALEIRO follows up his story carried in the HERALD Sunday Mirror on 28 Feb
2010, on the gallantry of Goans in the Indian Air Force, in this two-part sequel.
=========

Reader response to the cover story in the Sunday Mirror (HERALD, 28 Feb 2010)
warranted this sequel. Grouse was there were many more gallant Goan airmen who laid
down their lives. Besides, the article did not convey the extent of Goa’s contribution to
the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Goa, as I said before, provided officers to India’s armed forces far beyond the ratio of
her population. Most joined the army and navy, fewest went to the air force. IAF men
occupy only 8-10 houses out of some 150 at Porvorim’s Defence Colony. Yet, a listing
only of IAF Goans provides fair judgment of Goa’s singular contribution to the ranks of
the three wings of India’s defence services.

But, before that, two corrections to Part-I of this serial.

Sqn Ldr “ML” was actually “Emil” (Emiliano) Fernandes, from Dramapur proper, not
Sirlim. He was, in fact, a maternal nephew of Valerian Cardinal Gracias, from
Battiavaddo-Dramapur, now claimed as a son of Navelim. (Cardinal Gracias’ mother
hailed from Navelim.) Two, I wrongly ranked Sqn Ldr FX da Silva as Wg Cdr. More on
them below.

This list is largely sourced from the IAF website. Today, let us look at those who died in
harness, in action or of other causes. Names are listed by the date of death, and where
not known, by seniority or alphabetically. Ranks are in abbreviated form.

IAF gallantry awards in war are, in ascending order: Mention in Despatches (M-in-D), Vir
Chakra (VrC), Maha Vir Chakra (MVrC) and Param Vir Chakra. Ditto for peacetime: M-
in-D, Shaurya Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Ashoka Chakra. Citations, if available, are in
quote marks within brackets – but in abridged form.

This list is not comprehensive, much less exhaustive. There would be many more IAF
Goans who died in service, unsung…

*Flt Lt Aloysius William Barrette, VrC in 1950. Commissioned (hereafter, com.) 1943,
he died in a Tempest-II of 8 SQN on 08 Aug 1948 during the J&K Ops. He battled
bravely (but let’s keep that story for another day.)

*Flt Lt Agostinho Gracias Monteiro joined the IAF after a brilliant academic record at
St Xavier’s-Mumbai and was based in Jalahalli. On a visit to Mumbai, he died of a heart
attack in 1950.

*Pilot Officer Hugo Pacheco Gracias was with 2 SQN (Unit 3) when he died in a
Tempest-II crash on 24 Nov 1951 during a dive-bombing practice with the army, at
Halwara, at age 21.

*Fg Offr Gerald B. Cabral, VrC, was with 8 SQN during the 1948 J&K Ops. Let’s leave
his rarest of rare stories for another day. The third time he crashed, during peacetime,
he was unlucky. He died on 01 Dec 1951 when his Tigermoth-DH82 crashed into a glass
factory at Begumpet.

*Fl Lt Salvador (“Sally”) Rodrigues died in Jamnagar in 1951 in a flying accident.

*AVM Erlic Wilmot Pinto, M-in-D in 1951, PVSM posthumous. His death is the most
known among IAF Goans. Com. 1940, he commanded Goa Ops in Dec-1961. He was
AOC-in-C, Western Air Command and tipped to be Chief of Air Staff when he died in a
Chetak of 107 HU flown by Flt Lt SS Sodhi. The chopper crashed over the Poonch River
(in J&K) 22 Nov 1963. Also killed: Lt Gen Daulat Singh (GOC-in-C, Western Command),
Lt Gen Bikram Singh (GOC, XV Corps), Lt Gen Rustom K Nanavati and others. Death of
so many senior officers in an accident raised suspicions, but the Court of Inquiry ruled
out sabotage. Goa’s airport road was fittingly named after AVM Pinto. But when the road
was widened sometime ago, roadside signage of hotels, etc. was shifted – but, the road
name signboard of one of the best-known Goans in the IAF was, scandalously, not. It
vanished, despite appeals to the current Goa PWD minister. A monumental shame!

*Sqn Ldr AV D'Lemos was flying a Packet C-119 transport aircraft that blew up after
takeoff from Barrackpore on 06 Mar 1964.

*Flt Lt Raymond Vaz, a Gnat pilot with either 9 SQN or 15 SQN, died in a crash over
the home airfield in 1965.

*Fg Offr RHC Vaz, again flying a Gnat, was killed in a crash at takeoff from Ambala on
20 Apr 1968.

*Flt Lt Andre Rudolph da Costa, VrC, was among IAF’s earliest losses in the 1971 war
(Op. Cactus Lily), when his severely damaged Hunter SD-F56 of 7 SQN crashed on 04
Dec 1971.

*Flt Lt Lawrence Fredric Pereira, VrC, a Su-7 pilot, was killed in FAC strafing in 1971.
(“Flt Lt Pereira of 26 SQN was on FAC duty with a Brigade in Shakargarh. He directed
aircraft on close air support missions. He was killed on 14 Dec 1971 when an enemy
aircraft strafed the brigade location.”) His dying words were, “Tell my girl (his wife
Isabelle) to be brave.” He had an eight-month old daughter.

*Fg Offr Joe D’Souza, VrC, a young pilot of 43 SQN was tasked with a maintenance
sortie from Mohanbari to Monigeng. He was killed when his Dakota-C47 crashed at
Machuka in NEFA on 17 Dec 1971. He was unmarried, parents worked in Mumbai.

*Wg Cdr Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar, Kirti Chakra in 1965, AVSM in 1972.
Let’s keep the story of his heroism in 1965 for another day. When CO of 29 SQN
(“Scorpions”), his MiG-21FL crashed following a bird hit over Hindon on 04 Apr 1972.
Hailed from a well-known family whose storeyed homestead with two courtyards still
stands in Sanvordem. His family later lived in Panjim.

*Sqn Ldr Owen Joseph D'Sena, VSM. (“Sqn Ldr D'Sena is today one of the top fighter
pilots on new aircraft and is an invaluable fighter combat instructor. He was assigned
strenuous tasks of combat flying and xxx hours of mission analysis. He ensured timely
completion of special flight trials. He displayed skill of a high order.”) Sqn Ldr D’Sena
was with Unit TACDE when he died in a Sukhoi-7 crash on 24 Jul 1976.

*Sqn Ldr Francisco Xavier Menino da Silva was with 48 SQN in the 1965 war and
with 19 SQN in 1971. On 12 Aug 1976, at age 34, a massive heart attack, his first and
last, felled him. His widow and son live in Goa, a married daughter is in USA.

*Wg Cdr Clarence Joseph D'Lima, VSM in 1973. Commanded the New Delhi-Tezpur
flight carrying Prime Minister Morarji Desai and others that crash-landed near Jorhat on
04 Nov 1977. All passengers survived, all five aircrew died. No awards bestowed despite
their evident self-sacrifice. Civil society decided otherwise. Pune changed the name of
the road by which his family lived from Irwin Road to Wg Cdr Clarence D'Lima Marg. The
main road from NH-17 to Limavaddo-Socorro where the family originally hailed from was
named after him.

*Gr Capt Allan Albert D'Costa, VSM and MVrC. As CO of SQN 222, Sukhoi-7 fighter-
bombers in 1971, he was among the best-organized and daring IAF pilots. Let’s save the
story of his heroism for another day. Wg Cdr D’Costa died in Jodhpur of a massive heart
attack in 1977. He was son of a Chief Engineer of Central Railway and brother of Sqn
Ldr Henry Vivian D’Costa. One of only two known IAF Goans to earn a Maha Vir Chakra.

*Sqn Ldr José (“Joe”) de Jesus da Conceicao e Souza was with IAF Unit 117 based
at Bombay Flying Club. On 07 Nov 1979, he took off from an oilrig at Bombay High in a
Chetak with two Germans onboard, when a technical failure brought the chopper back to
the rig, breaking it into pieces. Sqn Ldr Souza and his two passengers perished. He was
33. His widow lives in Goa and two sons, both engineers, work in USA.

*Wg Cdr Emiliano Augustine Fernandes of 48 SQN was sent to the USSR to take
delivery of three new Antonov AN-32 transporters. During return, after a stopover in
Oman, the three aircraft took off at 1328 hrs for Jamnagar on 25 March 1986. Flying in
reverse-V formation, 60 miles apart of each other, the aircraft piloted by Wg Cdr UM
Bheemiah and co-piloted by Wg Cdr Fernandes was last in line. Over the Arabian Sea,
some 450 kms. from Jamnagar, the aircraft abruptly disappeared. Extensive search by
IAF’s IL-76s and naval IL-38s (36 aircraft in all, plus 6/7 naval ships) yielded no trace of
debris. It is the only mystery of its kind in the annals of the IAF. At the time, the US 7th
Fleet and Pakistan Navy were in joint exercises in the region. Was the aircraft force-
landed and the crew taken captive? One may never know.

*Sqn Ldr Rodrigues was a fighter pilot at Car Nicobar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).
He lived there with his family. It was the season of Christmas-2004 and his mother had
joined them. The Tsunami struck. The entire Varca-origin family perished.

*Wg Cdr Oswald Manuel Francis de Abreu, Flight Commander of 222 SQN died on
takeoff in a MiG-27 on 16 Feb 2010. Preliminary Inquiry revealed “failure of low-pressure
turbine blades” of the R-29 engines. IAF’s fleet of over 100 MiG-27s, its frontline swing-
wing fighter aircraft, was grounded.

There are others like Fl Lt Phillip D’Souza, who ejected from a Marut, but died. Charles
D’Souza, an IAF helipilot, was young, yet unmarried, the only son of Brig George F
D’Souza. He died of cancer – a tragedy that irretrievably shook his otherwise gregarious
parents.

The valiant stories of patriotism and gallantry on part of Goans not only in the IAF but in
all the three services during the 20th century would never cease to amaze. We will look
at some of those inspiring stories another Sunday.
(To continue next Sunday)

(The author can be contacted at: valmikif@gmail.com)

THE LATE PETER COLACO.

It is with deep grief and chagrin I write these few lines on our friend and colleague the late Mr. Peter Colaco who died an untimely and sudden death on 13th of this month while still on Kuwait Airways flight in the morning. He boarded the flight early in the morning in Bombay and while flying to Kuwait just before flight landing at Kuwait International Airport, he breathed his last, leaving behind his sorrowful wife and daughter who according to information is reading for her Doctorate, the cause of his death was Heart Attack. Seen in the photo above is the late Peter Colaco.

Peter Colaco was a long timer in Kuwait, first time I came in contact with him was in 1979 when we played competitive soccer at Sour ground, he was playing for United Goans Strikers as an attacking forward. Though he was muscular boy having athletic body features yet he always played a calm and cool game. It was very difficult to control his dashing bursts near the goalmouth. He was aggressive shooter in both his leg and exceptionally good in the aerial duels having good height also. While playing he was always cool, never argued with referees nor with his opponents. Retaliation was his last option. He was quick in running near the citadel of his opponents. He always worked for the promotion of our soccer either as a player or organizer. During those days he played with some of the top Goan players for UG Strikers and during his time most of the championships were won by UG and Peter Colaco was one of the players responsible for UG Strikers success. During those days especially in the beginning there were lot of commotions and controversies on and off the field and many of the controversies were the making of UG but Peter Colaco always refrained from joining these controversies, on the contrary he tried to bring about peace among the warring factions. In his death a peacemaker has disappeared from our midst.

Peter Colaco is seen in the picture at extreme left holding a Banner in support of the freedom of Kuwait POW's. Navelim were the winners of first ever 7-A-Side soccer tournament organised at Sour ground after the liberation of Kuwait. (Photo courtesy: Lino Fernandes - Nuvem)

Being the citizen of the land Navelim that gave birth to the great Goan Patriot Dr. Francisco Luis Gomes, Peter Colaco loved Goa, Goan causes and Goan language Konkani. Though he was not very vocal in Goan causes yet he many times supported my activities in support of Goa, Konkani and Goan causes. At three to 4 times he attended our meetings held at my residence for the cause of Goa, Goans and Konkani. He was very logical in his arguments and always discussed the matter with clarity and logic. He loved to put forth his views with clear conclusion so that others participating in the discussion always accepted his version. He was not robust in his discussion nor rough, he maintained his decency always. It was pleasure to discuss with him some finer points of the subject. He was always decent in his talk and dress code.

In his death not only Navelkars lost one of their colleagues but Goans in Kuwait lost a great man coming from the Goan village that gave birth to the first Cardinal of India, Cardinal Valerian Gracias who inaugurated the Holy Family Cathedral in Kuwait City.

May the soul of our Peter Colaco rest in peace and may the Heavenly Father give courage to his wife and daughter to bear this colossal loss.

A. Veronica Fernandes,

Kuwait.