By Joseph L R Vaz
Whenever any candidate wins, his favorite words are “it is people’s victory” even though he uses money to buy votes, threats, intimidation, manipulation, goondagiri, etc to ensure his victory. I thought these 2 words “people’s victory” had lost its meaning until I saw how Mr. Avertano Furtado won in Navelim.
Avertan’s win, who has been described by most of the newspapers as the boy next door, was indeed a “people’s victory” right from organizing corner meetings, to big public meetings, from door to door campaigning to word-of-mouth campaigning, each and every Navelkar, baring a few contributed his bit, as one of my friend commented “for a bottle of soda”, no biryani, no whisky, just plain soda, sometimes even without that.
Churchill’s rants against the Clergy was uncalled for, as Dr. Jorson rightly pointed out – ‘bad workers blame their tools’. I attend mass in Navelim Church and have never heard any Priest tell the congregation not to vote for Churchill, yes they kept telling us not to vote for corrupt, now if Churchill considers himself as corrupt, then yes, it is for him.
In his pride Churchill could not feel the undercurrents sweeping through Navelim. It all started in 2008, with his move to occupy fertile fields of poor Goan farmers, most of whom are his voters from Aquem-Baixo and to gift them to mostly non-Goan illegal settlers from Raanfond, all of whom are already settled elsewhere.
Navelim Forum & Navelim Xetkarancho Exvott withstood the pressure including his public threats of “Finishing them” (which incidentally is his favorite sentence at all public speeches). He failed to realize that even his ardent followers were with the farmers in this agitation. Perhaps for the 1st time in Navelim, armed guards were used to forcibly snatch away the fields from poor farmers. With help of the Rosary (the Patroness of Navelim village), the farmers gathered support from all over Goa which put the then Chief Minister Mr. Digambar Kamat under tremendous pressure, forcing him to put the acquisition on hold and promising the farmers a favourable solution to return the fields, but our own MLA Mr. Alemao was still adamant and kept on challenging the agitating people, who were his voters.
The 2nd major issue was the Sinquetim bridge, there again armed guards were used to forcible construct the bridge against people’s wishes. Somehow the people managed to slow down the progress of the bridge construction and withstood all the threats and intimidation. There were more issues of some more farmers at Mandopa and residents of Dongorim. Davorlim too also had land acquisition problem against people's wishes. None of the people cowed down under pressure even though harassment and dadagiri was used. He must have thought that ultimately with money and gifts he can buy all the voters of Navelim, which sadly back fired upon him.
When Avertano announced his interest to contest in Navelim, it gave a big relief to all right thinking Navelkars. From then on support kept on increasing for Avertan, with each passing day. Navelim was the only place where it was straight fight, 1 against 1, good v/s bad, new fresh blood v/s old tainted blood, youth v/s old. Elsewhere people had little choice, to choose the best amongst the rest.
Churchill tried every trick to win, from offering inducements to harassment in business, but Avetan stood firm. Then came expletives like “fogetti”, “kimus”, ect, little realizing that with each passing day, he was digging his own grave deeper and deeper. Avertan was under lot of pressure, his main worry – ‘what if I lose’ – and I believe his prayer during the last couple of days was not “I hope I win” but rather “I hope I don’t lose”, such was the fear that Churchill instills, but the people of Navelim did not let Avertan down, and with one voice brought down the Alemao’s of Varca Kingdom and brought a change, a real change in Navelim.
Churchill most favorite sentence, “when God and people are with me, nobody can defeat me”. Well, when you break the 1st commandment, don’t try the 2nd. This whole process was a result of our consistent every Wednesday Rosary, continuously for 3 years despite many difficulties.
People have given Avertan the mandate to undo all the wrong done for the last 5 years and bring about a real change in Navelim. Let’s hope he performs as per people’s aspirations.
10,231 Navelkars did not take money and voted as per their conscience, in fact for the 1st time, people were seen spending their own money for firecrackers, people took part in the victory rally without any allowances, which showed the spirit of the people of Navelim. Hope this spirit spreads to rest of Goa. The 1stvoice for Goa’s freedom started from Navelim, from Mr. Francis Luis Gomes, history has repeated again for the new true liberation of Goa, let it spread, Viva Goa.
The full unedited article was published in Herald (6-4-2012) in "People's Edit" column.
April 7, 2012
April 5, 2012
HAIL PARRIKAR - HELL CONGRESSKAR.
From the above picture one can easily make out the simplicity of Parrikar, such images were not seen during the corrupt rule of Congress in Goa. For this reason I admire:
PARIKAR’S SIMPLICITY AND HATE CONGRESSMEN’S FEUDALITY.
Never in the history of Goa the chief minister seen moving in Scooter but always in a government provided luxury car like a Maharaja, even for walking distance. Parrikar may be a person of communal BJP but in simplicity he is best identifying himself with the common people. No CM of Goa after Dayananda Bandodkar identified himself in simplicity with the common persons as Parrikar did. All the other previous CM’s acted and behaved like Maharajas. While going on Scooter there were no bodyguards and security escorts to protect Parrikar thereby proving how charismatic he is with all the segments of Goan populace. From here Parrikar must induct into his colleagues whether portfolio holders or not, simplicity measures and apply austerity measures too. BJP came to power with fewer expenses; many of its MLA’s spent less on election expenditure compared to their corrupt congress opponents who spent millions in bribing the voters till voters kicked them.
I don’t understand why our ministers require a posse of policemen and fleet of police jeeps and cars. This is the system we inherited from Congress since the time of independence of India from Britain. No congressmen listened to the advice of Ghandiji to practice austerity measures and live a simple life. But on the contrary congressmen acquired the habits of British Monarchs to lead a feudal type of life. Congress uprooted Maharajas from their Thrones and occupied the same for themselves in the name of fake secularis and started living and acting like Maharajas. The same thing congressmen did in Goa. These congressmen are crooks without proper family base for this reason they opted for artificial Maharajas status. Where are all the pompous facilities now gone from the corrupt congressmen who were massacred in the last election? Where are their Bungalows from Altinho Panjim gone now? Where are their security escorts gone now? Shameless people!! They are now feeling the absence of all their earlier free of charge facilities and for this reason they formed their group under Ravi Naik to play dirty politics to acquire power thru illicit way. One “Bamtto” Congress MLA says that his voters are advising him to join BJP. What a shameless pimp he is! In the name of voters he wants to jump into ruling segment under BJP. Out of power these congressmen will do anything worst. Parrikar must be careful of congressmen’s approaches. They are traitors.
Many times I encountered Dayananda Bandodkar who was without any single body guard, moving freely as if he was a commoner. Thru this manner he identified himself with the common men. By acting as simple man he captured the attention of simple Goans. People approaching him were not required to go to the Secretariat only; even on the road and on playground he was accessible to the common people. Thru this simplicity he made the common persons feel free to approach him. One day in the month of July when it was heavily raining one old Hindu woman wearing very old and torn Saree came to the Secretariat in Pajim and asked the security man there thus ‘Bahu Saib aila re?’ The security man seeing the shabbily dressed old lady tried to ignore her. At that moment suddenly Bandodkar from nowhere reached there and when he faintly heard the question of that old lady who was wet in rain water, he himself condescended and came to her and took her with him to his office upstairs. This was the humility and simplicity of Bandodkar. Do we see such attitudes today in our Ministers and MLA’s? No. Only Parrikar is something and his colleagues like Caitu, Bostu, Ramu can emulate this feat for the good of the common men.
Parrikar must know one thing that people of Goa gave him this strong mandate by fully relying on him to give justice to Goa and Goans. He should not fritter away this hope of the Goans, common as well as elite. When Janata Party at the Centre came to power in 1977, people expected Morarji Desai’s government will give proper justice to all even by cutting cruel Indira Ghandi into pieces for the cruelties she committed earlier. But instead Janata Party leaders started fighting among them like Cats and Dogs till Janata government collapsed. Prrikar must now learn from the failure of Janata in Delhi and accordingly as per the expectations of the people who voted for his government to power, act hard with the crook congressmen and bureaucrats who looted Goa earlier. People expect Parrikar to punish severely all the wrong doers and looters of Goa during the congress rule in Goa. People in Goa common and others expect Parrikar to expose the misdeeds and punish the earlier corrupt congress ministers and their officials “chamchas” who cooperated with them during their misdeed while they were ruling Goa. For this Parrikar must appoint a "Commission of Enquiry" to find out the misdeeds of all congress MLA’s and Ministers who looted Goa and Goans during the last 5 years of their corrupt rule.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
PARIKAR’S SIMPLICITY AND HATE CONGRESSMEN’S FEUDALITY.
Never in the history of Goa the chief minister seen moving in Scooter but always in a government provided luxury car like a Maharaja, even for walking distance. Parrikar may be a person of communal BJP but in simplicity he is best identifying himself with the common people. No CM of Goa after Dayananda Bandodkar identified himself in simplicity with the common persons as Parrikar did. All the other previous CM’s acted and behaved like Maharajas. While going on Scooter there were no bodyguards and security escorts to protect Parrikar thereby proving how charismatic he is with all the segments of Goan populace. From here Parrikar must induct into his colleagues whether portfolio holders or not, simplicity measures and apply austerity measures too. BJP came to power with fewer expenses; many of its MLA’s spent less on election expenditure compared to their corrupt congress opponents who spent millions in bribing the voters till voters kicked them.
I don’t understand why our ministers require a posse of policemen and fleet of police jeeps and cars. This is the system we inherited from Congress since the time of independence of India from Britain. No congressmen listened to the advice of Ghandiji to practice austerity measures and live a simple life. But on the contrary congressmen acquired the habits of British Monarchs to lead a feudal type of life. Congress uprooted Maharajas from their Thrones and occupied the same for themselves in the name of fake secularis and started living and acting like Maharajas. The same thing congressmen did in Goa. These congressmen are crooks without proper family base for this reason they opted for artificial Maharajas status. Where are all the pompous facilities now gone from the corrupt congressmen who were massacred in the last election? Where are their Bungalows from Altinho Panjim gone now? Where are their security escorts gone now? Shameless people!! They are now feeling the absence of all their earlier free of charge facilities and for this reason they formed their group under Ravi Naik to play dirty politics to acquire power thru illicit way. One “Bamtto” Congress MLA says that his voters are advising him to join BJP. What a shameless pimp he is! In the name of voters he wants to jump into ruling segment under BJP. Out of power these congressmen will do anything worst. Parrikar must be careful of congressmen’s approaches. They are traitors.
Many times I encountered Dayananda Bandodkar who was without any single body guard, moving freely as if he was a commoner. Thru this manner he identified himself with the common men. By acting as simple man he captured the attention of simple Goans. People approaching him were not required to go to the Secretariat only; even on the road and on playground he was accessible to the common people. Thru this simplicity he made the common persons feel free to approach him. One day in the month of July when it was heavily raining one old Hindu woman wearing very old and torn Saree came to the Secretariat in Pajim and asked the security man there thus ‘Bahu Saib aila re?’ The security man seeing the shabbily dressed old lady tried to ignore her. At that moment suddenly Bandodkar from nowhere reached there and when he faintly heard the question of that old lady who was wet in rain water, he himself condescended and came to her and took her with him to his office upstairs. This was the humility and simplicity of Bandodkar. Do we see such attitudes today in our Ministers and MLA’s? No. Only Parrikar is something and his colleagues like Caitu, Bostu, Ramu can emulate this feat for the good of the common men.
Parrikar must know one thing that people of Goa gave him this strong mandate by fully relying on him to give justice to Goa and Goans. He should not fritter away this hope of the Goans, common as well as elite. When Janata Party at the Centre came to power in 1977, people expected Morarji Desai’s government will give proper justice to all even by cutting cruel Indira Ghandi into pieces for the cruelties she committed earlier. But instead Janata Party leaders started fighting among them like Cats and Dogs till Janata government collapsed. Prrikar must now learn from the failure of Janata in Delhi and accordingly as per the expectations of the people who voted for his government to power, act hard with the crook congressmen and bureaucrats who looted Goa earlier. People expect Parrikar to punish severely all the wrong doers and looters of Goa during the congress rule in Goa. People in Goa common and others expect Parrikar to expose the misdeeds and punish the earlier corrupt congress ministers and their officials “chamchas” who cooperated with them during their misdeed while they were ruling Goa. For this Parrikar must appoint a "Commission of Enquiry" to find out the misdeeds of all congress MLA’s and Ministers who looted Goa and Goans during the last 5 years of their corrupt rule.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
INTERESTING ARTICLES BY DR. FRANCISCO C. COLACO. Forwarded by: Adv. Aires Rodrigues.
ABHOR SYCOPHANCY
By Dr. Francisco C Colaco
I am amazed at the new-found pitch in certain sections of the Goan media. A pitch that amounts to nothing short of BJP sycophancy -- just because the party is now in power. We read, “No party should contest against BJP in Cortalim by polls”. The reasons given sound so unconvincing that they would probably make that born fighter, late Matanhy Saldanha cringe in his grave! To say that there should be no opponent, or a contest, in Cortalim is to insult Matanhy’s very memory. Matanhy was such a crusader, such a brave fighter, such an intrepid man that would not want anyone to win elections without a fight.
The Latin proverb goes “De mortuis nihil nisi bonum”. Yet Matanhy himself often made questionable decisions. Most of us therefore waited with baited breath to see how his performance would unfold during his present innings. But sadly, he left this world when so many had pinned their hopes on this good man. The same section of the media also attempts to give Manohar Parrikar a rock star status. Such flattery leads to a lot of damage to those whom we are putting on a false pedestal, even when we resort to such cheap praise with the best of intentions.
A TRAGIC DEATH
Mr. Matanhy Saldanha (64) died of a massive heart attack early Wednesday, March 21 morning. He complained of chest pain around 2 am and was rushed to a hospital immediately by family members. Dr Oscar Rebello who attended on him said that the heart attack was massive and in spite of best efforts with the help of other colleagues, Matanhy could not be saved. The end came around 3-30 am.
Were there any premonitory signs? Apparently not. He had reportedly been given a thorough check- up by his physician and personal friend Dr. Marconi Correia only five days earlier, without any clues pointing to an impending heart attack. It is known that 20 % of heart attacks occur in patients who have been examined by their physicians in the preceding one month without a clue as to what was to happen. This highlights the fact that medical methods of predicting a heart attack to date are not foolproof.
We Indians have to be aware of our proneness to heart attacks. What is more, cardiac attacks occur among us Indians at a younger age and are more severe. If we are to stall the epidemic, we must shun smoking, control blood pressure, cholesterol and stress. Being Indians, we are also more vulnerable to paunch obesity and diabetes than other nationals. These two are the primary triggers to heart attacks. We must hence exercise regularly and eat prudent diet consisting of green leafy vegetables, fruits and fibre-rich cereals like ragi, bajra and oats.
Matanhy’s shocking death has sent many flocking to their physicians -- to know whether their symptoms could be due to a heart attack. We as physicians have as far as possible the duty to discover early warning signs. But we should allay the fear and reassure those who are low risk patients, lest we create a bunch of cardiac neurotics.
IS THE “CHURCH” ILL?
Churchill probably never said that the Church is ill. He only blamed “padris” for the Alemao grand defeat. And it is true that Padris were responsible in great measure for the Alemao debacle. From the pulpits as well as in private conversations they urged for a change of guard. When I talked to some padris they were of the view that even if the BJP is a perceived communal party, the Congress had ushered complete destruction of Goa and nothing would be left for Goans in a few years if they came back. There were of course other causes too for Churchill’s defeat but then his words of warning, “I
hope the Padris get what they want from the BJP” may turn to be prophetic one day when BJP bares its mask.
HOLY WEEK
We are in the Lenten season which offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.
A lot of developments have taken place in the political scenario in the last few days. Our ardent plea to God ought to be the maintainace of communal harmony and brotherhood between various religions in the time to come in our beloved Goa.
(This article appeared in the Gomantak Times dated April 5th 2012)
By Dr. Francisco C Colaco
I am amazed at the new-found pitch in certain sections of the Goan media. A pitch that amounts to nothing short of BJP sycophancy -- just because the party is now in power. We read, “No party should contest against BJP in Cortalim by polls”. The reasons given sound so unconvincing that they would probably make that born fighter, late Matanhy Saldanha cringe in his grave! To say that there should be no opponent, or a contest, in Cortalim is to insult Matanhy’s very memory. Matanhy was such a crusader, such a brave fighter, such an intrepid man that would not want anyone to win elections without a fight.
The Latin proverb goes “De mortuis nihil nisi bonum”. Yet Matanhy himself often made questionable decisions. Most of us therefore waited with baited breath to see how his performance would unfold during his present innings. But sadly, he left this world when so many had pinned their hopes on this good man. The same section of the media also attempts to give Manohar Parrikar a rock star status. Such flattery leads to a lot of damage to those whom we are putting on a false pedestal, even when we resort to such cheap praise with the best of intentions.
A TRAGIC DEATH
Mr. Matanhy Saldanha (64) died of a massive heart attack early Wednesday, March 21 morning. He complained of chest pain around 2 am and was rushed to a hospital immediately by family members. Dr Oscar Rebello who attended on him said that the heart attack was massive and in spite of best efforts with the help of other colleagues, Matanhy could not be saved. The end came around 3-30 am.
Were there any premonitory signs? Apparently not. He had reportedly been given a thorough check- up by his physician and personal friend Dr. Marconi Correia only five days earlier, without any clues pointing to an impending heart attack. It is known that 20 % of heart attacks occur in patients who have been examined by their physicians in the preceding one month without a clue as to what was to happen. This highlights the fact that medical methods of predicting a heart attack to date are not foolproof.
We Indians have to be aware of our proneness to heart attacks. What is more, cardiac attacks occur among us Indians at a younger age and are more severe. If we are to stall the epidemic, we must shun smoking, control blood pressure, cholesterol and stress. Being Indians, we are also more vulnerable to paunch obesity and diabetes than other nationals. These two are the primary triggers to heart attacks. We must hence exercise regularly and eat prudent diet consisting of green leafy vegetables, fruits and fibre-rich cereals like ragi, bajra and oats.
Matanhy’s shocking death has sent many flocking to their physicians -- to know whether their symptoms could be due to a heart attack. We as physicians have as far as possible the duty to discover early warning signs. But we should allay the fear and reassure those who are low risk patients, lest we create a bunch of cardiac neurotics.
IS THE “CHURCH” ILL?
Churchill probably never said that the Church is ill. He only blamed “padris” for the Alemao grand defeat. And it is true that Padris were responsible in great measure for the Alemao debacle. From the pulpits as well as in private conversations they urged for a change of guard. When I talked to some padris they were of the view that even if the BJP is a perceived communal party, the Congress had ushered complete destruction of Goa and nothing would be left for Goans in a few years if they came back. There were of course other causes too for Churchill’s defeat but then his words of warning, “I
hope the Padris get what they want from the BJP” may turn to be prophetic one day when BJP bares its mask.
HOLY WEEK
We are in the Lenten season which offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.
A lot of developments have taken place in the political scenario in the last few days. Our ardent plea to God ought to be the maintainace of communal harmony and brotherhood between various religions in the time to come in our beloved Goa.
(This article appeared in the Gomantak Times dated April 5th 2012)
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