A band of energetic youth comprising of Mr Stephen ex Military official Karate Instructor , Mr Mulla Irfan alias Babloo Chairman and Mr Zalil General Secretary besides others under the banner BLOOD OF GOANS FRONT have taken up the demand for a Kabrasthan for the Moslem community of Salcete ( which according to them is a population in Salcete of around 40,000 with Margao alone accounting for 18,000 ) since Thursday, 15th March, 2007 at 1730 hrs till the time of writing this post.
They are vexed over the fact that despite assurances from all political parties in the past 28 years there is no political leader who has agreed to provide them a suitable place for burial besides the 17,000 m2 land at Pajifond atop a hilly terrain which is a partially motorable road mid hill while rest of the access to the grave yard is by foot on a steep gradient. They also affirm the fact that the terrain is of hard rock and is not easily permeable soil for a decent burial. According to Mr Artik Banducda General Secretary of the Jamiya Masjid they state that in the past they had made several attempts to get land from the Government. They were allotted a place at Chandrawado Fatorda to be shared with Hindus and Catholics but this was not acceptable to the Hindu community. Then they were given a land in Raia far away from the residential areas yet after some days they were shooed away from the area with stone pelting. They were also give a land in San Jose de Areal 21,500 m2 to be purchased by them and another 10,000 m2 to be given by the Government of Goa . But after the land was purchased there was stiff opposition and hence they had to put off the project for a burial ground and instead retain in for a place of worship. Left with no other alternative owing to the Opposition from all quarters the Moslems were frustrated as the existing burial ground at Pajifond could not meet the demands of Moslems who had to cope with space for an average of 6 to 8 deaths a month according to Mr Riyaz. Elaborating further Mr Riyaz one of the activists who spoke to this writer stated that the Moslem community decided to re-organise the space utilization plan which is used by the Sunni Moslems and the Tabli and Al Adis sects (who have their own Siddique mosques at Fatorda Khareaband etc and are like the Believers sect of the Catholic community) . But intervening their burial ground is a strip owned by the Khojas of the Prince Aga Khan Ismail sects for their exclusive use. Besides that they state the visits to the burial grounds on ocassion of burial of the dead, the Moslem community is required to visit it only on three occasions for prayers on Rmazan Id, Bakri Id and a day dedicated to the dead a la Souls Day of the Christians. Sensing the no nonsense attitude of the agitating Moslem youth politicians from Salcette tried to break bread with them; be it MP Churchill Alemao, Ministers Mr Francisco Sardinha, Mr Luisinho Faleiro, Mr Digamber Kamat and Mr Damu Naik MLA Fatorda However the youth for once decided to shun all political affiliations. They are clear on one point says Babloo the one who solves their demand will not only be held in high esteem but will earn the goodwill of all the Moslem community in Goa and Allah our supreme leader. When this writer made a site inspection of the burial grounds which according to these youth was donated by a Moslem family somewhere in 1887 though none of them could identify the donor or show the copy of the will donating such land, the place indeed reflects the ground reality as projected by the youth. However when they were asked to comment on why the burial ground was not usurped for re burial after a period of time say three four years as the Catholics do Mr Riyaz stated that they have recently decided to have the graves cleared off in three to six months This appeared an unbelievable reality but Mr Riyaz went on to explain to this writer that Zaanaza which means man you are dust and unto dust thou shall return ---- most of the dead are buried with simple cloth rolled with camphor and baddishap in 1.5 metres depth and this is enough for the bodies to decompose readily. Accordoing to Mr Artik Banducda and a committee member of the 19 Mosques in Salcete an enterprising retailer and wholesaler cloth merchant of the famous Babu cloth shops at New Market and Gandhi market, he stated that there were complaints from the bereaved members to avoid such re-use of the graves at short intervals as some of the bodies were far from decomposed mainly the torso etc. Mr Riyaz also stated that the Moslem community had taken a decision to demolish all the old memorials erected that were sixty years old by some Moslems for their departed ones at the burial grounds to provide for space yet the y are in need of more space and hence the 7000 odd land would be of atleast temporary use to them. It may be noted that following a government decision to acquire an area of 7306 m2 of land under section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, belonging to one Mr Savio Da Costa of Assolna now residing at Rua Abade Faria. The land which is approximately 3500 m2 settlement area and 3500 m2 orchard land and having a market value of Rs 2000 per square meters, according to Mr Da Costa, who spoke to this writer this evening, apparently considering that the only other motorable access available is via the Grace Cardiac Centre, Pajifond while the other from the Sunaparant daily office Opposite BPS club has a very narrow access pathway. But while Mr Da Costa sympathises with the demand of the Moslem community he feels that they should not render his holding uneconomical and demanded a reasonable price be paid or to pull up the politicians who had failed to meet their demands. They have the money ask them for it for this is your genuine demand that they ought to settle he said in an emotive filled voice fearing the loss of prime land which could other wise be used as a recreation center. According to Ms Auda Viegas , social worker ex-councillor and one of the UGDP ex Vice President , she was sympathetic to the demands of the Moslems, and castigated the other politicians for giving false assurances to the Moslem community. However she had earlier signed a joint representation dated 17th February, 2007 along with 400 odd residents of Pajifond opposing the demand for acquisition of land for the Kabrasthan when she was given to understand that part of the property belonging to the neighbouring residents too would be acquired.and that in the past too they had opposed the setting up of a cemetery for the residents of our Lady of Grace Church. Interestingly Mr Savio da Costa has objected to the land acquisition on grounds that the intent of the government and the local MLA was prejudiced. He has sought under the Right to Information Act 2005 to know why the Margao Municipal Council which acquired from the Fabrica de Raia 30,000 m2 of land at Sonsoddo, with excess road provided from residential house could not be used for the demands of the Moslems community instead laying hands on his property. The hearing before the Land Acquisition officer is now scheduled for 21st March, 2007. Till then the youth will have to continue with their fast . In the meanwhile they are sympathetic to the views of Mr da Costa but they state that the Sunni Jamiya Masjid has already paid seven lacs thirty thousand and six to the Government. If the Government acquires the land belonging to Mr da Costa they would even consider a refund from the government of the seven odd lacs and pay the same to Mr da Costa to mitigate his financial losses and would have no objection to his claims for a higher market price then the amount awarded. According to Mr Artik, he stated that while it was a fact that many of the Moslems were well off and could easily settle for an outright purchase of the land from Mr Da Costa instead of depending on the Government and the politicians to extract political mileage, he claimed that the Moslem community was not prompt in contributing their mite . As a matter of fact Mr Artik admitted that he had to borrow Rs five lacs from his uncle in Sri Lanka to meet the costs of the land acquired at San Jose de Areal which has now to be abandoned. Even of the seven odd lacs paid to the Government for the land acquisition of Mr Da Costas property he claimed that Rs two lacs was donated by a Catholic hailing from Curtorim. As things stand there are only two alternatives a) the MLA could get the Government to acquire the land under urgency clause as has been his style of seeing his projects get through and considering that no political party could antagonise the Moslem vote bank at the hustings b) the Government could provide the funds and the Moslem community could select the land of their choice and abandon the present Kabrasthan c) Mr da Costa could offer the land to the Moslems at a mutually agreed rate now that the prospects of Land Acquisition under urgency clause may be the ultimate weapon for the Goa Government to save face, and d) Mr da Costa could move the High Court and plead against the ulterior motive of the Government who has unjudiciously banked on his land instead of the 30,000 m2 metres of unused land at the disposal of the Margao Municipal Council at Sonsoddo . Meanwhile there is little time left for the Government to resolve this issue and they can only afford to neglect it at their peril. Considering that today is non government working day tomorrow a Sunday and the day after Gudi Padva there are moves that Mr Luizinho Faleiro, Mr Digamber Kamat may accede to the demand of the Moslems and ask them to call off their fast now. GODFREY J. I. GONSALVES, BORDA, MARGAO, 403 602, GOA. (INDIA) +91 98221 58584 (24 HRS) [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new http://in.answers.yahoo.com/