The systematic campaign against Rajan Narayan by some of his detractors is sickening. What is more, it is not being done on weekly or daily instalments, but almost on an hourly basis. Even when it involves facts and issues one would expect any criticism to be done with some amount of charity. Rajan may be no saint and, let him apologize for his sins of commission or omission. Personally, I also do not agree with all he does. But few would doubt about his commitment to Goa and the Goans. Whether it was the Congress or the BJP rule he has preferred to remain in the opposition. Sycophancy has assured benefits, but to oppose takes courage and sacrifice. Despite severe constraints, Rajan, has fearlessly opted for the latter. He has fought many a battle single-handedly and faced a lot of risks. He may have gone overboard at times. But, to say that he is inflaming passions, or playing to the galleries is not fair. In fact it is the other way round. In his thousands of editorials he has dissected matters admirably well, digging from his amazing library of recorded events, so much so that rulers have tried to avoid a head-on collision about the issues raised by him. To be sure, he almost always backs his criticism with facts.
What is more surprising though is that some of his critics have come all the way to find faults with him when they do not even bother to say a single word against the present dispensation. Isn't there a feeling today that the minorities are being sidelined? Isn't there a general clamour that there's a virtual takeover of the police, education and cultural departments? Haven�t we a situation where the boss wants his diktat to be heard without any dissenting voice? In such circumstances, how many come forward to raise their voices in protest? As things stand today, I feel, there�s utter need of a forum where one can express views without shackles; where editors can write freely without being dictated by the narrow interests of the management. If IGO is found wanting in this regard and there are loopholes in the way it is being planned, and these remain unattended to, let's find an alternative. But a free, independent newspaper that fights for a clean, prosperous, secular and pluricultural Goa is the need of the hour. Let the critics lead from the top and show the way. Francisco Colaco, MD __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
