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------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------- Boycott mars Goa's Liberation fete --------------------------------------------- Devika Sequeira PANAJI, DHNS
There was a red carpet welcome for Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and a marked display of patriotic fervour at the Azad Maidan in this State capital on Friday morning.
None of it, however, dispelled the bitter aftertaste the move to create RSS-designated "freedom-fighters" has left in a state that has stood its ground on communal amity.
Mr Shekhawat felicitated 153 non-Goans drawn from across the country on a day that marked the 42nd anniversary of Goa's Liberation.
The government said thousands of people outside of Goa had played a role in Goa's freedom movement, and their contribution had gone unrecognised. "Their moral support provided the requisite boost to the Liberation movement," its official note claimed.
Deeply anguished by what they perceive as a debasement of their struggle, most of Goa's freedom-fighters who owe allegiance to the Goa, Daman and Diu Swatantra Sainik Sanghatana boycotted today's function. They said they had been "insulted and dishonoured" to be clubbed with those who had never taken part in Goa's freedom movement.
"This is an insult to registered freedom fighters. How can someone's expression of 'willingness' to take part in Goa's freedom struggle be equated with what genuine freedom fighters have suffered?" asked Mr Vasant Molio who heads the Goa freedom fighters body.
Red-faced and embarrassed by the controversy, the State's administration tried to persuade Mr Molio to withdraw the boycott threat, but to no avail.
A former IPS officer and one of Goa's best known freedom fighters, Mr Prabhakar Sinari suspects there is an "ulterior motive" to the recent move to create new freedom fighters under this government, and that too, 42 years after Goa's freedom. "Who has established if these are genuine freedom fighters? There are hundreds of Goan freedom fighters who have gone unrecognised. Many of them are already dead," he points out.
The official criteria requires that a freedom fighter should have been incarcerated for a minimum of three months by the colonial regime.
Many here hold the highly proactive Goa Governor Kedar Nath Sahani responsible for the attempts to restructure Goa's liberation history to suit a right-wing agenda. Known for his strong RSS background, Mr Sahani received quite a few slogans of support from a mostly non-Goan audience at the Azad Maidan.
The Governor admitted that none of those felicitated today had actually come to Goa to participate in the struggle. They had travelled all the way to Pune and Belgaum to register their names and expressed a desire to be part of the movement, he said.
Among those felicitated today were 42 new freedom fighters from Karnataka, 36 from Madhya Pradesh, 20 from Maharashtra, 10 from Jammu and Kashmir, 9 from Rajasthan, 7 from Gujarat and five each from Tamil Nadu and Daman, apart from others. ---------------------------------- Deccan Herald 20/12/03 ----------------------------------
======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
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