http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20051016014333&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0
Goa freedom fighters demand 'justice' Sunday October 16 2005 12:05 IST KOZHIKODE: ''Ours is a right and just demand. But the authorities have disregarded our contribution in throwing the invaders out of this country,'' says K M Kuttikrishnan, the secretary of Goa Freedom Fighters Association. Their long-pending demand to the Central Government for equal recognition along with the other freedom fighters in the country, remains unheeded. ''The government should treat us like the other freedom fighters in the country. This has been our demand for the last several decades,'' he says. Kuttikrishnan is one of the 40 freedom fighters who had set off a 'Free Goa' mission in 1955. It was on the Independence Day that they ventured into a voyage under the leadership of freedom fighter P Sekharan. Reminiscing the 'Free-Goa' voyage from Kozhikode, he said: ''We had the blessings of luminaries like N V Krishna Warrier, K Damodaran and K P Kesava Menon. We were given reception at the Muthalakulam Maidan before setting off to the railway station. Total four such batches from the Malabar region, from places like Kannur and Kasargod, had also set off to Goa at that time.'' After reaching Goa, the team tried to hoist the national flag and also held meeting. They were arrested by Portuguese police and were beaten up mercilessly, he said. After retaining them for a few hours in the lock-up they were sent back to the border. According to Kuttikrishnan, despite the Central Government's approval of the struggle for the liberation of Goa as the second phase of India's freedom movement, no special treatment is available for them. ''At present we get only the state pension. We are demanding central pension also". "We are eligible for all kinds of concessions and perks which are available to other freedom fighters,'' he said. The association members say that all the pleas to the authorities including the President, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, went futile. The association is mulling several agitations including a Parliament march on the second week of November raising their demands. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
