Datta Damodar Naik may well be right when he opines that after 50 years the world will be atheist. However, with respect to Mopa, it is Datta Damodar Naik himself who appears to be confused. Anyone who has taken the trouble to study the issue will understand that Mopa is not a political, but a serious environmental and economic issue for a large number of Goans. For Mr. Naik, the life shattering disruption of displacement must be hard to understand being far removed from his secure world. But to the people facing the trauma, it is a very real life changing tragedy in the making, especially when it is certainly not needed for the public welfare and the development of the State as has been proved with facts, figures and expert reports.
Also, in such a scenario, I am sure Mr. Naik would concede that when one becomes a priest, maulana or bhat he does not cease being a human being, a Goan and a citizen of India with all its attendant rights, duties and responsibilities. Issues like Mopa, Tiracol, U turns on casinos and Special Status should be argued on concrete merits and substance and not on vague and nebulous assumptions that religious people from any religion who are also voting and paying taxes automatically lose their rights to participate in democracy.
