Dear All, I have never been much of a NET person especially after I left Goa in 2004 and had to make a fresh beginning in Canada. But I always monitor what is going on with our dear Motherland.
I have been in politics at panchayat level, was in Communidade Committees , Club Committees, Chapel/Church Committees etc. was a PSU (Progressive Students' Union) student activist from my HSS days and the Fee Hike agitation - (Adv. Rodrigues will remember) and I have a good understanding of the ground realities of goan politics. >From childhood days I have heard and remember Goans discussing the Goa Invasion/Liberation and the remark "Somebody should have/Some one must go to the UN" With this in mind, I have been collecting bits and pieces of information including Leo Laurences's book "Nehru Seizes Goa" To cut a long story short, I finally decided to be that "Somebody" to file a petition before the UN General Assembly, spelling out how the Goa Invasion by India has been handled contrary to the UN Charter, the Geneva Convention, International Court of Justice etc. by the UN itself. The primary prayer of this petition is to re-include/re-instate Goa in the UN list of "Non Self Governing Territories" from which list it has been unfairly and illegally taken off in a hurry. It took me about 6 months to compile and write the petition with lot of help and advise from the legal fraternity in Goa. At the time of writing, the FREE GOA petition on change.org which I published on 8th Dec 2017 (Feast of O.L. of Immaculate Conception - Patroness of my village of Moira) has been signed by just over 1200 supporters. I hope and pray that more and more people will sign the petition and take the time to read it. Our generation is now getting older and with age health problems keep surfacing and we all have to prepare for the ultimate departure whether we are in Goa or overseas. After our generation has gone away, I am quite convinced that our children will not have the same sentiments about Goa as our Motherland and Konkani will be totally forgotten. It is just a matter of time. With this in mind, I have published this FREE GOA petition which is my last attempt to do something about the Goa situation. The petition has a very good STRATEGY behind it which unfortunately I am unable to spell out publicly, but which might be evident after it has been fully read and understood especially by Goans experienced in law and a political science in the Goan point of view and not in the Indian point of view. Goans will ultimately get tired of going on and on from one agitation to another marcha. Already most Goans are leaving Goa. There has to be a permanent solution. If the petition gets sufficient support in terms of signatures from Goans and the International Community to convince the UN to consider it, we Goans will have accomplished that permanent solution in spite of being 56 years late, as it is never too late to prove an illegality and get it corrected as per law. The number of signatures to the petition shall be the counter of the Goan Unity. The number of signatures will indicate how many Goan hearts can beat together and how many Goans minds can tick together in unity. I felt that I was my obligation towards my Motherland to file the FREE GOA petition which is my last and final attempt to do anything at all for and about Goa. Hopefully something good comes out of it. After that, I for one, shall forever hold my peace as at this age, there is no path forward. We have to start looking upward. God Bless everyone. Viva Goa. Atanasio F. Lobo (Nash Lobo)
