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MGP LIMBO-3
By Valmiki Faleiro
The MGP rebellion had died down. The rebels, Dilkush and Daya (D&D), had been
put
in their place. To neutralize them totally, Tai petitioned the central
government for
permission to induct three nominated MLAs (remember Goa was a Union Territory
then.)
The rebels were completely demoralized. Tai also visited Chandigarh to seek the
Punjab
CM’s help to win over Col. Pratap Singh Gill, the Taran-Taran (Punjab) Goa
Lieutenant
Governor, a crucial accessory in times of constitutional crisis.
Babu Naik, the Opposition Leader, was getting increasingly restless. One day,
he called
me over. Politicians, esp. Opposition ones, are a good source of a journalist’s
fodder.
They can provide valuable news leads. I had been close to Babu and often
attended his
think-tank meetings in the office attached to his Margao shop. I believed, as
the great
Dom Moraes once said about his journalistic assignments, "If you are in a
position to
slightly manipulate events, you should do so."
"Faler," Babu began, "the MGP rebellion is dying, we must do something." Like
what, I
asked him. Babu knew what exactly tickled Tai -- that gift, of course, being
reciprocal, as
we saw here this April 1.
"Interview the two," he suggested. "Get them to say something against
Bandodkar. That
will get Tai’s goat." Interviews were fixed. I then also reported for Mumbai’s
`Free Press
Journal’ group, which included the fortnightly newsmagazine `Onlooker.’ The news
editors were unfailingly particular about documenting a story well.
I met Narvenkar in his Mapusa law office. He had hurried back from the courts.
When I
removed the tape recorder and placed it on the desk, he looked apprehensively.
"Don’t
bother," I tried to ease him, giving him some cock and bull about my news
editors back
in Bombay. It must have been 11 a.m.
For almost two hours, and several cassette-tape changes, Narvenkar fought shy
to open
up. It was nearing 1.00 pm and he kept glancing at his wristwatch -- he had to
rush back
for some important court appearance post lunch. "A few last questions," I
persisted.
Suddenly, the floodgates opened. Daya blasted Bandodkar, Tai and the MGP. He
shot
off, missile after missile. I quickly tucked the tape recorder, and, shaking
hands, zoomed
back to Margao. I transcribed only that last one cassette.
Later that evening, there were frantic phone calls from the Panjim-based journo
friend
who had set up the meeting. Daya wanted that last cassette. I sent a copy.
With Daya’s dynamite securely in, I eagerly awaited the interview with Dilkush
a day or
two later. The mustachioed, barrel-chested MLA walked in with a thinly built,
elderly man
with a receding hairline and a huge forehead that somehow seemed
disproportionate to
his body. I was meeting Gopi, Dilkush’s mentor, for the first time.
Out came the tape recorder. The same reaction as Daya’s. The same explanations.
Question one. Dilkush looks in askance at the mentor. He speaks via silent,
facial/body
gestures. No question is answered without the mentor’s approval. The same
guarded
replies, absolutely of no news value. After tiring them mentally for a good
three hours, I
used my trump: I played Daya’s last cassette to them. A deluge of invective
followed --
against Bandodkar, Tai and their misrule. Sufficient to get Tai’s goat.
"REBEL BEES IN GOA CM’S BONNET," screamed the cover blurb of ‘Onlooker,’ Dec 1-
15, 1978. As in the case of `The Current Weekly,’ when we carried the Siddarth
shooting
story, several reprints of the ‘Onlooker’ issue had to be rushed to Goa. MGP
henchmen
bulk lifted copies, and every time we rushed in more. My main story analyzed
the cliff-
hanging do or die dilemma facing both Tai and the rebels. The damning rebel
interviews
were highlighted in half-tone boxes.
Tai was furious. One morning, the tall, dark, lean and mean-eyed ex-MGP General
Secretary, Pushpasheel Kerkar paid me a visit. I had been recipient of threats
of
physical harm before and this veiled one didn’t make a difference.
In a reaction that was precisely predicted by Babu Naik, Tai organized huge
public
rallies, one at Tivim, in Daya’s constituency, the second a day later at
Zambaulim, in
Dilkush’s Rivona. At both meetings, she waved the `Onlooker’ and read out
excerpts.
She told the crowds that even the reporter who interviewed the rebels did not
trust them
-- he had them recorded on tape. (How she got to know that is a mystery.)
The D&D rebellion was up and kicking again. (ENDS)
The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at:
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330
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The above article appeared in the June 24, 2007 edition of the Herald, Goa
