Hei Bhandare, Let me make my position clear so that you gain a better understanding of where I stand. ref 5. While we fight on history...Goa is being looted (Bhandare)
I may jest about what you say. I would not Mock you. I might see through your mischief and reciprocate in like manner at your your expense. Surely, you should not take that amiss. I feel sure that you do not. To be honest I have no idea of what the RSS, BJP, MLA, SGF and all the other acronyms stand for. The fact that RSS has been mentioned so often here, I decided to find out more. For all I know it could have been the Royal Society of Sciences before I read about it on the net. I have a family friend in Goa. He is a shopkeeper in Mapuca. He is a devout Hindu. I do not know how the conversation came about. I was going to take my son to visit our Hindu Temple in Mapuca so I was probably making sure that my son understood the protocol before the visit. My son was 8 years old then. What stuck in my mind is this. I recall our friend tell my son "Everyone is born a Hindu. Water poured over the head makes one Christian and Circumcision makes one a Muslim" lol hmmmm. I thought well explained in a nutshell. You must remember that I have understood Hinduism as a way of life and not a religion. Basically, it is about having respect for all things and of life itself. I was rather surprised to see that is the ideology of RSS and was heartened by it. However, the ideology did not relate to the policy statements made. The policy statements were disturbing to be honest. I fear that it always comes down to the singers and not the song. Therefore, I have reiterated several times here on goanet that any politics that uses religion and sectarianism for its agendas should be given the thumbs down. I fear that I have now come to the conclusion that ideologies too should be put in the same category as religion having seen some of the RSS policy statements. The good deeds and help given to people while praise worthy should not be used to garner support from grateful people to foster sectarianism unless there is a direct threat from another camp that has got out of control of the Administration. As was reported at the time, I was thoroughly disgusted and embarrassed to hear of some Hindu politicians inciting the attack on the Muslim mosque some years ago ( was is it Aioda Mosque? ). I respect Hinduism as my "other" religion whatever that may mean as I do not have a faith period. I hold India in high regard as my people for its tolerance and good sense. India has assimilated all types as a signature of a mature civilisation. Wikipedia is editable. So I do now know how much of it to believe. But what I did read of RSS was disturbing and contrary to the ideology which I agreed with. The ideology struck me as just what we need until I read that the party was banned 3 times for involvement in assassinations and inciting normal Hindus to turn into extremist. It filled me with concern as the charges are serious. The policy statements of the RSS bore no relation to the ideology to tolerance to other peoples way of life. Frankly, it matters not to me if you are a card carrying member of the RSS and I have pulled your leg about it. But I draw the line should it turn out that you are the wagging tail end of the dog that is based outside of Goa bent on fomenting sectarianism distrust in Goa. I am sure you will understand my and other peoples concern. I have a feeling that you will say that you get people private and public expressing their fears of "looters" "masjids". etc. to you. They have to be advised and directed to use the proper processes that we have in Goa. That is why we need a good Goa Administration to deal with these issues. What we do not need is stoking up of these fears on the back of private and isolated concerns. Whoever is in power in Goa must ensure that we have a police force that is "tough" on people that disturb the peace and police force that is free of corruption and fragmentation. It is therefore essential to have a "crack" police force that is fully trained both mentally and physically to deal with any trouble makers in Goa and whose duty is to protect all our people of Goa without bias. The police are not a law unto themselves. Often they can be the cause of the problem. They should be held accountable to the People and the Administration for all their actions and mistakes. We cannot have all these acronyms in private wars at each others throats or can we accept these acronyms as a devise force in our midst. They either work for all Goans or they do not. They should be voted in on their merit and held to account for their achievements and failure to fulfil their manifesto. Sometimes just being in the majority is not enough for a fairer society. That is what a mature civilisation is about. Look I know little of politics and religions, but I do know spreading fear and fomenting unrest knowingly or inadvertently for political gain can be dangerous. Cheers.
