------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRI Continental Film Festival - Dona Paula, Goa, Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2007
http://www.moviesgoa.org/tricontinental/tricon.htm For public viewing. Registration at The International Centre Goa. (Ph: +91-832-2452805 to 10) Online Media Partner: http://www.GOANET.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Goans, My sincere thanks to Anastasio-Bab and John Monteiro for responding to my comments on Goanet ( as well as to the scores of others who have preferred to communicate privately through [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) With respect to Mr Monteiro's comments : 1) My apologies are due to any person or organisation on Goanet who felt i am trying to sideline them on this forum . As i have already stated very clearly , i am not as intelligent or powerful ( in terms of my social,professional,economic,educational or political status ) as many who write on Goanet....or for that matter most of those who are politically active in Goan matters. What i do have is a zero ego policy,a clarity of thought unclouded by issues apart from changing Goa for the better.....and above all, a steely determination to achieve this purpose.In fact, the very purpose of initiating my postings on Goanet was to get the much more intellectual individuals than myself ( and who have sustained this very powerful forum over the years) to contribute to the discussion. 2)With regards to the slight note of pessimism i detect in your posting ( espescially the one in reply to Mr Mascrenhas),i am aware that it is not easy to find a way out of the political mess in Goa ( with it's many faces of corruption and divisiveness ).However,i am absolutely certain that we shall prevail. 3)While I have no political ambitions ( and shall defeat the whole purpose of my mission if i change that stance ), there are good people closely associated with me ( and who will reveal themselves in due course ) who will get directly involved ,if not are already involved, within the goan political,and equally important,bureaucratic system. 4)While still very relevant,in relation to the least important ( in my humble opinon ) of your queries......regarding my religion. I was born a Hindu Brahmin.I was however,fortunate to have a far seeing and broadminded father and grandfather,who sent me to a Catholic school (and i have visited the Church as often as the Temple ).Even more importantly,i was gently encouraged to make friends with children from the lower castes as well as with muslims,many of whom lived in the area around my house in Goa.Wecelebrated Christmas and Ganesh Chaturthi with equal enthusiasm ( and one of the family traditions was to go to Old Goa for the traditional midnight.mass....apart from that and a yearly visit to the Zatra of our family deity,there were never any compulsions to visit a place of worship ).I have shared many a meal in a common plate as part of the Eid tradition at the house of a close muslim friend ....and just in passing,enjoy my beef and pork as much as the traditional vegetarian food accompanied by modak's at Chaturthi. 5)And finally, coming to the most important question you have posed....How am I ( or rather we ),going to achieve this herculean task ( against,i agree,with you,all odds and extremely complex and multiple individual issues which divide us ).I am not able to divulge all details at present ( and apologise for this....but we cannot afford our plans to be hijacked by a few who may have vested interests ) To start with,we have a clear plan A....but also a plan B and C.The essence to the success of all plans is something you have already touched on in your reply to Nelson Ferrao's posting on Saving Goa....like minded individuals who only have the interest of Goa at heart have to form small groups....which will amplify into larger groups.However,this will never be enough .....the main reason being that the system in Goa is so heavily controlled by money and muscle power .There is ,also,a third factor which is being used by the Goan politicians ( and this refer's to EVERY major political party in Goa ).....and that is divide and rule based on differences in religion,caste and socioeconomic status.There are many other complicating issues,which we will address in due course. Here is what i have achieved so far.Over the last 18-24 months,i have made many visits to Goa.Since i had no political connections whatsoever,i was able gather information and form a network of trusted contacts ( either directly or through my trusted colleagues and friends who were from all sections of the community,whether in terms of religion,caste.education or economics ). This network stretches from the grassroots from Pernem to Canacona and Tiswadi to Sanguem........and also involves Goans based over india and the world.......more importantly,there are trusted persons within every political party,NGO's ( many of whom are unfortunately fronts for political outfits),civil services and most crucially within the power lobbies who feed us inormation and are also in a position to influence the current political leaders/parties in Goa.All the individuals associated are one's who are bound by complete trust and will never be sold out for either favours or money ( a sort of freemasonry type movement but without any hierarchy....all within it are equal in status ) We will be in a position to influence the course of future political and social events in Goa...that I have no doubt about.The methods we adopt all depend on the response i get from not just the Goanet community but also other forums I ( and others associated with me ) are targetting. We wan't a simple answer from all of you to a simple question....is not the only way to change the long term outlook for Goa and goans a change in the body politics ( from the grassroots to the very top ? ) mog asundi / deo boren korun /luv and regards, Arjun Eklawya Sadiq-Saldanha [EMAIL PROTECTED]
