The loss of innocence
Dr Oscar Rebello feels that violent attacks, such as the one on advocate
Aires Rodrigues and historian Prajal Sakhardande, are sure to rip apart the
trust-based fabric of Goan society
As is usual with seizures, they tend to be recurrent when not adequately
treated; and Goa was witness to yet another serious convulsion in the week
that went by - the brutal, cowardly assault on Aires-Prajal in Panaji.
Much has been said and written about the colourful and controversial Aires.
I've even been witness to the nauseating refrain, at times, that Aires had
it coming - as if obsession with a point of law that Aires displayed, is
somehow punishable in this atrocious manner.
But enough about Aires. I must relate to you the version of the soft-spoken,
pure-at-heart, gentleman-professor Prajal Sakhardande.
On that fateful night, Prajal accompanied Aires to the restaurant for a
chicken xacuti. His mission was to convince Aires that instead of constantly
hammering out at his one-point agendas of educational qualifications of a
minister, alleged threat calls made to him, or the question of Advocate
General fees, he should channelise his energy by joining eminent citizens in
devising a strategy for special status for Goa. To work unitedly towards a
positive agenda for the state.
And for his childlike innocence, he was marked out as another target for the
sharpshooters. At the public rally held at Azad Maidan, nothing expressed
this anguished cry at the murder of innocence better than the words of one
of my timeless heroines - Professor Isabela Santa Rita Vas.
How much must evil triumph before the first rays of goodness get even a peep
in sideways? How much blood must be shed before the first faint glimpse of a
rainbow be seen on the horizon? How much more must our voices be submerged
before we are allowed one gasp of fresh air? And how much more must we
remain divided before we eventually disintegrate?
With the present politics of greed and avarice, lawlessness and religious
bigotry, revenge and retribution, one is agonised to witness the death of
innocence in the heart and mind of the simple Goan citizen who passionately
loves this land and her way of life.
And the supreme irony of this phenomenon is that often times innocent kids
of politicians themselves get sucked into this noxious whirlpool of violence
and vendetta.
By systematically, deliberately and often brutally snuf fing out the last
breath of this innocence, we run the irreversible risk of converting our
people and our land into a parched desert of tragic unhappiness and unending
sorrow. Whether our leaders of successive governments over the years and the
establishment elite can ever comprehend how this unhappiness would
eventually devastate the very soul of Goa will never really be known.
It is said that a good shepherd takes his innocent lambs out to graze; a
clever shepherd sells his innocent lambs to the highest bidder and a truly
malicious shepherd takes his innocent lambs out to slaughter.
But somehow, amid all this profound sadness, innocent folk have this divine
resilience and strength to face the odds and with a simple conviction in
their hearts know that hope springs eternal. (ENDS)
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