------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * * * * * * * ANNUAL GOANETTERS MEET * * * * * * * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goanetters in Goa and visiting meet Jan 6, 2009 at 3.30 pm at Hotel Mandovi (prior to the Goa Sudharop event, which you're also welcome to). Join in for a Dutch dinner -- if we can agree on a venue after the meet. RSVP (confirmations only) 9822122436 or 2409490 or [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Santosh Helekar: I think it is best for any person who is attacked by a Hindu, Christian, Muslim or any other kind of criminal to take the following steps:1. Call for help, and seek medical help.2. Call the police, and lodge a detailed criminal complaint.3. Cooperative fully with criminal investigators and any independent judicial inquiry.4. Don't politicize or communalize the crime against you because your privacy will be lost, and politicians and activists will misuse you for their own selfish purposes by distorting everything you say in the print media and the internet.5. Don't call a press conference if you want to maintain your privacy and your dignity and self-respect.Cheers,Santosh Response: It appears that Santosh is used to living in ivory towers and totally removed from ground realities. All the above steps will probably work well in countries like USA, Western Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand which are mature democracies with the rights of all its citizens protected by the state and civil society. In India, which in reality, is a functioning anarchy, things are totally different. Those who exercise power or control financial resources call the tune. The police, the administration and even to some extent the judiciary is putty in their hands. Gujarat and Orissa would not have happened had the state administration come down heavily on the anarchists. When the state administration and the police turn a blind eye or connive in the violence, whom does the victim go to seek help? Are you aware that the medical reports of the nun who was raped was suppressed by the police for 38 days? Are you aware that rapes, killings, destruction of property took place in the presence or connivance of the police? When a victim faces a dead end, where does such a person go to get justice? And when those who report on the violence are demonised and their reputation and character torn to shreds by vested forces, what does one do? Would anyone seek protection of a person who stood passively while their family members were hunted and killed before their eyes, while their female members were raped in their presence, while their homes and belongings were burnt to ashes? It is all very well for those who are not affected by the violence to preach, and take theoretical positions, which will work well in the classrooms. Next time, you are in India, I suggest you pay a visit to any of the mission stations and witness and experience for yourself how life is out there for the poor and the marginalised and for those who are working selflessly to uplift them. Speak to Seby Rodrigues and the other persons fighting the mining lobby. Listen to their experiences. If you do not get touched and sensitized, you would have to be a very hard hearted human being. Regards, Marshall
