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August 25, 2009 - Goanet's 15th Anniversary
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I was out of Goa for a week and returned home only a couple days ago. While I
was
browsing last week's newspapers, I came across the following on Herald of
August 26.
My comments are below:
GHUMTI DESECRATED AT ASSAGAO
Herald Correspondent
Calangute, Aug 25
A roadside Hindu ghumti was desecrated at Doshixir-Assagao on Tuesday morning,
angering the Hindu community in the area.
The ghumti, which contained 'ten-headed guardian', had been renovated with a
concrete structure about three months ago.
Located along the borders of Parra, Assagao and Anjuna, locals traveling in the
area
would seek blessings of the 'rakhno' or guardian at the ghumti to protect them
along
their journey.
The ghumti is located opposite a Chapel on the hillock, while a tank supplying
water
to Assagao is a few meters behind the ghumti.
Some locals did not notice anything untoward in the ghumti till 10 pm on Monday
and
suspect that the desecration may have been carried out after that time.
A high-level police team, led by Mapusa DySP Sammy Tavares, Mapusa PI Manjunath
Dessai, Anjuna PI Ramesh Gaonkar and other officers, rushed to the site and
took
stock of the situation.
"It could either be a deliberate attempt to arouse tension in the area
considering
it coincided with the one-and-half-day immersion ceremony of the idols of Lord
Ganaesh or it could be a 'mischievous' act on the part of some rowdy element,"
Anjuna PI Ramesh Gaonkar told Herald.
He, however, expressed confidence of nabbing the culprits soon.
Assagao Sarpanch Pradip Naik later directed Panch Ajit Sawant to lodge a
complaint
with Anjuna police in the matter.
A case against unknown culprits is registered under Section 295 IPC.
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COMMENTS:
In the early Sixties, there was desecration of several crosses across Goa.
Three
crosses in Gaumvaddy, Anjuna were desecrated: The cross behind my old house
had its
top part broken. The cross in St. John's Chapel compound, opposite my house,
was
broken in the middle, and the third cross, which was inside a little "kopelin"
(chapel), located about 200 meters away from my house, was missing its right
side -
this kopelin does not exist now.
The vandals did not go into the interior of villages or towns but they
destroyed
practically every cross located on main roads.
Unlike today, there were barely any media outlets to publish such events in
those
days yet the news of the desecration of crosses spread like wildfire through
word of
mouth and raised tensions, especially within the Christian community.
We now have desecration of Ghumtis and/or Temples in various parts of Goa.
These
days, people relate such vandalism to politics - perhaps it's true.
Desecration is a very serious offense. Therefore, we hope the concerned
authorities
do their best, nab the culprits and punish them severely.
Moi-mogan,
Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna, Goa
Mob: 9420979201
