GBA member seeks Rahul's intervention to save Goa
Herald Reporter
Panjim, Jan 19
The youngest member of Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) Aaron Pereira today sought
the intervention of MP Rahul Gandhi to save Goa from destruction which is
going on through reckless mining, land acquisitions with hidden agendas,
playing with land - the scarce- resources of Goa.
"I have faith in you vision, I beg you not to abandon Goa to thoughtless
policies, surely encouraging discontent and naxalism. The people will be
with you if you help stop illegal mining and disempowerment through
Government Gazetted land-grab in the name of pubic interest" Aaron said in
his letter he handed over to Gandhi during the latter's interaction with the
students in the Goa University campus, Taleigao.
He said as a young Goan he is desperately helpless and frustrated to see the
accelerated lawlessness and plunder Goa's land is going through, with
rampant mining and mindless land acquisitions with little public interest at
heart.
"I have seen successive Governments arbitrarily acquiring land and promising
employment, with little or no thought behind them, housing projects
disguised as SEZs, five star resorts disguised as Food Parks.... And what of
the IT park? How do we trust this when the first heavily advertised building
was a super mall in the shape of a ship?" Aaron asked.
Elaborating further, he said that just as our beaches prove to be our
lifeline in terms of fishing and tourism, there's another secret to our well
being - the richly forested Western Ghats.
Passing through the spine of Goa, he pointed out that they are part of the
top twelve bio-diverse hotspots in the world, and are responsible for fresh
water springs, crucial to the well being of people. New species and
medicinal plants are being discovered regularly in these regions. "if Goan
people are known for being peaceful, it's because they have lived in harmony
with everything that nature provides" the letter says.
However, this world's hotspot is being destroyed at an alarming rate, with
its people and secrets locked in plants that we are yet to find uses for,
Aaron said.
Giving an example, he said like Switzerland has kept its beauty leveraging
chocolate, banking and natural beauty as its industry, why can't Goa make an
industry in export of medicinal plants unique to the Ghats, of Feni, of
managed forestation in denuded areas that serve the Indian plywood industry
and increase green cover at one stroke.
Why can't Goa be the jewel in India's crown, a successful experiment in a
small place, brought about by the will of a forward thinking Government? he
asked.
If you help swing policy for equitable distribution, making Goa a rich and
sustainable state you will be forever etched in our memory as the politician
who did the right thing.
COMMENTS:
Dear young man, Aaron,
Your sentiments for Goa are well meaning but a trifle misplaced in the hands
of Rahul Gandhi. Yes, we know that you have written to him understanding
fully well that he will, one day, sit on the Prime Minister's Chair of
India, like his father. I think, by that time comes, your sweet little Goa
will be another Dharavi of Mumbai. No, I am not being pessimistic., but this
is a fact. Look at us, a forward looking mini State which cannot take care
of its wastes and garbage.
You talk of beautiful Switzerland of Chocolate, watches, international
banking system and natural beauty. Most of your corrupt ministers have
hoarded their loot of your tax money in those Swiss banks and rightly so.
What the Swiss have kicked out, your MPs and Ministers and your Delhi
Governments have rehabilitated in Goa's Santa Monica Estate belonging to
your Church, to poison Goa and to kill its people with pesticides.
What you have written to Rahul is accepted with utmost respect because these
are sentiments coming out from a young bleeding Goan heart. But instead of
telling him our Goa's woes, you could have told him to kick these corrupt
political players in their backsides while giving the TICKETs to contest
Goan elections, sacrificing the big fat suitcases with currency notes packed
into them as the price of those tickets. Naturally, those tickets would go
to youngsters like you so that Goa's Land, Wild-life, Forests, rivers,
mountains et al would be saved. But is this going to happen with the Mafia
culture of the 'Kangress' Party of India? The Good INC took a turn for the
worst when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru condoned the sins of corruption of his
Minister, V.K. Menon in the Jeeps Scandal of yore. But Krishna Menon was
Nehru's blue eyed boy. He was even given Goa to march into, to bolster his
alter ego. Today, India has hundreds of Krishna Menons if not in thousands
who are sucking India dryer than the dry baby's nappy. And if neo baby faced
Rahul Gandhis go against these mafiosi, they will vanish in thin air just
like Rajiv Gandhi did. No. Rahul Gandhi will never be able to take on the
mafia unless there is the tough ingredient of Sanjay Gandhi in their
bloodstream, and if that blood bleeds for the multitude of poor of this
nation.
Instead I suggest you become the Rahul Gandhi of Goa and take on these
coward 'yesmen' of the Delhi High Command up front in the coming elections.
The way to go is PPS. I have, in my earlier post, suggested that you could
be the mascot for the PPS Brigade to lead the fight to get things done
for Goa and Goans, things we Goans have been dreaming about since 1961.
Cheers
floriano
goasuraj
9890470896
www.goasu-raj.org
PS: Fight Dirty Politics and Dirty Politicians. Join the PPS Brigade. Adorn
your 2/4-wheeler with the PPS sticker. Show solidarity with the movement
with conviction
that ' We Shall Overcome '
PPS: PEOPLE for POLITICAL SANITY .... Goa's Need of the Hour
[Note: Sticker now available at CHAMPS, MAPUSA - PANJIM - MARGAO]
