Ever since the scrapping of the contentious RP 2011, the hopes of ordinary Goans have been kept alive on a diet of empty promises and assurances by the Digambar Kamat government, even as they painstakingly sat together and came up with suggestions for each of their villages for the proposed RP 2021. Two years later, the assurances and promises keep coming, laced with excuses and evasiveness in lieu of the immediate and decisive action that the present dire situation calls for. RP 2021 still remains a pipe dream. In the meantime, the decimation and plunder of the land continues unabated. Hills are ruthlessly cut, paddy fields are filled, eco sensitive zones are treated with total disrespect and the woes of the people in the mining belt continue to overflow, while their tears go unheeded by the ruling dispensation. Goa’s sorry plight motivated groups from villages all over the state to come together on the platform of VILLAGE GROUPS OF GOA in an endeavour to try and protect our little homeland from the assaults of vested interests. The newly constituted Village Groups of Goa decided to approach Chief Minister Digambar Kamat at the Porvorim Secretariat on May 17th, to put forward the longstanding and legitimate concerns and demands of the people of Goa and to make known to him that this time the people expected action instead of mere assurances and promises that were never implemented.
A group of around 100 or so of us, some of whom were equipped with passes, wended their way to the Ministerial Block in the Secretariat, passed through the metal detector and were stopped by the Security. While the people were explaining their mission, a police inspector whose name tag pronounced him to be Devendra Gad, pushed passed me to the front and began shoving the people to the back. I felt a growing sense of unease as I stood to one side and watched the manner in which he was touching and handling the women in the group. In a couple of minutes, PI Gad had succeeded in evicting the people from the building and he stood on the steps with his arms across his chest guarding the entrance against the people. The group requested that they be allowed to meet the CM since it was the day when he heard public grievances. Finally PI Gad agreed to let 5 persons up to meet the CM, provided they were all women. The delegation of five ladies came back from their mission extremely disappointed with the CM’s comment that he did not need our votes. The people vociferously expressed their displeasure at this offhand dismissal of Goan votes by the CM. Needless to say, the CM's attitude left the people with no other option than to present these issues of crucial importance for the survival of Goa and Goans before the Leader of the Opposition, since he would be better equipped to take up the opposition role in these issues that the people have been trying so hard to perform for so long now. When contacted telephonically, Leader of the Opposition Mr. Manohar Parrikar explained that he was around 25 kms. Away, but assured us that he would turn around and come back to the Secretariat. In the meantime, PI Gad who had called for a further posse of policemen armed with lathis and a police van, suddenly swung into action. He began pushing and jostling the people roughly and ordered them to leave the Secretariat immediately, even though they explained that they were only waiting for the Leader of the Opposition to arrive. My husband and I were standing around 6 metres from the crowd observing the ugly situation with a growing sense of alarm and wondering what would be the best course of action under the circumstances. Suddenly PI Gad strode up to my husband unprovoked and began physically assaulting him while screaming that he was under arrest. I instinctively put my arm between them and implored him to stop. In what I felt was a very crude and insulting manner, PI Gad grabbed the front of my blouse and flung me against the wall behind. I hit my head on the wall and blacked out for a while. When I came to, two of my co villagers were throwing water on me and I could hear PI Gad scream to the women constables who must have arrived in the interim and were now standing around with lathis to arrest me and put me in the van. The women constables lifted me and were moving towards the police van, when the Leader of the Opposition arrived. On seeing him, they put me down and moved back. Mr. Parrikar heard us out and then, as I was not feeling too well, some of us, along with a number of media persons went to his chambers, where someone was kind and humane enough to provide me with an ice pack to place on the bump on my head. In the meantime, PI Gad had apparently shanghaied the rest of the villagers into the van, allegedly roughing up many in the process and I am told, allegedly touching and tearing the blouse of a lady who was coming towards me when I was unconscious. The manner in which he allegedly touched her she said, triggered feelings of deep outrage and humiliation in her and she turned on him and tried to defend herself. When he set the women constables on her, she again ably defended herself against them until she was overpowered and put into the van. PI Gad took the villagers to Porvorim police station, where he proceeded to file charges against them. The Leader of the Opposition accompanied us to the Porvorim police station, where he spoke to the SP. I was feeling shaky and unwell, so I sat outside till the discussion in the SP’s office was over, after which we were permitted to leave much to our relief, because even today, I still feel a burning shame and humiliation at the manner in which PI Gad handled all of us ladies who were present that day. This event was supposed to be a mere presentation of our grievances to the Chief Minister. PI Gad’s total mishandling of the situation transformed and escalated it into an excruciatingly harrowing and chaotic experience. In the light of the incidents that took place, certain questions need to be answered : Why does the Chief Minister think that he does not need the votes of Goans? Is this Mr. Digambar Kamat’s way of announcing that he has cut off all ties with his community? Was the Chief Minister also speaking for the other Congress MLAs in Goa and the Congress party in general since he is also the Congress Legislative Party leader in the state? Can a Chief Minister who says he is not interested in Goan votes be trusted by the people to promote and protect our unique Goan identity? Why is the Chief Minister, who is also the TCP Minister so reluctant to put a freeze on contentious development until the RP 2021 is in place? In fact, why is the RP 2021 not in place even after such a long time? Why did the Chief Minister display such an uncaring attitude to the people who approached him on May 17th, and then announce the implementation of some of their demands the very next day? Who was responsible for entrusting a delicate and sensitive job to an obviously untrained, unprofessional police officer like PI Devendra Gad, who clearly displayed that he is totally ignorant of the basic tenets of crowd control that every police officer should necessarily be equipped with. The Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister need to provide an answer to this. Why did PI Gad not call for women constables when he started his tussle with the people, given the fact that there were so many women in the gathering of villagers? Why did he wait until almost the end of the episode to bring in the women police? PI Gad apparently has a history of complaints about his alleged misbehaviour with women. This has even been revealed by the Chairperson of the Goa State Women’s Commission (Economic Times, May 19, 2010). Were his superiors not aware of his alleged track record? How did they then set PI Gad and his merry men amongst the women? Was this not akin to setting the cat amongst the pigeons? How was a police officer with an allegedly dubious track record kept in charge of a police station, that too, an important one like Porvorim, in a job that calls for much interfacing with the common citizen? The events of May 17th are a distressing indicator that the people do not count anymore in the scheme of the present rulers of our state. And if you are a woman in Goa who happens to spot a khaki uniform in the vicinity, run for your life. After all, you never know – he might be the Digambar Kamat Congress government’s secret weapon against the fairer sex even as the Congress High Command in Delhi dishes out 33% reservation for women.
