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RTI is a potent weapon Advocate Aires Rodrigues has been attacked, assaulted, had his fingers chopped off but he still soldiers on in what is increasingly looking like a thankless job. The bad guys still rule, but this fireband activist continues to stick his prominent chin out. *TARGET GOA* talks to him. *Why do you do what you do? *Right from my student days in the 70s I have been less at home and more on the streets, being involved with the public and public issues. I feel if you can help anyone every day it will be your biggest accomplishment. There are so many issues I cannot solve, so I prioritize them. I take up those issues that have consequences on the socio-political life of Goa. Everyone is so pessimistic about the current situation but each of us can play a role in changing the current trend in Goa. *Why are you focusing on the Mickky-Nadia case? *People in public office are accountable to the public both in their public and private lives. There are so many cases pending against Mickky Pacheco. Yet he is a politician elected to work for the interests of the people of this state. *Don't you make a whole lot of powerful enemies this way when you go after them singlehandedly? *The thing is when I find that someone is doing something wrong, I take up the matter and see it through. I have nothing personally against Mickky Pacheco or Lyndon Monteiro either. In fact Lyndon came to my 50th birthday celebrations and he gifted me this shirt that I am wearing. There have been other people I have gone up against and we still have cordial relations. *There are fingers pointing at you regarding cases have been filed against you too. *I am not holding public office, but if I have violated any law then I should be called to book. The 2004 church case has been dismissed. I could have taken a thousand people and protested, but I spent four years arguing my case. Finally the Court came to the conclusion that this was a politically manipulated case, saying “The allegations against the accused seem to be manipulated and the accused has been falsely implicated in this case.” The charges against me were dismissed by the JMFC Panjim in the order dated 9 April 2009. *What were the charges brought against you? *A girl from my parish complained to her mother that the parish priest had molested her. The mother came to me and we registered an FIR against the parish priest. He was about to be arrested when he began ringing the church bells. After that he brought charges against me saying that I brought a gang of goondas to threaten him. After the charges were dismissed in the lower court, they went in appeal in the High Court and lost there too. I am a lawyer so I can fight this kind of harassment. But a layman would have to pay through his nose. This drama lasted seven years. *What about the FIR against the priest? Where is he now? *It was settled out of court. I hear compensation was paid to the victim. The parish priest left the priesthood and I hear he got married and has settled down in Canada. *Do you have political ambitions? You once did stand for elections* No. I have taken a very firm decision that I will not contest any election. I have also decided that I will not officially be a member of any political party. I cannot be apolitical. No one can. Yes, I did once stand for elections as an independent candidate in 1980 from the San Andre constituency. I won 1002 votes which was pretty good for an independent. I lost. My symbol was a canoe. All I can say today is my canoe capsized and I was saved. *Now that you got APP Winnie Coutinho removed from office, who is next? *The Advocate General Subodh Kantak. By raising a ruckus on the exorbitant fees the taxpayer was paying him, I have managed to bring down public expenditure on Kantak by a very large margin. He is still overpaid however. The Maharastra AG earns Rs 40,000 per month, Subodh Kantak earns Rs 5 lakh. But it has been cut by three-quarters. He used to take home a cool Rs 20 lakh per month. *What do you think is lacking in the civil protest movement in Goa? *We need one large organization and we need it quickly. The damage to Goa is catastrophic and if these guys get elected for another 5 years, Goa will be in serious trouble. Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) was a force to reckon with, but now cannot generate the same kind of response as it used to. There were barely a hundred people for the chain protest a couple of weeks ago in Panjim. There are many small groups protesting and fighting for justice and they are doing a good job, but they need numbers to be effective. I was the convenor of Save Goa Front, but since GBA came into force we disbanded SGF. Churchill took the name Save Goa Front for his party. *What else can be done to keep these elements under control? *RTI… The Right To Information really helps. You can fight injustice and expose corruption by just using a 10-rupee stamp. http://www.targetgoa.com/intd-RTI-is-a-potent-weapon-4 -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
