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NEW BOOK: 'PATRIOTISM IN ACTION: Goans in Indias Defence Services' With Foreword by Gen SF Rodrigues, PVSM, VSM, ADC (retd) former Chief of Indian Army Staff and Governor, Punjab & Administrator, Chandigarh UT Copies now available at: GOA: Literati (2277740), Other India (2263306), Broadway (6647038), Mandovi (2427904), Noel DSilva & Associates (9823120454 / 9096781714), Confidant / Golden Heart Emp (2732450), David & Co (2730326), Vardaan (9527463684) SERV / RETD Def Offrs in Goa: O/o Sainik Co-op Hse Bldg Sty, Def Col, Porvorim (2417288) MUMBAI: David & Co (22019010) PUNE: Manneys (26131683), Popular (25678327) BENGALURU: Narayan (22865800) DELHI: Ritana (24617278) ONLINE (worldwide delivery): http://www.ritanabooks.com, http://goa1556.goa-india.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- There Is More Than Meets The Eye Goa’s chief minister Digambar Kamat has weathered a whole lot of storms right from the very first day at office, he is become a veteran of sorts, coming through all the storms, unscratched. Ever since the fall if the Bandodkar legacy, a lot old, young and not so young have been eyeing the CM’s chair, like guys eyeing the best looking damsel at the brothel, eyes sparkling with lust already visualizing the orgy to come. So far Digambar Kamat has somehow managed to hold on to his prized possession, initially it was the G8 a group within the alliance, who wanted more than what they got and now we have the G10 led by none other than the PWD minister, who has already had the taste of the most sought after object in the Assembly. The bone of contention has been the “designer” (dorji being the “R” word), business man turned politician, the ladies man as he is fondly called, I would not like to divulge into his personal life, though there is nothing personal left of his personal life courtesy the high profile “dogui bodmas” polygamy case and ofcourse the “ratol” case, though it does bemuse me that we Goans, an educated lot have a good sense of humor to project such characters as leaders of Goa. Personally I have met this man just once at the Apollo hospital when a mutual friend was fighting for his life. I have been allergic to our Goan politicians ever since my return to Goa from Bombay at the beginning of the 80’s and it has only got worse, so much so that I have to fumigate myself every time a Goan politicians passes a few yards from me, my hands are always in my pockets, they are never extended to politicians, Micky has been no exception. Now what astonishes me more than anything else is the insecurity of the PWD minister who has managed to pull in the nine idiots, most of whom were celebrating Micky’s birthday bash just a couple of weeks earlier, the enmity between the Alemao’s and Mickey is well known and has a long history, when the big Alemao was made to eat the humble pie at the Assembly election form the Benaulim constituency, a defeat that hit his ego below the belt and he has never forgiven Mickey for that. About a year ago there was a compromise between the two camps and all seemed to have been forgiven and forgotten but then the devil was at play again and it’s now war between the two camps. According to the PWD minister the reason given for his stand against the induction of Mickey in the cabinet has been Mickey’s lack of morality, the word morality is a mighty one and sounds good coming from the mouths of religious leaders and teachers but form our Goan politicians it looses it’s divinity, can we even name one of the forty and say he or she is morally unquestionable ? Does the PWD minister have any morality himself ? Wasn’t he caught on tapes taking bribes ? Hasn’t he lied to us Goans on several occasions ? Has he not been supporting the builders and miners against the very people who elected him ? What right has a person of his caliber to talk about Micky’s morality ? If morality was the criteria of admission into the Assembly, none of the forty could come even a mile close to the entrance of the Assembly. The PWD minister should stop bullshitting and give the exact reason why he does not want Mickey in the cabinet. It only shows how scared he is of Mickey’s induction in the cabinet, otherwise why should he go to such an extent and threaten to bring down the Kamat government, not that the Kamat government is a paradise of virtues and morality. The PWD minister is only trying to force the issue just to show his support to the high command and it’s periphery, so that he can hijack the “chair” come the next elections. Instead of wasting time and money on this circus he should concertrate on fulfilling his promises to the people. I certainly do not condone with Mickey but as the saying goes “set a thief to catch thief”, he is the right person to checkmate the big man, of all the people in Goa Churchill seems to be scared of only Mickey. Churchill’s obdurate stand against Mickey can never be on grounds of morality, nor because of his animosity. If Churchill was so disgusted with Mickey’s immorality as well his animosity he would have taken this stand long time ago that’s why I say there is lot more than meets the eye in Churchill’s obdurate stand against Mickey. In all the problems that are brewed up by our politicians, we Goans are the losers, as our hard earned money, the tax payers money, is spent on their trips and meetings, public money should be used for the welfare of the people and not wasted on the artificial crises created by the politicians for their own benefits. Freddy Agnelo Fernandes