The Maharashtra govt. gave permission for a huge global buddhist pagoda to be built in an area where 90% of the population is marathi speaking catholics & the rest 10% are marathi speaking hindus………what if the catholics of gorai-manori-uttan & bombay & India pool in resources to built the tallest statue of Jesus Christ in Gorai region….taller than the one in Brazil & Poland……….will the Maharashtra govt. give the permission……..unlikely…….but the question remains why did some wealthy outsiders setup a huge global pagoda in gorai region where there is no buddhist population.
The Maharashtra govt. has been trying various tricks to pass on the land of the natives of gorai-manori-uttan to private operators who want to setup a tourism & real estate zone but so far the Maharashtra state has not succeeded but the game to get the land is still on……..it is not just gorai-manori-uttan…..all over the eco-sensitive konkan region the Maharashtra govt. is trying to get the lands of natives and pass on the land to private operators who want to setup specialeconomiczones – realestatezones – power plants – etc etc etc…………the policy of the Maharashtra govt. is to eat up the land of the natives of konkan and leave them to be a mere memory…………………..Anyway, regardless of the political question, the Konkan is a historic and ethnic territory and cultural region and must be recognized as such. Goa and Bombay both fall within it apart from the districts of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg…………..The Konkan is a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, ranging from 50 to 100 km in width and some 700 km in lenght……Numerous rivers and backwaters inundate the region. Originating in the Western Ghats, the rivers are fast-flowing and mostly perennial, leading to the formation of estuaries………….the konkan region with its wetlands, lagoons, mangroves, sea-grass beds, coral reefs and shallow bays, creeks and estuaries is rich in natural resources…….Unfortunately, much of this wealth is often exploited in an indiscriminate or ill-planned manner resulting in rapid resource depletion and irreversible environmental degradation……..Major driving forces for coastal degradation in konkan are (a) high rate of growth in population leading to reclamation of coastal areas and release of wastes, (b) over-fishing due to lack of alternative livelihoods, (c) large commercial enterprises aiming at quick profit at the cost of sustainability and their insensitivity to the interests of local inhabitants, (d) ignorance about management of resource sustainability among stake holders and policy makers, (e) lack of understanding of environmental significance and importance of coastal habitats, and (f) inadequate enforcement of environmental rules and regulations. ACTIVISTS & NGOS INVOLVED IN OPPOSING THE Land Acquisition Act & DEFENDING THE LANDS OF THE Farmers-Tribals-Fisherfolks ARE BEING ACCUSED OF BEING ANTI-NATIONALS AND ANTI-DEVELOPMENT AND ARE BEING HARASSED BY VARIOUS ARMS OF THE STATE MACHINERY………………. The Land Acquisition Act which the British Raj invented and carried forward by state governments has ruined and DISPLACED many communities across India……....From human security angle, displacement involves ‘impoverishment risk’ the common elements of which are: “landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, food insecurity, increased morbidity and mortality, loss of common property assets, and social disarticulation”. Rome was not built in a day……it took 10 years for Team Anna to force the parliament to pass the RTI Act……it will take another 10 years for Team Anna to force MPs/Parliament to pass…..janlokpal – right to recall & reject in election – more executive & judicial powers to gramsabhas & villagepanchayats – return of lands taken by state in the past to the original villagers - etc. Christian activists in India especially here in bombay lack the skills to fluently speak in front of tv news cameras due to which ndtv – cnnibn – timesnow – headlinestoday – etc don’t take any interest in inviting christian activists to take part in social & political debates. Bombay was once the manufacturing & industrial & import-export & automobile & pharmaceutical hub of India…….but in the last 15 years most of the industries & trade from bombay has shifted to other parts of India especially in Gujarat……..now there is no industrial development in bombay…….the only thing that one sees everywhere in bombay is construction of residential buildings & skyscrapers……….. Most of the MPs, MLAs, Corporators in Bombay are builders by default or are associated with builders lobby we all know it only the paper thin walls don't know it………Approval letters for all aspects of projects - layouts, buildings, water connections, drainage, firefighting, swimmingpool, etc are known to be prepared in the builder's office and sent to the approving officers for their signatures, the price having been already paid. A few decades back the catholic clergy in bombay used to go in parish villages and urge poor catholic parents to send their children to parish schools and the clergy also used some of the vacant church properties for housing needs of poor catholic parishoners……the catholic missionaries also utilized donations received from America Canada Europe for the benefit of poor catholics living in catholic villages of bombay……..but times changed……1970s onwards the catholic clergy started refusing admission to children of poor catholics in parish schools and the clergy began selling off vacant church properties to the builders lobby………AND…..the catholic missionaries started utilizing their foreign funds for the benefit of poor non-catholics living in slums…….because of the attitude of the catholic clergy & missionaries many of our poor catholics in bombay have left the catholic church……………where there is no life there is no attraction…….a dead person is still dead no matter how good the undertaker makes him look…..so also a church which does not take care of its poor parishioners. During Portuguese rule the natives of Bombay were known as Portuguese Christians…..when the British East India Company took over the natives of Bombay came to be known by the name Eastindians……after 1947 and reorganization of states when bombay became part of Maharashtra there was a debate by the Bombay EastIndian Association to adopt the name Maharashtrian but since the marathi people have monopolized the name maharashtrians for themselves due to which the idea of eastindians adopting the new name maharashtrians was abandoned and the name eastindian still remains…………The Bombay EastIndian ( ************ http://www.bombayland.blogspot.com/ ********* ) community is Suffering because all their ancestral agricultural lands surrounding their villages in Bombay was grabbed by the Government, Slumlords, mmrda, BMC, landmafia, mhada, collectorsoffice…AND….Alcoholism–Infighting-Jealousy………AND……Driven by poverty the eastindians ( ******* http://www.east-indians.com/ ******** ) were unable to get the requisite permissions for rebuilding their own dilapidated houses and were forced to barter a floor with the builder in return for one to live in decently, without giving thought to where the next generation will reside and without bothering the bad quality materials the builder will use to construct the new Ground+1 house which will result in monsoonal problems – leakages problems – walls/floor as thin as paper and the resulting cracks…AND…daily consumption of the unhealthy & unhygienic bakery maida pavs…AND…lack of interest in education…AND…lack of interest in agitating for 5% job quota in bmc, police, mmrdaoffices, mhadaoffices, rationoffices, collectorsoffice, citysurveyoffices, town planning dept, urban development dept, building proposal dept, suburbanrailways, metro, monorail, airindia, ongc, hp, indianoil, rbi, nationalized banks, bombay/kalina university, iitpowai, central/state govt. undertakings, public sector undertakings and other government institutions operating in bombay…AND….lack of interest in reading the Word of God i.e. The BIBLE. Jorge Monteiro Bombay. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
