HEART TO HEART (Herald)
BY ETHEL DA COSTA
Kanth take this nonsense
Dear Mr DGP,
We don't easily suffer fools, but you are clearly pushing your luck a little too far instead of taking cognizance of your delinquents in khaki -- lock, stock and barrel.
Before you brand us anti-establishment (we know the government is very fond of bunching together all voices of dissent that don't toe the line simply because the voices have a different viewpoint), we believe this time your khaki clad `law-breakers' have clearly overstepped the boundaries of our patience and tolerance. Not because we have a short fuse that threatens to
explode every time a new rape is reported on a child (not to forget the umpteen that go unreported and the State Government is still dilly-dallying with the Children's Court. Not to mention that the Children's Act is riddled with gaping loopholes), but because we are a population that is finally beginning to get verbal. In protest. In print. And in disgust. God forbid, if it turns into action. The days of turning the other cheek are over. And rightly so. Patience wears thin when it is taken for granted. And we have been taken for granted for far too long now.
Your gag-the-press threats prove that your khaki boys are a bunch of nincompoops fattened on the taxpayers monies. So, no amount of gagging, in print, through intimidation, through blackmail is going to stop what needs to be spoken aloud. The verdict of the people is out, loud and clear. The law-keepers have turned law-breakers using sheer clout and intimidation -
some abuse of office too -- because when the printed word creates an `Ouch,' instead of taking stock and pulling up their socks, cops visit our offices to `verify our character and antecedents.' while rape, molestation, child abuse and paedophilia enjoys legal license. Why are we so afraid of
the truth? Is it because it stares naked in our faces? The State's rise in "crimes of passion," against women and children is turning into a nauseating cocktail, that its time we begin to throw up. And how happily you go cutting ribbons at women's seminars while skirting the larger issue of women safety in the State that presumably enjoys gender equality.
And now your boys are caught taking bribes in uniform! Really Mr Kanth!!!
And what about the way your corridors of justice is known to patronage politicians and their chamchas, withholding the law of the land to prevail in order to avoid dirty linen from being washed in public. The rule books apply to all. So, why the short stick to some?
We are not surprised with the tactics the police adopt to quash the truth.
Or, intimidate the truth seekers. Especially, if the bone of contention is a journo. If this is meted out to a professional, imagine the plight of the common man who musters courage to go to a police station to report the rape or abuse of his ward and then instead gets shown the stick. What is the role of the police in Goa? What are their duties and where lie their
loyalties? Who are they getting paid to protect? Do they truly care about protecting the innocent or are they inclined towards letting criminals walk free. From the barrage of brickbats going their way from the citizen, the cops in Goa are clearly warming their chairs (and lining their pockets) while someone's little daughter, sister, young wife, mother, aunt loses her dignity to live through forced brutality. Not to forget drug pushers, drug
lords, pimps and other assorted variety walking free and safe. Some even enjoying political clout and cover. Compassion is a yardstick to determine a sane society, same with compassionate human beings. Yes, I have met very few compassionate policemen doing honors to the chair they occupy, some even going beyond their call of duty, but the less said the better of the others.
I'm convinced it is safer to be a criminal than a law-abiding citizen, because the police themselves have no respect for the law. How can we expect them to respect the common man, his woes, his fears and insecurities? Less said about providing solace in the hour of need. Given this attitude, how can we expect them to stop horrendous crimes staking claim of little children and adults (and the graph keeps scaling and doesn't look funny anymore). The cops in Goa are busy being hot-shot cops and first class klutzs (if you see them manning the roads at nakabandi, you get the picture. You can flash a licence card with somebody else's photo pasted on it, while you're behind the wheel, and escape notice). Forgetting that they are men who go back to the women and children in their homes. And that by virtue of the oath they take, they are duty bound to protect the women and children of the State as well.
Yes, the government has succeeded in ensuring that price tags can buy you more than your fish and chicken in the market. Today, it buys loyalty. In some instances, principles are bartered for arse licking. It is this sorry situation the Fourth Estate has to deal with (because there are people within the Fourth Estate who are also prone to this disease). But, Mr DGP,
please learn that not all are purchasable. Let's get this one fact drilled in right.
And while we are voicing our protests, we're also making sure that all newspapers do what they are duty bound to the society they report to and help build. If they can't be the voice of the people, if they have no independent backbone, shut down. We have too many official gazettes circulating as newspapers anyway.
Speak and write the truth. Let ink not replace blood.
====
Dear Mr DGP,
We don't easily suffer fools, but you are clearly pushing your luck a little too far instead of taking cognizance of your delinquents in khaki -- lock, stock and barrel.
Before you brand us anti-establishment (we know the government is very fond of bunching together all voices of dissent that don't toe the line simply because the voices have a different viewpoint), we believe this time your khaki clad `law-breakers' have clearly overstepped the boundaries of our patience and tolerance. Not because we have a short fuse that threatens to
explode every time a new rape is reported on a child (not to forget the umpteen that go unreported and the State Government is still dilly-dallying with the Children's Court. Not to mention that the Children's Act is riddled with gaping loopholes), but because we are a population that is finally beginning to get verbal. In protest. In print. And in disgust. God forbid, if it turns into action. The days of turning the other cheek are over. And rightly so. Patience wears thin when it is taken for granted. And we have been taken for granted for far too long now.
Your gag-the-press threats prove that your khaki boys are a bunch of nincompoops fattened on the taxpayers monies. So, no amount of gagging, in print, through intimidation, through blackmail is going to stop what needs to be spoken aloud. The verdict of the people is out, loud and clear. The law-keepers have turned law-breakers using sheer clout and intimidation -
some abuse of office too -- because when the printed word creates an `Ouch,' instead of taking stock and pulling up their socks, cops visit our offices to `verify our character and antecedents.' while rape, molestation, child abuse and paedophilia enjoys legal license. Why are we so afraid of
the truth? Is it because it stares naked in our faces? The State's rise in "crimes of passion," against women and children is turning into a nauseating cocktail, that its time we begin to throw up. And how happily you go cutting ribbons at women's seminars while skirting the larger issue of women safety in the State that presumably enjoys gender equality.
And now your boys are caught taking bribes in uniform! Really Mr Kanth!!!
And what about the way your corridors of justice is known to patronage politicians and their chamchas, withholding the law of the land to prevail in order to avoid dirty linen from being washed in public. The rule books apply to all. So, why the short stick to some?
We are not surprised with the tactics the police adopt to quash the truth.
Or, intimidate the truth seekers. Especially, if the bone of contention is a journo. If this is meted out to a professional, imagine the plight of the common man who musters courage to go to a police station to report the rape or abuse of his ward and then instead gets shown the stick. What is the role of the police in Goa? What are their duties and where lie their
loyalties? Who are they getting paid to protect? Do they truly care about protecting the innocent or are they inclined towards letting criminals walk free. From the barrage of brickbats going their way from the citizen, the cops in Goa are clearly warming their chairs (and lining their pockets) while someone's little daughter, sister, young wife, mother, aunt loses her dignity to live through forced brutality. Not to forget drug pushers, drug
lords, pimps and other assorted variety walking free and safe. Some even enjoying political clout and cover. Compassion is a yardstick to determine a sane society, same with compassionate human beings. Yes, I have met very few compassionate policemen doing honors to the chair they occupy, some even going beyond their call of duty, but the less said the better of the others.
I'm convinced it is safer to be a criminal than a law-abiding citizen, because the police themselves have no respect for the law. How can we expect them to respect the common man, his woes, his fears and insecurities? Less said about providing solace in the hour of need. Given this attitude, how can we expect them to stop horrendous crimes staking claim of little children and adults (and the graph keeps scaling and doesn't look funny anymore). The cops in Goa are busy being hot-shot cops and first class klutzs (if you see them manning the roads at nakabandi, you get the picture. You can flash a licence card with somebody else's photo pasted on it, while you're behind the wheel, and escape notice). Forgetting that they are men who go back to the women and children in their homes. And that by virtue of the oath they take, they are duty bound to protect the women and children of the State as well.
Yes, the government has succeeded in ensuring that price tags can buy you more than your fish and chicken in the market. Today, it buys loyalty. In some instances, principles are bartered for arse licking. It is this sorry situation the Fourth Estate has to deal with (because there are people within the Fourth Estate who are also prone to this disease). But, Mr DGP,
please learn that not all are purchasable. Let's get this one fact drilled in right.
And while we are voicing our protests, we're also making sure that all newspapers do what they are duty bound to the society they report to and help build. If they can't be the voice of the people, if they have no independent backbone, shut down. We have too many official gazettes circulating as newspapers anyway.
Speak and write the truth. Let ink not replace blood.
====
Heart 2 Heart Links:
Heart 2 Heart by Ethel da Costa
Teach the tourists some manners. Ethel da Costa courtesy: Insight O Heraldo, Goa. ...
Ethel da Costa January 12, 2002. Back to Ethel da Costa sez.
www.colaco.net/1/EthelTourists.htm
Ethel da Costa: Through Father's Eyes
Through my father�s eyes. Ethel da Costa. ... It was the comfort of words that
I wanted those last moments, to nail them into my heart. ...
www.colaco.net/1/EthelFather'sEyes.htm
Ethel da Costa: A nation of cowards?
... Ethel da Costa. submitted by the author to TGF on October 2, 2002. ... Recently, I took a local train in Mumbai in an attempt to get to the `heart� of the city. ...
www.colaco.net/1/EthelNationCowards.htm
Ethel da Costa Sez
Ethel da Costa writes. [ This page is dedicated to Ethel da Costa, a well
known Goan writer, the former editor of the Herald Insight ...
www.colaco.net/1/EtheldaCosta.htm
Ethel da Costa: Goan Youth Too Sossegado
Goan youth too sossegado. Ethel da Costa courtesy: Insight O Heraldo, Goa. submitted
by the author to TGF on May 13, 2003. ... Ethel Da Costa ...
www.colaco.net/1/EthelSossegadoGoanYouth.htm
GLAMOUR
... gutsy, in-your-face, savvy journo, columnist, founder-editor of Herald Insight,
Editor of ... Zena Costa, profiles ETHEL DA COSTA, clearly a woman who has arrived! ... www.goamessenger.com/anniv/glamour.htm
(Links courtesy: www.colaco.net and www.goamessenger.com and Compiled by www.goa-world.com)
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