Date: 17 March, 2016 To, *The Editors, Bureau Chiefs, Staff Reporters, Admins and others.*
Press Statement for kind favour of publication. The Goa Su-Raj Party-GSRP is happy to read in the section of the press that the ‘Goa Church Wing’ has stepped in to slam the government of Goa for issuing notices to the agitators who are opposing DefExpo in Goa. We at GSRP take it that this is a preparatory call to the faithful in Goa to stay alert towards the indignities resorted to by this elected government against the people of Goa. The Church in Goa is not religion but an institution that guides its follower/members to lead a life of peace and dignity and to accept personal injustices with humble tolerance for self improvement. But this very institution cannot remain a silent spectator when indignities are heaped on the mass of its people in the name of the Government being almighty which can do what it wants and when it wants at the cost of the people’s well-being. In the Second World War, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in Hawaii to annihilate the America’s naval might in the Pacific, it was the ‘TORA TORA TORA’ for them, for they had woken the heretofore sleeping giant which went on to retaliate and annihilate two of its populous cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki through the bursting of the world’s first atom bomb. Similarly, the Goa Government is poking the heretofore slumbering giant of Goa, the CHURCH. Does it think that it will keep on slumbering when its limbs are being broken slow and steady? If Goans have not realized this up to now, India is militarizing GOA to the extent that they need to open their eyes and look around. Out of 1402 square kilometers of usable space, Goa has already been militarized to the extent of 14 sq. kilometers already, through DefExpo ( which is additional 1 square kilometer) , the bid to take over Goa’s islands by the Navy, there is no end to this acquisition of land for military purposes, with every national defence agency eying for more chunks of land in Goa with the Goa Government relenting as a helpless zombie. WHY? The question that needs to be asked is: “Does Goa’s borders lie in close proximity to the enemy territory?” “With a limited usable space of just 1402 sq. kilometers, does Goa have the responsibility of looking after the security of the entire nation?” It must be remembered that GOA has been illegally occupied and annexed through military force through lies and subterfuge, fooling Goans with promises that were never honoured. 54 years down the line the lies never stop. You promise us Special Status under Article 371 of the Indian Constitution, get yourselves elected, and you have the chick to tell us that it is not possible to give Special Status. So who are we? The rags to be used and discarded? India must remember that GOANS are not a subjugated lot and will remain passive ad simper. There is a limit to patriotism. Hence forth GOANS will want to see Charity at home first. The Church in Goa has this responsibility to call a spade a spade and it must. The sooner the better. In doing so, the Church is urged to consider the U-Turn by the Navy over the MOU it has signed with the Government of Goa with regard to the continuance of the yearly Pilgrimage at the Anjediva Island, which clause in the MOU the Navy has preferred to violate. Thank you . Sd/- Floriano Lobo, General Secretary/Spokesperson, Goa Su-Raj Party-GSRP For Goa’s Own High Command In Goa come 2017. Mob: 9890470896
