60 years of Goa,,'s liberation The span of 60 years in the life of an individual is a period of best of accomplishment to be proud of But in the life span of a country ,a Nation it is a small begining with legitimate hopes ,aspirations , and expectations abound It is immaterial whether freedom fighters dead and alive and their dreams and sacrifices have materialised. It was a selfless sacrifices indeed to endure sufferring and torture at the hands of brutal ,repressive regime..The foreign regime suppressed the spark of Nationalistic feeling and sentiment with brute force to send a warning It is a sad commentary that those who were not even born then are today enjoying the fruits of liberated Goa, the toil of freedom fighters deadly struggle at times It was irony and disgrace that all efforts were made to merge it with Maharasjtra and thus destroy eternally the identity, cultural heritage, traditions customs of this place. Is int it a shame that these very enimical forces are thundering to preserve our identity today.? True the freedom fighters did not envisage benefits of pensions and placements for their children as quid pro quo.Many stalwarts of Indias freedom struggle have not claimed such benefits.Those deserving State largasse mus be treated as citizens not necessarily with label of FF It is immaterial the debate whether it was liberation or annexation. The history will decide that as a matter of purely academic issue .The initial hostile reaction of world community hostile , to military action but with passage of time the issue is lost in the archives of history. FF of repute have refused to sell their dignity and self respect through pensions.There are others who were nominated and certified, while still others who were incarcerated in jails for criminal offenses etc and converted 6 months in prisons as sacrifice towards freedom struggle in the absence of authenticated records, call them pseudo FF Nevertheless FF fighters like Ram Manohar Lohia in their open revolt and confrontation have kindled spark of freedom Nonetheless FF can claim solely as their prerogatives to liberation of Goa.The credit goes to then Govt of India, defence forces for calculated risk of military intervention disguised as iberation After liberation the political miscalculated tussle that sapped the enery and rapid progress was misguided ideology of merger, which led to division of populace in a bitter conflict and rivalry.The opinion poll buried the misplaced idea permanently The move for separate state and official language was once again embroiled with bitter controversy and continues so to further divide into religious compartments The rapid progress growth and development of Goa far surpasses that of any other state of Union of India Goa is on the radder of international circuit with its popularity of hospitality, religious tolerance, scenic natural beauty climatic conditions and a mix of western and Indian lifestyle, music, and cuisine that is a big draw Transport of all kinds, roads, river navigation and air travel has flourished The old Carreras are replaced with luxury busses The population of two wheelers have exploded Bridges of conbections are a boon to integrate various parts of the state Education has grown by leaps and bounds .Only the rich had the privilege to study at Lyceum then and medicine at Escola Medico. Today schools ,colleges, university makes learning and study affordable and convenient. Engineering medicine, homeopathy ,nursing, pharmacy, Arts Architecteure science commerce, and legal education besides diploma courses in various fields including agriculture management abound
Health care has touched our lives with hospitals private and public The best of hospitals brand have opened an outlet here Our people were migrants mostly to Africa and some other places. Our people worked predominantlyxas seaman Today employment facilities have opened in various fields even though our citizens still emigrate on Portuguese passports in search of living and in face of growing unemployment The advent of electricity has transformed lives and pleasure living.Agricultural import of even tomatoes and fruits is thing of the past.Most requirements obtained locally from India itself Ahriculture has received big fillip The life and living affords no comparison with thst of Portugues Much has been done but much more remains undone Thedemocracy at all levels is the greatest gift of liberation India they say figuratively is in Goa and not vice versa Our selfish politicians could have made Goa a model state considering its size, but it is not to be as yet as pulls of personal interests dominate the larger scene As Goans we feel proud and happy the progress ushered in by liberation and hoping the best is yet and surely to come in near future. Mining ,Beach Tourism and way of life is a big attraction Nelson Lopes Chinchinim
