View this post on the web at https://gerardsgazette.substack.com/p/why-siridao-pale-might-just-be-the
I’m back after a week’s break and it’s been a week packed with news. Just when you thought that there was already enough in the mix, the valiant people of Siridao Pale, decided to take matters up a notch [ https://substack.com/redirect/f88a0be1-dec6-41ae-a22e-22139b605793?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] demanding that the recent notification provisionally converting around 76,000 sq metres of land from natural cover, no development slope and private forest to settlement in their village all for the benefit of one company. The protest, which goes on as I write this, and which I’ll get to in a bit, was only one of many protests that were held in Goa in the past week. Hello and welcome to yet another edition of Gerard’s Gazette, a weekly newsletter in which I attempt to break down the events of the week gone by and offer a bit of context, as well as a dose of news you may have missed and news behind the news. If this is your first time here, thank you for signing up, and I hope you stick around! And, as always, if you like what you are reading, make sure you pass it around. Thanks for reading GERARD’s Gazette! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Honestly, it’s all been a bit much, that even I have trouble keeping track of all of it. But just to give you a brief overview, there a protest ongoing against the a 50- MLD (million litres per day) bandhara (check dam) across the River Zuari at Mirabag in Sanguem [ https://substack.com/redirect/da4cc8af-52b1-46c0-9302-c51e3e56923f?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], fearing that the dam will inundate their villages, farmland and common lands that they access and benefit from, the people of Tivim held a modestly-attended protest [ https://substack.com/redirect/cabb1a71-a774-4094-89d7-a94c256c8bb1?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] against a Galgotia -type university [ https://substack.com/redirect/dd8a3235-a062-4cb6-b1d3-465482ce8b8c?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] being set up on 1.04 lakh square metres of land handed over by the Tivim comunidade, where work has already begun and finally the people of Panaji, organised a well-attended protest against casinos [ https://substack.com/redirect/c4b7176c-2d6c-4cb2-861b-ea082aa8f462?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] in which the people of Panjim, led by longtime campaigners Patricia Pinto, Albertina Almeida, Sabina Martins and others have brought together a movement triggered by a move by the Deltin Group to replace one of its existing casinos vessels with a purpose built, 112-metre long mutli-storey vessel (that has already been built). What makes this one different is not just the size, but also what it represents. You see, unlike the boats presently taking up space in the Mandovi, which are second-hand leisure craft brought from elsewhere, and converted into casinos, this ship has been custom-built to serve as a casino and, if you look at pictures available on social media, you will realise that it is nothing but a floating building that can do nothing else except stay afloat and occupy space. It’s less of a boat and more of a box bobbing up and down the river. Will the government pay heed to protests, which include those protesting in Verem-Reis Magos [ https://substack.com/redirect/1b68c6f6-3de9-43c0-8b9c-ffc1cbd9dc2b?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] on the opposite bank of the River where residents fear the boat is about to plonk itself? You already know the answer, so I need not elaborate, but I will say one thing. Not every protest should be held only if those protesting believe they will succeed. Protests should be held to demonstrate dissent and displeasure (mild words really) and let those in the corridors of power (and the future generations) know that we didn’t go down without a fight -- a fight for a seat at the table, because, as Adm Arun Prakash (Retd), [Yes, the same former Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy and 1971 war veteran, who has now made Goa his home and who was issued a notice by the Election Commission mechanism to justify his presence on the electoral rolls [ https://substack.com/redirect/ff8092d1-5c1c-4198-a8ff-18fb161fbb57?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ]], while delivering the keynote address at the Goa Maritime Conclave that was held in Goa yesterday [ https://substack.com/redirect/5136d1a2-fa4b-40cb-84c1-df500c75d069?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] (Saturday) said in his address: “If you don’t have a seat at the table, you are probably on the menu.” (A simple Google search was not really conclusive on who the original author of the quote was). If that wasn’t all, it’s been a week in which a cop (a PCR driver) was arrested for allegedly stealing gold ornaments of a road accident victim [ https://substack.com/redirect/55981aaf-ec70-448b-ac70-ec1d315a55ed?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], who later succumbed to his injuries (he was also granted bail the next day [ https://substack.com/redirect/f1b4c377-8b8e-4fcf-a783-e0b15b8c418a?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ]), and a week in which, for the nth time, for some reason, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been saying that there are no differences between him and Vishwajit Rane [ https://substack.com/redirect/41f91047-ca9a-4ee4-8932-600dab57030a?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], which of course, can only mean that the exact opposite is true. (Ever heard a sober man insist: “I’m not drunk!”?) But let’s get back to the Siridao-led protest: Why Siridao Pale, might just be the spark Goa needs The people of Siridao Pale, the village that one encounters after crossing the Bambolim plateau towards Margao, that falls in the San André constituency, represented by the Revolutionary Goans, first held a torch rally on Wednesday February 18 [ https://substack.com/redirect/7de3f052-0c67-49e9-9606-1f0304038d6d?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], to protest a notification by the Town and Country Planning Department to provisionally notify, around 76,000 square metres of land in their village as settlement for the benefit of one company. Whether this protest was inspired by the one in Arambol [ https://substack.com/redirect/2d54a54b-f189-48f4-959a-7478884f4e4a?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], which prompted the government to hastily withdraw that land conversion of around 3-lakh square metres, (perhaps fearing that it might lead to a larger movement), which ironically, it did when Justice Ferdino Rebello decided to launch the ‘Enough is Enough’ movement, [ https://substack.com/redirect/f71c928e-c5ec-4c70-9bc6-8b777641feec?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] is not really known and is quite irrelevant at this point. The point is, people of the village came out in large numbers and seeing the support they received, decided to take it up a step higher by protesting outside the Town and Country Planning Department Head Office on Friday February 20. Ignored, they decided to camp overnight at the TCP office [ https://substack.com/redirect/803b49f4-015a-4c2c-95e1-65a2f727c018?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] and were there until the following (Saturday) morning, refusing to budge until the TCP department revokes the land conversion notification. Instead they were met with police force, who physically dragged the sitting MLA Viresh Borkar out of the TCP office [ https://substack.com/redirect/47319838-c8b0-4bc0-9baa-27aa1d5cb90e?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] and manhandled other protesters outside the TCP office. And that’s when Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane decided to react. He called the protesters, fighting to save their village, as blackmailers, their protest ‘illegal’ and dared them to protest for as long as they want because apparently “people cannot make laws by coming on to the streets; laws are made in the assembly.” Basically, while the people of Goa have been saying ‘Enough is Enough’, Rane too, has had enough of having to back down on at least two land conversions so far -- Arambol [ https://substack.com/redirect/75e2a570-2119-4d3b-b6fa-90b72d99dd93?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] and Santa Cruz Bondvoll Lake [ https://substack.com/redirect/6772017a-a4be-4f6b-8139-5981ecfbbab1?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ]., so he too decided that ‘Enough was Enough’ and reacted in a way that he has been itching to do for a while now. It didn’t end there, later on Rane took things a step further. He accused the protesters of treating government servants as ‘hostages’, and demanded that they be treated with respect [ https://substack.com/redirect/3e660242-2009-491c-8e8a-7714c8f52afe?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] (a bit rich coming from someone who outraged the whole nation for how he treated a government doctor [ https://substack.com/redirect/24f7e619-75f8-4085-9f3e-93af4df75c6f?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], a government servant, remember?) and accused Borkar of setting a bad example as an MLA and said that issues should be debated in the assembly. The protest then shifted to Azad Maidan, while it was happening, at an event in Sattari, Rane got even hotter. He claimed, that had nothing to fear because he had the people of Sattari to back him and he could bring 45,000 people from Sattari to Panjim [ https://substack.com/redirect/9084b283-6872-4e6b-9e34-874de98fd076?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], if needed and for some reason decided to also wade into the casino debate and stated that casinos are needed in Panjim because, if not, then Panjim would be a desolate place. So, where do we stand now? For the immediate, there’s a protest going to be held today (Sunday) at 10am at Azad Maidan to demand the scrapping of section 39A lock stock and barrel, among other demands. I know it’s all a bit impromptu, but you better be there, if you can make it. But you got to hand it to the villagers of Siridao Pale and others and their MLA Viresh Borkar in particular, for unabashedly fighting to save Goa. While others are indulging in half measures, and pulling punches when it comes to targeting the man who is converting Goa left right and centre. CCP battle lines drawn The Elections to the Corporation of the City of Panaji are round the corner and by now, not only have the battle lines been drawn but the Babush camp also known as the BJP-backed panel has completed filing nominations for all 30 seats of the corporation. I say BJP-backed and not BJP because, as you will probably be aware, CCP elections are not held on party lines and so, at least officially, there is no BJP and Congress and AAP and RG, etc. However, much like last time, the opposition forces have bunched together under the banner ‘Ami Panjekar’ [ https://substack.com/redirect/fcedbbf8-8131-4cec-8ba7-7d4064c2fd63?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] (We the people of Panaji) that is being led by Utpal Parrikar, the son of former Goa Chief Minister and former Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. It is pretty much the same as it was last time. Back then, Babush was new in the BJP having defected to joined the party only two years prior (in 2019) while the opposition panel (called Ami Panjekar then too) was made up of a motley group of BJP rebels (Dattaprasad Naik, Siddharth Kuncaliencar (who’s not around this time)), miffed by the party’s decision to induct their arch rival Babush Monserrate in the party, the local unit of the Congress (Surendra Furtado and Co.) the AAP (Valmiki Naik & Co.) and others. Back then, the Babush led panel won 25 out of the 30 seats in the CCP, Together for Panaji won three (or was it four) and an independent won one. Will this time be any different? Those who believe that it will indeed be different this time, have pointed to the fact that Utpal Parrikar, who contested as an independent in the 2022 legislative assembly polls gave the incumbent six-time MLA a run for his money and lost by a paltry 700-odd votes [ https://substack.com/redirect/449dd3d4-ef3f-4064-98d9-3bf217866522?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ]. However, while that comparison points to the fact that there is a genuine non-Babush vote in Panaji that is willing to back Utpal, it ignores the fact that the CCP wards do not neatly overlap with the Panaji assembly constituency. The CCP includes many wards that otherwise fall in the Taleigao assembly constituency, considered a stronghold of the Monserrate clan, something that has given Monserrate a historical advantage each CCP election, even back when Parrikar was around. Why does the CCP include wards of Taleigao village, you might want to ask? Well in short, it’s because back when Manohar Parrikar in his second term as chief minister (post 2002) wanted to upgrade the Panjim Municipal Council to a corporation he needed to justify it by increasing its area. What use is a municipal corporation with a resident population of just 15,000? And so, half of Taleigao was included (It’s another matter that Panjim itself was part of the village of Taleigao before the Portuguese decided to shift their capital from Old Goa to here). Parrikar’s plan included plans to include parts of Santa Cruz as well, but that didn’t work out, because, well, they protested at the thought of being bundled together with the Ponjekars. Back to the point then. Will this time be different? Frankly I don’t know. For one, the Babush camp has already completed filing the nominations of all 30 candidates [ https://substack.com/redirect/acdb0918-496d-4c9a-9bae-b82d35d20713?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] most of whom are the same old faces and (I assume) has begun campaigning in right ernest. On the other hand, the only candidate from the opposition camp that I heard filing his nomination was former Mayor Surendra Furtado [ https://substack.com/redirect/6da48ffa-cbc2-4110-9d71-db972b88dfda?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], who this time round is said to be the mayoral face of the Ami Panjekar panel. Then there’s the fact that money flows, people change sides overnight and the fact that the ruling BJP is keen to avoid embarrassment so it will do what it takes -- by hook or by crook -- to ensure that it retains control of the capital city. I do hope that I am wrong on this one. But what I can indeed say with a fair degree of certainty, is that BJP president Damodar (Damu) Naik, is wrong about one thing. In an interview with a local media channel [ https://substack.com/redirect/08a6c9b2-c0b4-44a8-b200-e82077d1c579?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] he gave this week, he hit out at Utpal Parrikar for taking the support of the Congress for the CCP polls. He claimed that his father Manohar Parrikar would never do such a thing or something to that effect. The fact is, that during his later years it is widely understood that Parrikar had a tacit understanding with Babush Monserrate (who was recently acquitted of rape charges), that the Monserrate, who was then in the Congress (off and on) would not actively work against him when it came to legislative assembly polls thereby ensuring that Parrikar, had at least one base covered each election. The most obvious example was when Manohar Parrikar returned as Goa Chief Minister after he was Union Defence Minister (2017) and needed to get elected, Monserrate, who had contested the Panaji seat against then BJP nominee Siddharth Kuncaliencar, a few months prior, but lost, decided against contesting directly against Parrikar meaning it ended up being a Parrikar vs Girish Chodankar contest in that by election with predictable results. Meanwhile, if anyone’s interested in knowing, the CCP website [ https://substack.com/redirect/11b604d0-a3e3-4daf-a969-291e435b6f83?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] is down. Don’t now for how long, but something worth remembering even if it doesn’t mean anything beyond how ill eqipped the state’s sole municipal corporation is. That’s all I have for you this week. Make sure you comment or write in, should you have something, anything to say. I would also invite you to contribute via sending in your views, especially on a subject you know something about, and I will be happy to include it as part of the newsletter. You are also welcome to write in with leads and tip-offs or anything that you think might be interesting enough to include here. As always, please share and help spread the word. Until next week, then. Tchau! Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9nZXJhcmRzZ2F6ZXR0ZS5zdWJzdGFjay5jb20vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvM01qZ3pOREF4TlN3aWNHOXpkRjlwWkNJNk1UZzROek0zT0RrMkxDSnBZWFFpT2pFM056RTNNamMwTkRFc0ltVjRjQ0k2TVRnd016STJNelEwTVN3aWFYTnpJam9pY0hWaUxUSTJPVEF5TmpBaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAuWWktVFV4TG54R3cxMnppa2oyZUd6MzRIakoyYVZSNVBELWNQTDM4ai1hayIsInAiOjE4ODczNzg5NiwicyI6MjY5MDI2MCwiZiI6dHJ1ZSwidSI6NzI4MzQwMTUsImlhdCI6MTc3MTcyNzQ0MSwiZXhwIjoyMDg3MzAzNDQxLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.jC-aQJFMgYEl3bnaVRDQZsugSOohKBeWSW9c65YSWI0?
