----------------------------------------------------------------- Goanetter Francis Rodrigues (Vasco/Toronto) book launch in London, England @ the World Goa Day festivities on 15 Aug at 7pm Details http://www.konkanisongbook.com
----------------------------------------------------------------- Santosh, this letter can be open to justifiable criticism when it mentions "this free democratic country of ours". Many of the petitioners are likely non-Indian citizens. Substituting "free India" would solve the problem. I am in full solidarity with Peter and Samir and their right to express their opinions as citizens, but I would have a problem with the following contentions: a) The Goa Vidhan Sabha is not a joke. It is the indivdual legislators who comprise it who are jokers. b) Individual citizens cannot be more powerful than government or elected representatives. The only time they have the power is when electing them with the expectation that they will uphold the constitution, the good of the state and it's reputation - none of which Rane and his cohorts seem capable of. While you are at it, you might as well ask for jail time for the Varca comedian for the lastest episode of the assault on the security detail in Seraulim advised in Uday Barad's post. Roland. On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Santosh Helekar<chimbel...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Folks, > I have now received emails from 25 people in total to include their names on > the comedy show petition letter. Appended below is the final draft of the > letter that will hopefully appear in Herald. There was a suggestion to > include our professions. But I could not do it because I did not know the > profession of most people on the list, and I did not want to do a half-baked > job. > Cheers, > Santosh > LETTER > > Dear Sir, > > I agree with Samir Kelekar that the Goa Vidhan Sabha is a comedy show. The > threat of imprisonment issued from its chair and benches against him and > Peter Fernandes, two private citizens, for speaking their mind in public, > just proved this fact. > > I am willing to spend time in prison with Samir and Peter to defend my right > to freely express this opinion of mine in this free democratic country of > ours. I ask all Goans to sign on with us in this symbolic stand to affirm the > principle that in a free democracy ordinary citizens, individually and > collectively, are more powerful than any branch of their government or any > elected representative that serves at their pleasure. > > Sincerely, > > Alfred de Tavares, Sweden > Anand Virgincar, U.K. > Augusto Pinto, India > Blasio Fernandes, U.A.E. > Cecil Pinto, India > Cornel Da Costa, U.K. > Diana Pinto, India > Eddie Fernandes, U.K. > Gabe Menezes, U.K. > Gabriel de Figueiredo, Australia > George Pinto, U.S.A. > Ignatius Fernandes, U.K. > Kevin Fernandes, U.A.E. > Louise Fernandes, U.A.E. > Marlon Menezes, U.S.A. > Marshall Mendonza, India > Mervyn Lobo, Canada > Sandeep Heble, India > Santosh Helekar, U.S.A. > Selma Carvalho, U.K. > Shrikant Barve, India > Uday Barad, India > Venantius Pinto, U.S.A. > Vinay Natekar, Kuwait > Wendell Rodricks, India > > > > -- Roland Francis http://roland-torontogoan.blogspot.com +1 (416) 453.3371