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Gomantak Times, Editorial, 24/3/06
Riot report
Investigate role of
Guddemol panchayat
The magisterial inquiry into the Sanvordem and Curchorem riots that
broke out on March 3 and 4 of last year might not have indicted any
person in particular, but it is laden with clues that point to the
mastermind behind these communal disturbances. The material gathered by
the inquiry officer provides a wealth of information and goes to show
that certain persons of the majority community were hell bent on
creating a rift between the two communities over the frivolous matter of
an illegal construction. In fact, the riot reports refers to four or
five persons but stops short of directly naming them “for want of
evidence”. To recap, the contraction, which was being used as a madrassa
to teach members of the minority community was demolished on March 1
last year. The following day was rather quiet . However, on March 3, all
hell broke loose and the mob comprising members of the majority
community ran amok destroying houses, vehicles and business
establishments of the minority community. The report rightly points out
that all this rioting could not have happened on the spur of the moment
and concludes that a criminal mastermind must exist to guide the
emotional outburst of the mob. But once again, it stops of pointing
fingers or even seeking to identify those persons who are most likely to
be the men behind the mayhem.
Since every riot has victims, every inquiry should have scapegoats, and
in this case the report concludes that the police were solely to blame
for failure of intelligence gathering and maintenance of law and order.
In the end, somebody has to be blamed and the police are always the best
bhakras. The people at large are already convinced that the police did a
bad job in controlling the mob, so blaming them is not likely to rise
the eyebrows. However, the chronology of events put together by the
inquiry officer does not really point to this conclusion. No doubt, the
police were woefully outnumbered and responded one day late. There were
lapses, but the blame lies elsewhere.
A careful perusal of the report shows that certain members of the
Guddemol panchayat were more responsible for letting the matter get out
of hand than any other government agency. The sarpanch Baptista
Fernandes was no more than a puppet in the hands of the remaining eight
members of the panchayat, all of whom belong to the majority community,
and some of whom did everything to ensure that the issue was kept alive
four months before it exploded. The inquiry officer rightly concludes
that no effort was made by the panchayat to resolve the issue. The
report also notes that the panchayat failed to elicit the co-operation
of the executive branch of the government. The information gathered
shows that certain persons kept putting roadblocks in the way of the
efforts of administration and police to resolve the issue. The
magisterial report might not have pointed fingers, but it has shown the
way and only a thorough investigation into the role played by the
Guddemol panchayat will nail the so called gang of four or five, who are
the masterminds behind the riots.
--
Question everything -- Karl Marx
