----------------------------------------------------------------- Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help others be BETTER INFORMED, The time is come for the people of Goa to ORGANISE not AGONISE !! ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre (GDRC) Email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Socorro villager assaulted after Gram Sabha ---------------------------------------------------------------- Of late, village gram sabhas in the state seem to have become less of a people's forum and more so the personal fiefdom of antisocial elements protected by politicians.
Barely a month after a citizen of Chicalim was attacked by the village sarpanch, a similar incident took place after the Socorro gram sabha on Sunday. When Mahendre Kenavdekar, a gram sabha member raised pertinent questions about a long-pending road work, he became the victim of brutal violence allegedly by another member, Rajesh Kauthankar, of Ambevadi- Zoswaddo, Socorro. Incidentally, this is not the first time that Kenavdekar, who suffers from epilepsy, has been attacked for speaking his mind out. He has been attacked on previous occasions also. "He suffers from some ailment, and may speak too much sometimes, but he certainly knows his rights and fights for it time and again. But, everytime he does it, he is ridiculed," says a villager who attended the meeting. Villagers further say that Kauthankar is a known henchman of Agnelo Lobo, the ex-sarpanch, who is the de facto ruler of the panchayat through his wife, Ditosa Lobo. Meanwhile, the victim of the violence immediately lodged a complaint at the Porvorim police station on the same afternoon and was taken to Asilo for a medical examination. Villagers, who attended the meeting, say that this dastardly act of violence was perpertrated after the meeting ended, and it was planned to avoid inclusion of any adverse remarks in the confidential report of the BDO observer, Mahesh Raut. Trouble started right from the beginning when some members objected to the change in venue from the panchayat ghar to Socorro church hall at very short notice of four days. Villagers claim that the sarpanch refused to apologise and the rest of the meeting was far from pleasant, with some elements shouting, making cat-calls, insulting even women members with dirty remarks so as to discourage any member from raising questions or giving proposals. "One of the panch members, Anand Mandrekar, also tried to physically abuse me after the meeting after unsuccessfully trying to prevent me from photographing the proceedings during the meeting," said Valentine Coelho, a member Incidentally, a few months earlier, a similar incident occured, when Coelho raised questions on the proposed IT park during the village gram sabha. The next day, he found his car smashed with all four tyres punctured. The culprits even damaged his son's scooter. The incidents reflect, that these acts of violence are only unsuccessful attempts by certain elements to stifle the voice of the people, and these acts have gone futile. ------------------------------------------------------- GOMANTAK TIMES 29/11/06 page A2 -------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK ----------------------------------------------------------------------- promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601 GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507 mailto: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.2/559 - Release Date: 11/30/2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
