Has Goa turned lawless under the BJP government? Nisser Dias nisserd...@gmail.com
Mr. Home Minister, is the law and order prevailing in Goa or has ours become a lawless State? This question pops-up in our minds in the backdrop of the alleged sword attack on two youth in Panjim and the lynching of a mentally ill person in Corlim by the villagers. Between these two criminal incidents there have been some more -- including the murder of a young girl in Cuncolim, threatening phone calls to an eminent cardiologist in Margao and many a thefts in the State. This is an indication that the law and order has not only buckled under the current incumbent Home Minister Manohar Parrikar, but he has also failed to send a message across the State especially to the criminal elements that law exists in the State of Goa. Not just the Home Minister but also the top brass of the Police department have been caught sucking their thumbs. I can confidently say that the Police have failed miserably in communicating to criminal minds that there exists effective policing in the State, or to instil a sense of fear in their minds. I would go two steps further and say that chief minister, who also holds the Home and many other important portfolios, has to bow down his head in shame because he has not been able to do justice to this vital ministry, which includes security to life and property, even after two years of being in power. Can we forget that he used to always rake up this issue during his tenure as the Leader of Opposition during the Digambar Kamat-led government? Today, under his leadership, the law and order situation in Goa has worsened. To top it all, the Home minister's arrogance has added to his inefficiency to boost the morale of the police force. Can we forget that he had rushed to Canacona to make-up for the police inefficiency and to pacify the protesting villagers as there was no break-through in the Vijaya Pagi murder case and when he was questioned by a villager, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar ordered the police to take him away for questioning? Worse is the fact that under the current regime, influential law breakers or rather accused can get away scot free. Be it the promoters of the Ruby Residency, or the callers to Dr. Francisco Colaco threatening an acid attack on him who are yet to be arrested or rather evading arrest allegedly due to their proximity and intimacy with the BJP. And can we forget the incapability of the cops to detect the accused involved in the rape of a minor student in a Vasco school? The Education portfolio is again held by Chief Minister Parrikar. I would not like to touch upon this government's inability to initiate legal proceedings to recover Rs.35,000 crores from mine-owners who have illegally mined Goa's earth. That is maybe because they are the main fund-raisers or contributors to the BJP's kitty. That apart, the capability and ability of Goa police has come into question repeatedly. Are they really competent and proficient to police the State or are the top IPS officers posted here to merely to relax? For the moment it looks like the top brass of the police department is unqualified, incapable and incompetent to provide the required security to life and property in Goa, leave alone investigate and detect crimes. Police short-comings in the investigation of the sword attack in a pub in the Home Minister's constituency itself a reflection of pathetic state of affairs. Let us analyse on the 'loud thoughts' of the North Goa Superintendent of Police (SP) Priyanka Kashyap. She has been pondering on the statement of the accused, claiming the victims brandished the sword. Could the SP answer how the accused managed to disarm the victims without sustaining self-injuries? Is he a martial arts expert like Hollywood stars Jackie Chan or Steven Seagal? Could the cops answer why they allegedly accompanied the father of the accused to Goa Medical College in the guise of meeting his son, whom he heard to be victim? Did the police not know that the accused Zaine Almeida was absconding while the victims were recuperating? Has the police department become so complacent that they cannot find the assault weapon even after having the accused in their custody? Is he getting preferential treatment because of his father's connection with Goa's top businessmen and the cops themselves? Can't the police extract the truth from female friend of the accused? Recently one of the prominent news dailies carried a photograph of the accused even before the identification parade has been carried out by the police thereby vitiating gathering of evidence, has the police issued legal notice to the editor or the publisher? It seems that the police are under pressure from various quarters and are systematically destroying their own case so as facilitate an acquittal for want of evidence for the accused. And then what happened in Corlim was also beastly. The locals take the law into their hand and lynch a mentally unbalanced person. My sympathies do lie with the bereaved family of Kashinath Dhulapkar who lost his life at the hands of accused, but that does not give a right to the villagers to assault and kill the accused. This is also another perfect example of people having lost faith in the police. -- Nisser Dias can be contacted on nisserd...@gmail.com or +91-9422437029