In a protest against the HJS attack on Jose Pereira’s paintings, veteran actor Girish Karnad has resigned from the Goa Golden Jubilee Development Council constituted by the state government under the chairmanship of the noted scientist, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar.
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| Actor Girish Karnad |
Mr. Karnad was a member of the Council which was to prepare a roadmap for the future development of Goa as well as an effort to improve the lives of ordinary people, in commemoration of the golden jubilee year of the Liberation of the Goa. The veteran actor said, “Let me say how deeply shocked I am to hear of the attacks by self-styled standard-bearers of Hindu culture on the works of Jose Pereira, a scholar and artist of eminence” which he wrote to Goa’s Chief Minister Mr. Digamber Kamat. The actor who won awards like the Gyanpeeth, said he was shocked to see such an incident from self declared vigilantes.
“I am horrified that private vigilante groups should be permitted to take the law into their hands while the state stands mute and the police express inability to protect the exhibition of his work,” Mr Karnad stated in his letter, further adding, “I should like to withdraw my name from the high level committee, which you were kind enough to invite me to serve on, since this is not the culture of Liberation I had hoped to celebrate.”
Last month, the eminent Sanskrit scholar and painter, Jose Pereira, under immense pressure from the self declared vigilantes calling themselves Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, agreed to temporarily close his exhibition and re-open it, at the Xavier Centre for Historical Research, after withdrawing the three allegedly controversial paintings, following protests from the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti that the three works were blasphemous.
The HJS is neither authorised nor asked to act on behalf of the Hindus in Goa, declared the local Goan Hindus. Even the local hindus were outraged at this type of goondagiri of the HJS who were not Goans and did not speak Konkani. Mr. Karnad a lover of art himself was aghast that the Goa police did not act at all when it is a very clear violation of law.
Niz Goenkar I am not sure what role the "Goa Jubilee Development Council" has. But I see a prominent member has resigned. This just goes to show the true Goan Hindus have disowned the HJS. But what has the Goan Government done to denounce these non Goan goondas? This is the time for Goans of all religion to Unite and disown whatever destroys Goa.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame to the Goa government. Goa's Chief Minister should be ashamed for allowing such incidents to go unpunished. A person of a calibre like Girish Karnad resigned in protest at the inability of the Goa government to take action should be embarrassing to the them (Goa governemnt)
ReplyDeleteWill we ever get an answer as to why Girish Karnad withdrew his resignation? It just goes to show that with all the negative feedback the CM must be worried about the next election. Stay United and keep the pressure.
ReplyDelete