SUPPORT FOR GRA by Freddy Agnelo Fernandes, Dubai

The birth of GRA, I am sure must have been a very meticulous process, it is not easy to unite a handful of people, leave alone more than thirty five independent NOG’s, different village groups and other entities. The efforts of the leaders of GRA and their foot soldiers who made this union possible are very well appreciated and revered by all.

All these groups have one thing in common, the dream, that Goa becomes a paradise that it once was, where values, integrity and our unique Goans Identity will be preserved and enhanced, our dreams to bring back the beautiful Goa that we all once knew and thought was lost forever could infact be a reality.

For a good many years different groups were fighting individualistic battles and success was a rarity if not a total nonentity, I am sure along with me a lot of other Goans were waiting and praying for all the different groups to unite and launch the mother of all battles against the in-conscientious and utterly corrupt Congress and the communal BJP. Today the whole of Goa has sighed a sigh of relief that Goa is not the lost cause after all.

It is the duty of every Goa loving Goan to come forward and join and support the endeavors taken up by the GRA, GRA on it’s own will be boat without a propeller, for the GRA to be what we want it to be, it will need our full support and that too in large numbers. At this point in time we cannot afford to be laidback, today Goa is emotionally charged, we have seen around the world what emotions can do in the past few weeks where the people, the common man was taken for granted.

Goa has been plagued by incessant corruption and overbearing and incompetent politicians, who have neither the will nor the inclination to work for the welfare of Goa and Goans. When power and money goes to the head of political leaders, they loose their sanity and humane qualities and become ravishing animals; this is exactly what has happened to our Goan politicians. As term after term we elect the very same imbeciles that stab us in the back, the very same imbeciles who have destroyed Goa and our unique Goan Identity to such an extent that today we have almost become a minority in our own land.

It is the laxity of every Goan that has brought Goa to this appalling state and now this is our chance to rectify our faults and mistakes, to right the wrong that we have done, this could well be the last chance to free ourselves of the guilt that we have been knowing or unknowingly carrying, for a few years now or may be even a few decades and restore our dignity and self respect.

I pray to every Goan of whatever faith, race, colour or denomination that we are Goans first and the welfare of Goa should be our prime concern and objective. Today what’s ailing Goa is the rampant corruption that our corrupt politicians embrace and glorify, that is an aberration that has pushed Goa to the height of acrimony, to being one of the most corrupt states of India. A taxonomy that we Goans can do and live without.

Today Mother Goa is asking each one of us, what wrong have I done to deserve this shame and depravity ? Why have you put this crown of ignominy on my head ? What wrong have I done to deserve the rape, dismemberment and the disfiguration of my body ? Why have my very own forsaken me ?

Each and every Goan has to have an answer to these questions and pledge today that Mother Goa will not have anything to complain about. It is the duty of every Goan to support the initiative taken by the GRA and join in large numbers in the war against corruption on 15th March at Panjim.

I pray to the leaders of the GRA never to forget the aim and the purpose of this union and become the entity that Goans will love and cherish, at the same time all efforts should be made to remain faithful to the promises made and work towards fulfilling the aspirations of Goa and Goans, and lastly GRA should not get carried away by the success or the allure of wealth and should stay away from the offers and compromises made by our current corrupt politicians. Let’s be the change that needth be. My sincere best wishes to GRA. Goa Jai Ho!