GBA POLICE EYEBALL TO EYEBALL AS DIGU DOES VANISHING TRICK - Target Goa brought by Roger D'Souza

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat did the vanishing trick that he seems to be getting better and better at. He had been scheduled to inaugurate the ITM-Goa, but did the bunk. The police were out in full force with lathis at Azad Maidan, rope and lathis at the Church Square and rope, lathis and guns at the Chief Minister's official residence at Altinho. The GBA presented a memorandum to be forwarded to the CM, saying that ths would be the last memorandum given to him. He was given 15 days to notify the Regional Plan 2010, or else be prepared for an agitation.

A couple of hundred people showed up at the Goa Bachao Abhiyan protest rally at Azad Maidan. This was surprising because we had heard that earlier in the day mobile messages had gone out telling people that the GBA rally “had been cancelled”. SDPO Devkumar Banaulikar had earlier informed the Convener of GBA Sabina Martins, that there was no point in marching up to the official residence of the Chief Minister since he was not in Goa, but in New Delhi. She told him it did not matter, the march would take place and a memorandum would be handed over to the Secretary at the official residence.

The clouds hovered over Panjim as speaker after speaker at Azad Maidan, exhorted the gathered crowd to be alert, to be aware, to be careful who they vote for. The status quo of the Regional Plan 2010 was explained, which meant essentially that it was in limbo. That the Chief Minister had given his word that the RP21 would be notified in September. Finally the Convener Martins asked the crowd to start marching towards the CM’s residence.

The police outnumbered the protesters maybe four to one. Feisty Claude Alvares who is the grand old man of civil protest in Goa, a thorn in the side of many governments, took the lead, closely shadowed by TARGET GOA. SDPO Panaji, Dev Banaulikar stately in khaki, walked into Claude, literally. Paper couldn’t pass through. He held Claude’s thin arm and Claude looked him straight in the eye, even though Banaulikar was a few inches taller.

Banaulikar pleaded with him not to go on the march. Why, asked Claude. Because Section 144 is in force, said Banaulikar. That’s nonsense, said Claude, I am just walking on the road as are all these people, we are going for a walk up Altinho and I want to go and have some tea. The rest of the activists crowded around bellowing some loud slogans. Banaulikar said okay you can walk up to the Church Square, but after that you will be stopped. How can you stop us, was the question. If you continue up the road to Altinho then you will be stopped. If you continue, you will be courting arrest. In one voice all the protesters yelled fine we’ll court arrest. No one backed down.

We walked with Banaulikar keeping pace with Claude Alvares, still trying to get him to change his mind. Understand my position he kept repeating in a quiet voice. Claude breezily told him not to worry, there was no need to since we were all just going for a nice walk up Altinho. Once we reached the church square, Goa’s finest, a four or five deep battalion of khaki clad cops with lathis at the ready holding a thick nylon rope across the crossroads. Several Black Marias (police buses for loading arrested persons) were lined up. We reached eyeball to eyeball position with the television cameras prudently at a distance incase lathis and protesters began flying around. Claude looked around and yelled to the television cameras to come forward and start shooting. See how they are preventing us from going up the hill, he hollered. There were others who spoke of police being pawns of the Chief Minister and his cronies. Atala was also mentioned. Immediately the cops stood at attention and tried to look resolute but not brutish. The power of the Press is considerable, but the power of the television news channels is phenomenal.

Banaulikar again pleaded. Then he began bargaining. He would let a group of 10 protesters go up to the CM’s official residence. Claude asked for 20, someone else asked for 40, TARGET GOA asked for 50. Banaulikar said okay 15. Claude said they are letting 15 go, Banaulikar thought he yelled 50 and said, no one-five, one-five, fifteeeeen. 15 ducked under the rope, and we walked up the road, realising that many more could have come from the different roads leading to Altinho.

The Chief Minister should really think of shifting the Official Residence out of Altinho Panaji. There are so many roads leading to and from the House. People could have come via Corte D’Oiteiro, via the High Court, via the road at the back of the Mahalaxmi temple and via the Portuguese consulate, via Sunaparant, from Sta Inez. All roads do lead to the CM’s residence. Any one can come to and leave from anywhere. Security wise, it can be a nightmare. There are no guards at the top road flanking the Archbishop’s Palace.

There was a line of maybe Rapid Action Commandos with muscles and guns and stuff, and the good old thick yellow rope. Strong young elite guards of Digubab were ranged across the road, but Banaulikar had already called ahead to allow us to hang around the gate, so the Convenor could hand over a memorandum to the CM’s representative. We had to duck under the yellow rope which made no sense because just 15 of us slogged up the slope in groups of twos and threes.

Ribald comments were passed on the massive police turnout. The entire rally could have had at least four police personnel accompanying each protester to see that they did not remove the remaining hairs on Digubab’s head. Comments were passed on how the CM’s residence was bristling with gun toting cops and the trees were loaded with crows intent on aerial assaults. The protesters had more respect for the crows’ missiles than the gun toting cops.

The memorandum was handed over in the full glare of television cameras, so the Chief Minister will not be able to say he did not receive any thing from the GBA. The protesters turned around in the faint drizzle that began falling, some elderly people accepted SDPO Dev Banaulikar’s offer of a ride down the slope to the Church Square in his SUV. The remaining rally members were kept entertained at the Church Square by Claude Alvares who chose to remain back and keep the protest decibels loud enough for passers by to be informed of the dangers that face Goa, and the general uselessness of the ruling dispensation. As the raindrops fell, the rally wound up at around 8 at night. Many of the members of the rally were village group representatives from South Goa.