The end: The struggle for liberation ended with Jawaharlal Nehru ordering defence forces to liberate Goa on December 16, 1961. Nehru seen at a reception at Raj Bhavan, Goa on his first visit after liberation.

By Rajan Narayan

AND a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week when the Trinamool Congress entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). And a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations on the entry of the Omicron variant in Goa brought by Russian sailors. And a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week on Damodar Mauzo being the second Goan to get the Jnanpith award. And a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week when the strength of the Congress party in Goa is likely to be reduced to two. And a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week when industrialist Nana Bandekar, who has historically supported the BJP, announced that he was withdrawing support to the party.

TMC OPTS FOR RELICS
AND a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week on the Trinamool Congress entering into an alliance with the relics of a lion. Since the horse that the TMC desperately wanted bolted, they have settled for a lion which has passed its prime. The Trinamool Congress’ primary objective is to defeat the Hindutva Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) both in the states and at the Centre which is why it is all the more surprising that it has entered into an alliance with the MGP — which is more fanatical over Hindutva than even the BJP!
When Pramod Muthalik of the Sri Ram Sene vandalised churches in north Karnataka and attacked girls singing in karaoke bars, the then chief minister, the late Manohar Parrikar, barred Pramod Muthalik from entering Goa. Manohar Parrikar understood that the culture of Goa was one of liberalism and communal harmony and that there was no place in Goa for fanatical Hindutva elements. The only Goan politician who demanded the lifting of the ban on Sri Ram Sene and Pramod Muthalik were the Dhavalikar brothers of the MGP. Deepak Dhavalikar, the president of the MGP, is also reported to be very close to the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Jana Jagruti which are fronts for the RSS. The Sanatan Sanstha has been implicated in the killing of the four rationalists – Gauri Lankesh, M M Kulbargi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar. Some of these cases have been already charge sheeted. The Sanatan Sanstha has also been accused of attempting to murder the then chief minister Digambar Kamat, when a bomb exploded just a few metres away from the dais from which he was participating in a Narkasura competition.
The tradition in Goa is to burn the asura Narkasura on the eve of Diwali. Among the extreme beliefs of the Sanatan Sanstha is that the mass burning of effigies and organisation of Narkasura effigy competitions is an insult to Lord Krishna. The Sanatan believes that it diverts attention from the gods to the asura. The Sanatan Sanstha distributes a booklet titled “Swarakshan Prashikshan” — supposedly a manual on self-defence. The book acknowledged by the trustees of the Sanatan Sanstha depicts pictures of how its members can use trishul and guns.
In his judgment, Civil Judge Senior Division Anil Scaria of the Ponda Civil Court, in the defamation case filed by the Sanatan Sanstha against the “Goan Observer,” and delivered on April 7, 2018 ruled that “sovereignty is closely associated with military and police powers. It vests with the nation and its government. Private armed regiments raise apprehensions in the minds of citizens and it is the duty of the journalists to bring this to public notice.”
The implication was that the Sanatan Sanstha had violated the law in bringing out such a book on self-defence which used trishuls and guns and the targets were members of the minority community. The Trinamool Congress claims to be a secular democratic party. Therefore, it is all the more strange that it should align with the MGP which is associated with ultra-right wing parties.

TMC BETRAYS KONKANI MAI
BY ALIGNING with the MGP, the TMC has also betrayed Konkani mai which is the official language of the state of Goa. Indeed, the MGP was started by a Marathi lobby with the only objective of merging Goa with Maharashtra. The Marathi lobby propped up late Dayanand “Bhausaheb” Bandodkar, an industrialist who was not inclined to join politics. Bandodkar did not contest the first assembly elections held in Goa and became chief minister after a seat was vacated for him by one of the other winning MLAs.
Political strategist Prashant Kishore and his IPAC have not done their research before deciding to align with the MGP. They are probably not aware that in the Opinion Poll held in 1967, the anti-merger forces headed by industrialist late V M Salgaoncar and late Jack Sequeira defeated the MGP which was demanding merger with Maharashtra. The fact that the MGP was part of the conspiracy by Maharashtra to merge Goa is clear from the fact that the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and the Goa Legislative Assembly simultaneously passed a resolution demanding the merger of Goa with Maharashtra.
The MGP is a unique case of a party which was deserted by its own leaders. After the death of Goa’s first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar, a model chief minister, his daughter Sashikala Kakodkar could not sustain the MGP. In fact, later she even joined the Congress. Both Ramakant Khalap and Ravi Naik who inherited the legacy of the MGP deserted the party one after the other for the proverbial 40 pieces of silver. Khalap first joined the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) which was a rebel Congress group that toppled the Rane government. Subsequently, Ravi Naik was induced by the late Dr Wilfred De Souza to join the Congress to topple the late Luis Proto Barbosa government. The party which ruled Goa for 18 years has not been able to win more than three seats in the last two elections.
After the exit of Lavu Mamledar who has joined the TMC, the party comprised only the two Dhavalikar brothers – Deepak and Sudin. It is the TMC which has betrayed Goa and Goans by aligning with the MGP which wanted Goa to merge with Maharashtra and is associated with ultra-right wing fascist groups.

OMICRON SUSPECTS IN GOA
AND a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week on the Omicron variant of the Covid virus suspected to have arrived in Goa. It is presumed that the virus found its entry into Goa through the sea courtesy sailors heading for the Mormugao port. The sailors are now in quarantine while their status is being confirmed.
In any case, sooner or later, the Omicron variant would have come to Goa as the state has very close links with Karnataka, which reported the first cases of Omicron. The fear of the spread of Omicron has once again disrupted the resumption of normal life in Goa.
It had been earlier decided that all the schools in Goa from kindergarten to higher secondary school would be held in the physical mode. However, in the light of the rapid spread of Omicron across the globe, only the 7th and 8th standards have been permitted to return to school in physical presence mode in Goa.
The tourism industry had opened up completely with hordes of domestic tourists descending on Goa. It has also been decided that charters from Russia and UK will be permitted from December 15. However, in the wake of Omicron fears, it seems unlikely that Goa will receive any charters from UK during the current tourism season. Among the worst affected are the shack owners who were eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the charters.
Among the many casualties of Omicron is the popular Goa Lit Fest which is used to be held every December at the Goa International Centre. What we fail to understand is if the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) can be held, then why not the Goa Lit Fest?

JNANPITH FOR DAMODAR MAUZO
AND a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week when Damodar Mauzo, who used to be joint- convenor of the Goa Lit Fest, getting India’s biggest literary prize. Damodar Mauzo is only the second Goan after late Ravindra Kelekar to get the Jnanpith award. The Jnanpith award was instituted by Shanti Prasad Jain, a former chairman of the Times of India Group. It is very tragic that in the year when Damodar Mauzo has been conferred the Jnanpith award the Goa Lit Fest has been cancelled. We appeal to Dattaraj Salgaoncar and Pratapsingh Rane, the two senior most lifetime trustees of the International Cenatre Goa to revive the Goa Lit Fest, so that Damodar Mauzo may be honoured in Goa itself.
Damodar Mauzo is unique writer amongst Konkani writers, in that he is the only Hindu Konkani writer whose short stories also focus on the minority community. This may be partly because Damodar Mauzo is from a family in Majorda which used to run a popular grocery shop. His literary aspirations won and Damodar Mauzo shut down the grocery shop.
Damodar Mauzo was also the convenor of the International Konkani Festival held in Goa at least twice, when Konkani mogi from all over the world came to Goa. Mauzo earlier won the Sahitya Akademi award. The curious part is that Damodar Mauzo considers himself not so much a novelist but a short story writer. His books have been translated in 12 languages including English and Hindi.
I distinctly recall reading a collection of his short stories in English, one of which was called the “Chastity Belt.”
This dwelt on the dilemmas and the fears of Goa’s tarvotti who were always concerned on whether their wives would remain faithful to them during their long absences at sea. A group of Goan seafarers came with the ideal solution. Make sure that you get your wife pregnant each time you come back home. This was the “chastity belt” ’ which allowed k Goan seafarers to be reassured about the fidelity of their wives.

PRATAPSINGH JOINS SON
AND a few stray thoughts and a few stray observations for a Saturday following the week on the strength of the Congress party in Goa being reduced to two. The BJP has referred to Congress as the “cycle party” as only two can travel on the cycle. Who will drive the cycle and who will take the backseat will have to be decided by the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president, Girish Chodankar. The Congress unexpectedly won 17 of the 40 seats in the 2017 elections. The first to defect was Vishwajit Rane, who resigned his Congress seat and got re-elected on the BJP ticket. The second lot were the Congress duo of Dayanand Sopte, who had defeated former BJP chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar in Mandrem, and Subhash Shirodkar who held the Shiroda Congress seat.
Following the death of Manohar Parrikar and the revolt of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the MGP over the appointment of Pramod Sawant as Goa CM, there were mass defections from Congress. Panjim MLA Babush Monserrate led a group of 10 Congress MLAs to defect to the BJP. The only problem is that Babush himself faces the risk of being convicted in the attack on the Panaji Town Police Station on February 19, 2008 which has been ordered to be fast tracked by the Supreme Court. The 10 MLAs including Babush and Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate also face the risk of being disqualified.
The latest to say goodbye to the Congress is Ravi Naik, who was made chief minister by the late Dr Wilfred De Souza in the 90s. Ravi Naik has returned to the BJP after a gap of 19 years. There are now Facebook posts claiming that the BJP has the blessings of Pratapsingh Raoji Rane, one of the senior most Congress politicians. But Pratapsingh Raoji Rane was among the first defectors of liberated Goa, as he resigned from his post as revenue minister in the then MGP Sashikala Kakodkar ministry, to join the Congress. Luck always seems to have favoured Pratapsingh Raoji Rane. When the Congress finally secured a majority in 1980, 18 years after Liberation, there was a tussle between the late Dr Wilfred De Souza and the late Anant Narcinva “Babu” Naik for the chief minister’s post.
As a compromise solution, the Congress High Command decided to appoint Pratapsingh Rane as the chief minister. Pratapsingh Rane has the distinction of having occupied the chief minister’s post seven times in the last 60 years. For the first time since Liberation, veteran industrialist Nana Bandekar , who has been the kingmaker in Vasco, has decided not to support the BJP in the forthcoming elections. However, Nana Bandekar, who has been offered a ticket by all the political parties, will not be contesting. He promised his late wife, Manda, that he would not sully his reputation by entering the cesspool of politics.