Will justice be served

Extraditing Varley

Will Justice Be Served? 

Herald Review September 21, 2014 

As India continues its efforts to extradite paedophile Raymond Varley, an online campaign has been started to push the British government to act. Herald Review also talks to activist lawyer Sheela Barse, who took up the Goa case 25 years ago and made sure the system worked to bring the network of paedophiles to jus- tice 


LISA ANN MONTEIRO 


A questionable ‘ dementia’ certificate produced by Raymond Varley, the paedophile at the centre of an extradition wrangle between a UK court and Indian authorities, weighed heavily with British judge Quentin Purdy. The Westminister Magistrates’ Court on May 8, 2014 dismissed the application filed by the Government of India to extradite him.

While India appeals and continues to push for extradition, activists and concerned citizens in India and the UK are not buying into Varley’s dementia claim.

UK citizen Vivien Baptiste has used Change. org the online platform for social change to petition the UK government to extradite Varley.

“ This man is using every trick to avoid extradition. His guilt is obvious. Justice for children all over the world,” she wrote on the website.

Her petition titled ‘ Allow extradition to India of paedophile Raymond Varley’ has received over 200 signatures from people in UK, India, New Zealand and the Gulf.

“ As a parent, grandparent and great grandparent, I feel all children should be protected, and as a frequent visitor to India, Goa, I know how innocent the children are and trust everyone,” Gladys Cattle, a signatory from the UK wrote.

“ It is the right of every child to grow up without abuse. Offenders must be held accountable,” Pooja Swaika wrote.

A signatory from Goa, Binoy Hoskote wrote, “ Does UK and its government encourage paedophiles? Why the hanky panky in extradition. Save face and act immediately.” Vivien Baptiste told this newspaper that she and her friends who love Goa and frequent the state, were disgusted to hear about this case and decided to do something about it.

“ I have seen paedophiles in Goa first hand many years ago and made the Goans aware of them but it was difficult to get them to realize how serious the issue is. The man in question now deserves justice Goan style.” She is confident the petition will get more support and says she will take the signatures to her local member of parliament.

Early evidence 
Back in the early 1990s after the police raided the notorious Freddy Peats orphanage, the material they uncovered was so deplorable that nobody was willing to believe that Peats with his snowy white beard and hair, who they considered a benevolent man, was capable of such atrocities.

It wasn’t only the locals but police and politicians also who defended him.

It was only when activist lawyer Sheela Barse, based in Mumbai, camped in Goa and worked tirelessly round the clock gathering evidence, that Peats was booked and later sentenced for life.

At the time the Peats case was unraveling in Goa, in 1991 Barse was in Delhi, ironically addressing a conference on child labour, as its keynote speaker. When she was told ministers in Goa were trying to suppress the case, she got in touch with a police official who told her the horrors they had uncovered in this case.

Paedophilia as a crime being relatively unknown at the time, the police were at a loss on how to handle it.

Barse decided she needed to be there herself. She got her Delhi- Mumbai ticket immediately changed to Delhi- Goa and was on the next plane to Goa with a small suitcase and little cash in hand.

The Goa Collector helped her find an inexpensive place to stay in Margao and she began her groundwork.

It was the most wretched time of her life, she recalls, and a very traumatizing experience having to sort out the photographs, speak to the victims and collect evidence.

At one press conference in Goa called by the IG police, she was accused of jet setting for the sake of publicity. “ One reporter got up and said ‘ we know her credibility’ and everyone walked out and the press conference fizzled out. They tried to stall me in every way,” she said.

There was a guest house lobby who wanted to hush up the case. An MLA she met wasn’t interested in the case as it wasn’t a ‘ politically important crime’. When investigating the trail of money, banks refused to disclose transactions of their clients. “ I told them at least give me the confidence that I’m on the right track. If you can’t give me copies of documents at least show them to me.” One mother wasn’t pleased that she was pursuing the case. “ He gave my son a bike,” she told Barse.

Peats would lure the boys promising he would take send them abroad.

When Barse encountered Peats outside court after one session, his astonishing comment to her was: “ I like the way you fight for children.” Barse submitted formatted sheets with the evidence and all the sections of law applicable to Peats.

“ I investigated the case and drafted charges and got the Law Commission to examine them. I showed the chairperson of the Law Commission all the papers and he was very impressed,” said Barse.

The Goa police who were completely at a loss on how to proceed in this case, asked her to teach them how to write a chargesheet in the matter.

She doesn’t believe Raymond Varley’s dementia claim is credible and dismisses it as rubbish.

“ I always believe you can never go by the word of one professional when declaring someone mentally ill because there can be all kinds of vested interests involved. I don’t care if the professional is the best in the whole of Europe, there should be a panel of professional experts taking a decision,” she says firmly.

Further, she contests how Varley is taking decisions of his own. “ A dementia patient is accompanied by someone and isn’t able to take decisions. Here he selected his own neuropsychologist. The court should also look into his unending sources of money.” Putting Peats behind bars was what pushed Sheela Barse to relentlessly pursue the case in Goa.

“ The prevailing notion was that India is a safe place to go to because they don’t go a good job of prosecuting you and I wanted to change this. I made sure the system worked,” Barse says. Review Bureau 

link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=8093&boxid=173638187&uid=&dat=09/21/2014   

A Day At The Passport Office

A Day At The Passport Office

September 21, 2014 

Things at the passport office in Panjim have changed for the better. Gone are the long queues and chaos one encountered before 


LISA ANN MONTEIRO 

“You are making allegations against me. You’re saying that I’m carrying a fake educational certificate,” a lady, her voice raised, accuses passport officer, Agnelo Fernandes, as she walks into his office. “ This verification will take time and I’m not going to waste my time,” she adds arrogantly.

Fernandes shuts her up telling her verification is necessary as there is a doubt about the authenticity of her educational certificate. If she has a problem, she can complain to the authorities in Delhi, he tells her.

The woman demands he give her the Delhi number. Fernandes brushes her off, telling her to find it on their website.

She leaves quietly, failing in her attempt to stall the verification process.

Once educational certificates are suspect, they are reported to the issuing authority which then contacts the school/ college for confirmation.

Fernandes has also come across cases where people have brought fake court orders forging judges’ signatures in criminal cases.

As my visit to the Panjim passport office shows, being a passport officer is no cakewalk.

And it’s not only about verifying documents and streamlining the process.

The authorities here often find themselves in the midst of bitter child custody disputes. There have been cases of separated mothers applying for passports for her children trying to take them abroad. When the father finds out, he creates a ruckus at the passport office. The mother insists she has been given custody of the child but has no court order to prove this. This results in the child’s passport being kept on hold.

There have also been other cases where the court has granted custody to one parent, the mother, for example, and visiting rights to the father. In this case the mother has the custody order but needs an NOC from her husband to be able to take the child with her.

Among the annexures/ affidavits single parents can resort to are Annexure C to be filled for a passport for a minor child by either parent, when there has been a separation but no formal divorce, or by a single parent of the child born out of wedlock.

Depending on the situation, a single parent can also resort to Annexure G – Declaration of parent/ guardian if the passport is for a minor when one parent has not given consent.

In one particular case, a woman married to a Goan man had a child and subsequently married an English man. She insisted that the English man’s name figure as the father on her child’s passport.

When she was told that this couldn’t be done as only the biological father’s name was allowed, she created a commotion in the passport office.

Fernandes has come across a large number of domestic abuse cases in his work. The women when applying for a passport reissue, ask that their husband’s name be removed from the new passport.

“ This can’t be done unless there is a separation order from the court. Unless there is a court order we can’t do it. Legally they are still married,” Fernandes explains the law.

Then there are those who handed in a fake date of birth for their first passport when they wanted to go abroad. Now that they want to make a Portuguese passport, they need to correct the date on their Indian passport. Details on the Indian passport have to be accurate to proceed for Portuguese nationality. These applicants want corrections of their Indian passports just so that they can surrender it and leave the country.

Pet names bestowed by loved ones stick on and also find their way into passports creating a problem when the children want to seek Portuguese nationality.

Other cases which Fernandes says are peculiar to Goa include the Portuguese and English spelling of names like Xakuntala/ Shakuntala and Xam/ Shyam. The applicant earlier made a passport entering her/ his name in Portuguese. But their election card, Adhaar card and other documents are all in the English version. The problem arises when they want a reissue.

Procedures are more streamlined and rules more stringent now and less likely to be abused, the passport officer says.

He recalls cases of people visiting Catholic cemeteries, searching for people with ages close to theirs.

Once they obtained the death certificate from the clerk at the Church they managed to lay their hands on all family details. They would first apply for an Indian passport and then a Portuguese one.

Two months ago, a middle aged lady came to the office with her elderly mother who was well into her 80s. The daughter didn’t bring the required documents and began grumbling when she was asked to come the next day, saying the nuns wouldn’t grant her mother, who was in an old age home, permission.

Things at the passport office have changed for the better and long queues and chaos one encountered have disappeared. Fernandes says he has got rid of a number of agents too who used to hang around outside the office and even inside the building. A few still exist and fill up the application online for a hefty fee of Rs 2,000.

Although all appointments are booked online, there is relief for the challenged, senior citizens and emergency cases. These are allowed as walkins from Monday to Friday.

Review Bureau 

link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=8092&boxid=17366812&uid=&dat=09%2f21%2f2014

Return of the Jesuits

RETURN OF THE JESUITS

September 14, 2014 

One of the most prominent Catholic orders in India granted their significant contribution to education in this county, the expulsion of the Jesuits by a Portuguese Decree 255 years ago had a profound historical impact on Goa. Francis Xavier was the first Jesuit to set foot here. In Goa where they left behind an indelible footprint through the Basilica de Bom Jesus, the Rachol Seminary, the first printing press in the college of St Paul (that crumbled to ruins), the scores of parish churches and even the old Patto bridge (built between 1632-1634)- to list just a few, the suppression of the Jesuits proved costly to Goa. The State lost out on top-notch Jesuit educational institutions that came to be set up in other parts of the country. The Jesuits would return to Goa formally only in 1993. As the society celebrates 200 years of its restoration this year, Herald Review looks back at a turning point in history. 


LISA ANN MONTEIRO


On the evening of September 27 the Jesuits from the Goa province will celebrate a mass at the Basilica de Bom Jesus to mark 200 years of their restoration. Celebrations are very low key and have been going on in the form of seminars and talks through the year.

“ This is not an occasion to glorify ourselves but it calls us to revisit our past and reflect on why we were suppressed and how loyal we have been to our vocation and what’s our role now,” says Fr Gregory Naik SJ. At the time of their expulsion, the Jesuits ran a large number of parish churches and educational, charitable, social and religious institutions that they had set up in Goa. Overnight they found their lands confiscated to the state and others entrusted to the archdiocese. These were never restored to their original owners. The Goa province of the Jesuits as it is known now was re- established only in 1993 and is today the third smallest province in India with Delhi and Pune after it.

The peculiarity, Fr Naik says, is that although they are small in number, they have generously given some of their best men for work the world over.

Fateful decree 
The fate of Jesuits in Goa changed on September 25, 1759 when a ship arrived with a copy of the royal decree ordering the arrest of all Jesuits in Portugal and its colonies and seizure of all properties belonging to them on the fabricated charge of their complicity in a plot to murder the king The events unfolded rather quickly within the next two days. All the Jesuits were rounded up and kept as prisoners in St Paul’s College ( the new one). In Salcete, the Jesuits were first locked up at Rachol for two months and then sent to join their colleagues. Some prisoners were distributed among houses belonging to other religious orders and were not treated well there.

“ After a year all the prisoners were returned to St Paul’s as the transport ship Nossa Senhora de Conçeicão was to arrive. When it did, the 137 prisoners were loaded on it, a ship meant for maximum 100, an on December 19, 1760 it departed on a journey that lasted five torturous months. The conditions on the ship were so unhealthy and subhuman that by the time it reached Lisbon 24 Jesuits had died and were buried a sea,” Fr Naik writes in his compilation The Goa Jesuits - A concise account of the origins of the Goa Province.

The Jesuits who arrived in Lisbon faced no trial, but were told they could save themselves by leaving their society. The Portuguese- born were exiled to papal states in Italy. The others were sent to S Juliao da Barra jail where they suffered.

In Portugal, the orders for the expulsion of the Jesuits came from the Portuguese Prime Minister Sebastião Jose de Carvalho e Mello who was later made the Marquis of Pombal. Jealous of Jesuit influence, he also wanted the church to be subordinate to the state.

On September 3, 1758 there was an attempt on the life of King Joseph I on the outskirts of Lisbon when he was returning after an evening with his mistress who married into the influential Tavora family. The Duke of Aveiro and the Marquises of Tavora were arrested, tortured, executed and their bodies burnt and thrown into a river.

On January 19, 1759 the king ordered that all Jesuit property be confiscated and three months later on April 20, 1759 all Jesuits were exiled as rebels and traitors. They were accused of rebelling against Portugal and Spain in the treaty of the Paraguay Reductions, refusing to yield to civil authority in Brazil, corruption, commercial activities forbidden to clerics, the defamation of the king abroad and making an attempt on his life.

Portugal was the first European country to expel Jesuits with others following its example. France suppressed the Jesuits in 1764 and Spain in 1767. It was only much later on July 21, 1773 that Pope Clement XIV under pressure suppressed the society worldwide through the brief Dominus ac Redemptor.

Ironically Catherine II of Russia, an Orthodox and Frederick of Prussia, a Lutheran ignored the brief of suppression of the society in their kingdoms because they wanted to keep the Jesuit institutions running. Many Jesuits continued to work in Europe during the suppression affiliated to the Russia province and with their superior based in Russia.

Pre expulsion the Jesuits were at the zenith of their influence on European society. They controlled the world of education and were confessors to kings.

In Goa too, the society was a very vibrant one. In fact the Goa province was the third oldest ( and the first outside Europe) of the Jesuits after Portugal and Spain.

St Francis Xavier was the first Jesuit to arrive in Goa in 1542. The professed house or Casa Professa ( the heart of the society) of the Jesuits who had completed their final stage is attached to the Basilica.

The Casa Professa was built approximately in 1585, before the Basilica was built. It was the only professed house in entire East Asia.

“ It was confiscated along with all the other properties of the religious and returned to the church only in 1940. A Jesuit was appointed rector of the Basilica only in 1956. There were only administrators before that,” Fr Savio Baretto, present rector of the Basilica says. The present structure is believed to be only one third of the original one.

In 1555 the Goa territory consisting Ilhas, Bardez and Salcete was distributed among the existing three orders for the purpose of the apostolate. The Franciscans were in charge of Bardez and the Jesuits were given charge of entire Salcete and 15 villages in the north western sector of Ilhas. The Dominicans were given the other villages in the Ilhas.

Contribution to Goa 
The Jesuits ministered in Salcete for over 200 years and this became their mainstay. They built 25 churches in this taluka. The Seminary of Rachol was built by the Jesuits where they ran a college with a hospital, orphanage, catechetical school, primary school in Portuguese, Konkani school for European missionaries, moral theology and the first printing press.

In Ilhas, the Jesuits acquired the Seminary of Santa Fe, consecrated the church of the college in honour of St Paul and it came to be known as the College of St Paul. The Jesuits who worked there were called Paulistas.

“ The college housed a novitiate, a Jesuit residence, a hospital, a dormitory for catechumens and a good library. Besides academics, the college was the hub of Jesuit activity in the east. It was the church of this college that had the privilege of having the first public exposition of the incorrupt body of Francisco Xavier soon after it arrived from Malacca,” Savio Rodrigues writes in Jesuit Heritage in Goa.

When the plague broke out in Old Goa in 1570 the college was abandoned and a new one built near the convent of St Augustine which came to be known as the new College of St Paul.

The medical department of the College of St Paul was credited with running the Royal Hospital and the expertise of the engineering department was used in building the Rua de Ourem and Ponte de Linhares, considered a marvel of engineering at the time.

The awaited Bull
The Jesuits celebrate 200 years of the restoration of their faith this year thanks to Pope Pius VII who after returning from captivity in France by Napoleon signed the papal Bull Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum ( The Care of all Churches) on August 7, 1814 which restored the society.

The situation in Portugal however didn’t receive immediate respite because of its antireligious rulers.

In spite of the Bull, the Portuguese government refused to permit Jesuits to settle in Goa. So although there were four flourishing Jesuit missions in Madurai, Bombay- Poona, Bengal and Mangalore, the Goa mission came into existence only on December 3, 1889 and was operating from Belgaum. Fr Naik writes, “ In fact between 1891 and 1908 the total number in the Goa mission at any one time fluctuated between five and nine Jesuits.” In 1928 the Archbishop Patriarch Dom Mateus d’ Oliveira Xavier asked for two Jesuits to be sent to Rachol Seminary. Fr Bernardo Gonçalves was installed as spiritual director in 1931 and he became the first Jesuit to permanently reside in Goa but not in a house of the society.

In Portugal in 1932 when the Estado Novo party came to power, Dr Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was appointed Prime Minister. When he promulgated a new constitution, he permitted the return of religious orders.

On March 19, 1934, 40 prominent citizens, mostly from Margao, submitted a joint petition to Patriarch Dom Teotonio Vieira de Castro stating the Jesuits had given “ incontestable proof of their competence as educators” and therefore they should set up a school or small boarding in Panjim as soon as possible. The signatories were lead by Dr Antonio Augustro do Rego of Panjim and included Sales da Veiga Coutinho, Felippe da Piedade Rebelo, Cesar Baronio Monteiro, Antonio Colaço, Francisco Correia Afonso among others. The original letter drafted in Portuguese lies in the archives of the Jesuit House in Panjim.

The Jesuit provincial of Portugal regretted that no Jesuits could be spared at the time. But the citizens persisted and when they read of Fr Estanislau Martins coming from Portugal they insisted he be assigned to Goa. The patriarch passed on the message to the superior general in Rome and his response was positive.

Post restoration 
Three Jesuits Fr Silvestre de Souza ( a Goan) superior, Fr Estanislau Martins, director of the school and Bro Vincent Augustine, administrator rented a small house at Fontainhas “ at the left end of the Rua do Povo de Lisboa facing the canal flowing into the Mandovi”. Twenty boys were admitted as boarders and 30 enrolled as day scholars in the lyceum.

The Insituto de Sao Francisco Xavier was founded on July 2, 1935 and the Jesuits in Goa got their first residence in the restored society.

The institute turned out to be a failure because the director lacked experience and aptitude to deal with the youth.

Eight years later it shut. They continued to struggle because of their small numbers.

They managed to restore the faith the people had in them when they began running St Theotonius Union High School in Margao in 1944— the present Loyola High School.

In Mapusa they rechristened the Sacred Heart High School as St Brittos High School in 1948. Today they also run the Xavier Retreat House in Baga, St Paul’s School in Belgaum and Rosary English High School in Ajra. They have the Pedro Arrupe Insitute in Raia, their own research centre the Xavier Centre of Historical Research in Porvorim and have greatly contributed to Konkani through the Thomas Stephen’s Konknni Kendr. The Jesuits also run the Jana Jagran, a social action wing where they work with shepherds and nomadic groups and also impart non formal education to them.

Jesuit presence 

There are 16987 Jesuits worldwide serving in 112 nations on six continents with the largest number in India and the USA. The South Asian Assistancy ( of which India is a major portion and comprises 4044 Jesuits.

They have 79 provinces, 5 independent regions and 9 dependent regions in the world with 18 provinces and 2 regions in India.

The Jesuits run 178 universities/ colleges around the world, of which 72 are in the South Asian Assistancy of which more than 60 are in India.

The Goa province comprises 117 Jesuits ( 81 priests, 6 brothers, 27 scholastics and 3 novices).

Review Bureau 

link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=7945&boxid=17515162&uid=&dat=09/14/2014

Freeze Frame

FREEZE FRAME 

September 7, 2014 

Sange Dorjee's national award winning independent film Crossing Bridges is the first ever to be made by a native of Arunachal Pradesh 


LISA ANN MONTEIRO 


A fter graduating from the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, Sange Dorjee, a native of Arunachal Pradesh, decided to use his skills to turn the lens inward. He pooled his resources together and with help from friends and family, shot the award winning film Crossing Bridges in his own dialect Shertukpen in his home town in the Kameng region of Western Arunachal Pradesh.

The actors he sourced from his own friends and family conversant with the Shertukpen dialect. He assigned them roles they were familiar with, similar to those played in their own lives. He arranged a three- month workshop and allowed them to express themselves freely in their dialect.

The film tells the story of Tashia, a young man who loses his job in Mumbai and is forced to return to his home town in a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh. He hasn't lived there in years and his tribe's culture and the calm life in the mountains appears almost foreign to him. He waits impatiently for the call so he can go rushing back to his modern life in the city. During his wait, he re- experiences his roots and finds love. When he does receive the call, he finds that he has to make a life changing decision. The story was inspired by Dorjee’s own life. He too felt different in his own land and among his own people after being away for years, studying in boarding schools around the country.

Encumbered by a small budget, Sange decided that it would be shot on his old Canon 5D camera. Cinematographer Pooja Gupte did some initial shots in Arunachal and Mumbai and checked the footage on a big screen. Only when they were satisfied, did the two go ahead. “ We used our money wisely and tried to keep our production costs within Rs 25 lakhs. Many people make films and then leave them midway because they run out of money for post production. We didn’t want to land ourselves in a situation where our film would be stalled halfway,” Gupte says.

The film was shot in the chilling months of December and January and the crew from the city needed a few days before beginning filming to acclimatize themselves to the temperature and altitude. Covered in six layers of clothing, they braved the cold and trekked through mountains and freezing rivers for their shots. The few hours of electricity made the experience even more challenging. This meant that heaters weren’t functioning throughout the day and night. Batteries for the camera and lapel mikes had to be charged well before hand with spares kept handy. Gupte also had problems with the head of her tripod freezing over.

Dorjee is the first from the Shertukpen tribe to go to film school and his film is the first ever to be made by a local in the entire State.

The Shertukpen tribe has a population of around 4000 people. Most follow either Buddhisim or animism. Dorjee says tribes in Arunachal are quite similar to each other. It is only the rituals and their dialect that sets one apart from the other. His tribe like many others only has a dialect but no script and faces a threat with the influx of modernity today. More people are shunning their dialects, preferring to speak in Hindi and English today.

He has numerous stories from the region that he would like to share with the rest of India and the world.

“ India is such a large country with so many small pockets about which people know nothing about. I want to at least begin this process of dialogue where more stories from our region will be told,” Dorjee says. “ If people don’t tell their own stories, then no one else will.” Families in the State do have cable TV but new releases are watched only on DVDs. The State has no film industry and the cinema culture is nonexistent.

This meant that training the actors, many of whom hadn’t watched much of cinema, was a challenge in itself.

Dorjee entered his film in the Work in Progress Lab at NFDC’s Film Bazaar in Goa and received much appreciation for it. Winning the national award in April also helped the film travel to various film festivals the world over. It saw a nationwide release on August 29 when the agency PVR Director’s Rare released it in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. Crossing Bridges has since then lived up to its title. Review Bureau 

link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=7802&boxid=162822859&uid=&dat=09/07/2014 

All Roads Lead to Old Goa

ST XAVIER’S EXPOSITION

ALL ROADS LEAD TO OLD GOA  

September 7, 2014 

With a little over two months left for the decennial exposition of St Francis Xavier which will bring in over 60 lakh visitors to Old Goa, preparations have gone into overdrive. LISA ANN MONTEIRO unveils some of the plans and programmes being put in place for Goa's biggest religious event. 

The faithful from India and the world over will descend on the historical city of Old Goa to kiss the sacred relics of the 16th century saint Francis Xavier when the 17th decennial Exposition unveils on November 22 this year. Preparations for the Exposition are in full swing with the Church, Archaeological Survey of India and various state government departments working to make the event a hassle free one.

The last Exposition in 2004 drew around 34 lakh pilgrims. The numbers are expected to touch 60 lakh visitors this year. Pilgrims have been calling the Church up from various states. A single parish in Kerala has confirmed that 1300 pilgrims will be present.

The faithful will be accommodated in the new Retreat House in the vicinity of the Church of the Cross of Miracles in Old Goa. The government is also arranging for tents that will be set up behind the Pastoral Institute and close to the panchayat office. Arrangements are also being made to provide mattresses.

The tents which will be set up right from November 22 till January 4 will also have a caterer providing food at affordable rates. Last exposition pilgrims were housed near Dauji but this was found to be too far for them so this year all the tents are in the vicinity.

Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza says preparatory work is on for the special event, even though on the surface it may seem like nothing is happening. “ We’re making provisions for good roads, drinking water, traffic arrangements, security, toilets and accommodation. We don’t want a single pilgrim to be inconvenienced. The government has no reservations for spending for the event and no reason not to spend money as provision for the Exposition has already been made in the budget.” Many expat Goans, he says, are scheduled to arrive for the event.

A new road is being built by PWD near the Dempo Shipyard through the Bakhia property joining the existing road abutting the Old Goa Jetty and joining the Ela- Dauji road. Work for the improvement, widening and up- gradation of roads of the NH- 4 bypass and others in and around Old Goa are also in the pipeline. PI Traffic Panjim, Darmesh Angle says new parking spaces have been identified aside from the old places at Bakhia property, Pinto garage and Ella farm. There are plans to introduce a few traffic islands around Old Goa and have shuttle buses to ferry people from certain parking lots to the Church. Special parking provisions are being made for the old, sick and differently abled and volunteers will help ferry them closer to the Church using wheelchairs.

The Expo secretariat has identified the location for five new toilet blocks and will also set up portable toilets and baths.

The government also has plans to reduce the number of stalls in the fair. Each year during the novenas and feast the panchayat decides on the number of stalls. During the last Exposition the Collector was overseeing the problem of the stalls. Additional Collector North Goa Swapnil Nail says the PWD has put together rough plans and these are yet to be finalized.

The final decision regarding the stalls will be taken by the state level monitoring committee jointly with the panchayat.

The government is setting up yet another tent in front of Sé Cathedral which will serve as an exhibition centre where the 65 religious congregations in Goa will display their charism and share how they live it. Various dioceses in Goa will put up short plays with 20 themes based on the life of St Francis Xavier and his relevance in people’s lives today. The programmes in the evenings will be of a slightly longer duration than those in the mornings. The Pillar and Diocesan priests are also arranging short musicals all connected to the theme of faith.

The Church doesn’t want the faithful to dismiss the Exposition as just another festival. They are preparing the faithful for the faith experience which is the basis of the theme of this year’s Exposition.

“ Faith creates communion and strengthens the family and commissions to renew society. This theme is divided into the celebration of faith, journey of faith and witness of faith,” Fr Alfred Vaz, convener of the St Francis Xavier Exposition Committee says.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias will be present for the feast on December 3 and the Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal Salvatore Pennacchio from Delhi will be present for the farewell mass.

Every Saturday evening at 7: 30 pm there will be vigil prayers at Sé Cathedral in the presence of the relics of the saint.

“ For Goans St Francis Xavier is the centre of our faith, but we want them to realize that Jesus is the centre of our faith. St Francis Xavier is only a model to be inspired by, because he lived the life of Jesus. That’s why during this vigil people will be praying to Jesus together with St Francis Xavier,” Fr Vaz says.

Pilgrims wanting to celebrate mass in their own language will be allowed to do so between 12- 3 pm each day. There will be a special mass for the sick on November 30 during which vehicles will be allowed to drop the sick closer to the Church.

A special art exhibition will be open to the public at Kristo Kala Mandir attached to Se Cathedral where work of two famous artists, Angelo da Fonseca and Antonio X Trindade will be on display only during the Exposition.

The 16th century Sé Cathedral has received a fresh coat of paint on the interior, with only a few finishing touches left. In comparison, its exterior is weathered and will receive a coat of paint only after the monsoon. Workers in the Basilica are also working around the clock, meters above the ground and paint brushes in hand, preparing the Basilica for the grand event.

The cradle on which the relics will be kept during the Exposition has already been sent for gold gilding. The relics have not received any treatment, Fr Savio Baretto, rector of the Basilica, says the body was never embalmed.

In Goa, the body was kept open and was encased in a glass coffin only in 1953. Nobody is sure of where all his relics lie today as when the body was open many people had access to it.

This year is also very special for the Jesuits as they celebrate 200 years of the restoration of their society after they were suppressed the world over. Many Jesuits from various parts of the world are expected to come for the Exposition as the beginning of the suppression took place in Goa. The main house of the Jesuits in the East was in Old Goa and is called the Professed House. The first public exposition was held in 1782 when rumours spread wild that the Jesuits who were banished, had left for Rome with the body. This exposition was held to assure the people that the body was still in Goa.

VENERATION OF RELICS 

The kissing of the sacred relics will be held from 6 am till 7 pm. The relics will be kept on display for the public on November 22, but only after the relics are taken in a ceremonial procession from the Bom Jesus Basilica to Sé Cathedral during the Solemn Pontifical mass at 9: 30 am which will be attended by the Bishop of Mangalore and only after the security team is satisfied with the arrangements.

The kissing of the relics will end on January 3 as the relics will be taken back in procession to the Basilica on the morning of January 4. The Church hasn’t received a spectacular response from the faithful willing to act as volunteers so they will be requesting NSS volunteers to lend a hand too. 

Review Bureau 

link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=7799&boxid=162424640&uid=&dat=09/07/2014

Is This The Tourist We Want?

Is This The Tourist We Want?

Herald Review August 31, 2014  


They fine them in Barcelona and in Venice. Majorca too is debating a fine on tourists who do not cover up in areas beyond the beaches. In Cannes and St Tropez there is a dress code in place for tourists. Only in Goa do we continue to look the other way, allowing tourists to get away with disgraceful behaviour 



LISA ANN MONTEIRO


Has Goa taken the Atithi Devo Bhavah ( the guest is God) phrase a little too literally? Hordes of male tourists descend on this destination practically every weekend. The fact they are neither discouraged from holidaying here in all- male groups or pulled up for their rowdy behaviour underscores the obsequious nature of Goa’s tourism industry. Much worse of course is the state government’s sellout to the interests of the trade. So long as it makes us money, just look the other way, has been the government’s policy about issues related to the tourism industry.

One needn't even travel to the coastal belt to catch the antics of a drunk and disorderly desi. Two weekends ago ( August 15 weekend), getting out of the capital city was a slow and painful experience because of the hordes of domestic tourists who were queuing up for cruise rides. Drivers tried their best to keep their irritation under control as MH and AP cars swerved from one lane to another with scant regard for any rules. Creating more confusion on the main road was a domestic tourist in his banyan and briefs, drenched and dancing in gay abandon right in the heart of Panjim, apparently under the impression that he was on the beach.

This of course would be one of the least offensive cases of bad behaviour by tourists. There are those who binge and drive, dump bottles on the beach, take pictures of women, relieve themselves openly, and wander through public streets shirtless and in their underwear.

These people go back to their office and business jobs. What they leave behind is a lasting impression of a state that is being increasingly perceived as a “ cheap” destination.

The question is why should Goa tolerate such mishbehaviour? Recently, the Palma City Council introduced a Good Citizen Plan for the Spanish island of Majorca, declaring that they would no longer put up with bad tourist behaviour. Tourists walking public streets in beachwear and violating the other new civic laws are to be heavily fined and face the wrath of local police.

In Barcelona, the hotelier lobby has protested that tourists walking around town with exposed torsos give the city a bad image. These tourists are ordered to cover up or face the on- the- spot fine of up to €300 ( almost Rs 24,000).

In Venice, the bare- chested and those found littering are fined €500 ( almost Rs 40,000).

Locals in Cannes and St Tropez, in France, introduced a dress code banning bare chests after they were sick of seeing tourists displaying their hairy chests in the streets.

Dress code Candolim localite Francoise D’Souza says tourists who may be well behaved in their own state lose all sense of decency when holidaying in Goa.

“ The dress code on beaches is different from what one wears in the bank and in a supermarket. They should definitely be fined when they roam the streets in their beachwear. Tourists should respect local culture and sentiments when they come here.” She says she finds it increasingly difficult to bring up her young son in this tourist belt.

For over a year, the Basilica do Bom Jesus in Old Goa had volunteers with shawls stationed at the entrance, asking underdressed visitors to cover up. Tourists in shorts and singlets were putting off regular worshippers and the drive was necessary to get the message across.

Similarly, Mangueshi Temple and Ramnathi Temple in Ponda have put dress codes in place for tourists.

In Calangute, the situation gets worse for locals each year. Last year parking provisions were made for tourist buses to station in the paddy fields in front of St Alex Church. Domestic tourists overnight turned the area into an open kitchen and open toilet with some even relieving themselves all along the Chogm road.

The moneyed tourists don’t display any better behaviour. Shaikh Salim, PI Traffic Calangute booked a group of domestic tourists last year who arrived in a Mercedes Benz, claiming to be relatives of a union minister. These rowdies were hurling liquor bottles at passersby from the roof of the car. The car was detained and the men were booked under Section 41 of CrPC for creating public nuisance.

“ They think they can get away with anything since they are on holiday. Many don’t even bother to carry their licenses when they drive. We continue to do random checks on both locals and tourists and in the last two months have booked 150 cases of drinking and driving,” Salim says.

Two weeks ago a group of tourists from Kolkata on their way back from Palolem beach flung a whiskey bottle out of their moving bus. The bottle hit motorcyclist Ulhas Pagi who lost control of his bike. Pagi suffered a head injury and was bleeding profusely. The tourists claimed it was a child in the bus who had thrown the whiskey bottle out, something the locals refused to believe.

Unfortunately Goa has come to be known as a place where one can indulge in all kinds of vices. Francoise says she has hope things will improve but doesn’t see anything concrete happening. “ Our MLAs are supposed to be the representatives of the people but they have vested interests in tourism with a major chunk of their earnings coming from the tourism sector. It is money versus everything else. But money at what cost? At the cost of our children?” Indecent proposal Domestic tourists also come to Goa under the impression that women are cheap and freely available. In May this year tourists travelling in an AP registration car were arrested for making indecent gestures and using obscene language to a girl who was walking the street in Mapusa. When the girl complained, all the four men were booked for insulting and outraging her modesty.

A resident of Margao, Priya Cabral, remembers that night some years ago when she was returning home from work. As she crossed a lonely lane in the heart of the city, a cab full of tourists pulled up. One of them grabbed her, trying to pull her into the cab.

The tourists were taken aback when Priya instead mustered the courage and strength to pull the tourist out of the cab.

“ Goa has turned into a very cheap place where tourists come only to drink, gamble and for prostitution. There are only a few beaches left which are worth going to today,” she says.

Former Sarpanch of Benaulim Royla Fernandes says a mere monetary fine isn’t enough to restrain tourists from misbehaving. Many have money to spend and won’t feel the pinch. It is only when they are detained for a day that the message will go out.

The government would also do well to introduce signs on beaches deterring people from drinking in public and littering.

Tourists should be encouraged to take their garbage back with them and government needs to introduce dustbins on beaches.

Hotelier Ralph de Souza says Goa would do well to streamline its promotion in such a way that the stress is on overseas tourism, MICE tourism and urban tourism so that families and decent tourists are encouraged to visit the state.

Francis Braganza President of TTAG ( Travel and Tourism Association of Goa) says tourists visiting Europe, Singapore and the Gulf respect the environment because law enforcement is strict there.

“ There are huge fines for littering and drinking in public places with fines in Singapore going up to 500 dollars. I have been requesting the Goa government to adopt such a strict regime and enforce these rules with a firm hand.” He too suggests Goa needs to concentrate more on promotion of Goa as an international tourist destination.

“ The growth of international tourists is not keeping pace with the growth of domestic tourism. Goa needs a change in its focus and we need to promote Goa in the international market. The all male groups which come to Goa only to ogle and exploit women create a nuisance and need to be discouraged.” He suggests imposing a high entry tax for vehicles carrying all males.

According to official statistics, there were 3.1 million tourist arrivals to Goa last year, of which 2.6 million were domestic tourists and only 4.9 lakh foreign arrivals. Upto July this year 1.5 million tourists came to holiday here, of which 1.2 million were domestic arrivals.


When Overdoing it ends in Tragedy 

Alcohol and food is a deadly combination when one heads out to sea. Compounding the situation is the unfamiliarity with the sea, tiredness and low fitness levels. In a span of five years Drishti Lifeguards, entrusted with saving lives along Goa’s 105 km coastline, saw a total of 31 drowning deaths within their jurisdiction of which 18 ( 58 per cent) were alcohol related drownings.

But Drishti officials don’t blame alcohol alone for the drowning deaths.

They attribute it instead to a series of incidents. Among the domestic tourists it is the yuppie Indian crowd in the age group of 18- 25 years, many working in the IT field in air- conditioned environments who haven’t been in sun for months on end and whose fitness levels are at a low, who find themselves in trouble.

Coming from the hinterland, they have also never seen the sea and never experienced good food and cheap alcohol in such close proximity to the beach.

They eat and drink to their heart’s content, get tired, suffer sunstroke, have no beach familiarization and venture into the water.

“ The moment you have salt water entering your mouth, you puke. But if you’ve eaten a heavy meal the food chokes your windpipe and cuts off your oxygen supply. If you’ve consumed alcohol then you’ve lost control,” one Drishti official said.

Among the foreigners it is the Russians who succumb to the sea. Mostly obese and unfit, this group also tends to eat and drink without limits. Lifeguards find language a problem too when communicating with this group.

“ It’s wrong to say that tourists visiting Goa drink and die on its beaches. Alcohol is only a contributory factor. Nobody drowns if they swim between the red flags,” V K Kanwar CEO Drishti says.

Women don’t feature among the drowning deaths as many of them don’t venture into the water due to lack of changing rooms on beaches.

The lifeguards are often at the receiving end of abuses from tourists who think they are invincible. The company has organised etiquette and crowd management workshops for its lifeguards to equip them with skills to deal with various types of tourists.

Drishti has 600 lifeguards manning 41 beaches and two fresh water bodies Dudhsagar and Mayem Lake.

The lifeguards’ jurisdiction is from sunrise to sunset.

Starting next month, Drishti is also reintroducing beach safety patrolling where staff will be monitoring the beach from sunset to 12 midnight to prevent any untoward incidents on the coast. These are not equipped to do rescues but will assist or call for help in case of any distress. 
Review Bureau 
link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=7655&boxid=162817109&uid=&dat=8/31/2014

Outcasts in Their Own Land

Outcasts In Their Own Land 

Herald Review August 24, 2014

Cyril Fernandes' book 'Justice at the Grassroots' provides an insight into the lives of the original inhabitants of the State. 

LISA ANN MONTEIRO 

They may be original inhabitants of the State but the tribals in Goa continue to be denied their rightful place in mainstream society. Cyril Fernandes’ book ‘ Justice at the Grassroots’ which is a tribute to Antonio Francisco Fernandes, a leader of Goa’s tribal communities from Quelossim, brings the tribal community out from the shadows.

Very little research has been carried out on the ethnic tribes of Goa and this book provides an insight into their history, culture, struggles and plight today. Fernandes finds that no one has put Goa’s history into proper perspective and this book, he claims, is his attempt to do so by examining history from their standpoint.

Fernandes didn’t expect to encounter any hurdles when documenting Antonio’s life since the activist maintained diaries and old records. But to his dismay, when he approached the family after Antonio’s death in 2011, he found that they had burnt all his records.

And so the author was forced to start from scratch. He spoke to over 30 of his contemporaries to gather facts about Antonio’s life, devoted to fighting for his community and for Goa’s progress.

The book will be released in Antonis own village of Quelossim, where the community’s presence is very prominent.

The author didn’t think it fair to make money from telling Antonio’s story.

“ We’re all part of a cause,” he says. Proceeds from the book which is priced at Rs 200 will instead go into a fund called the Bab Anton Francisco Fund which will be used to propagate his ideals and his mission.

If the government is really interested in their welfare, he says they should make sure the book has a wide reach, especially in schools and colleges so that it reaches all ST community students.

He also wants to get the book digitized so that readers across the globe have access to it. He says, “ This issue is not limited to Goa. It is a global phenomenon.

I want people to know their fate.

When we talk of modern day development, it is always only the indigenous people who suffer the consequences.” 

He explains their plight in finding jobs today. He writes that as of 2011 there was a backlog of 2442 vacancies reserved for STs yet to be filled, with 18 corporations and departments not filling vacancies reserved under the tribal category.

He writes, “ Despite government’s assurances, tribal villages and hamlets have not been officially surveyed. Tribal areas are not demarcated or notified by the government of Goa. This lack of clarity gives scope for diversion of funds to non- tribal projects.”

The culture also is dying out and he stresses on the need for tribal schools and colleges. He doesn’t feel these will categorise them further. Instead he says there will be more focused development.

The state doesn’t even have a tribal museum.

“ Maharashtra has tribal schools, institutions and even a tribal museum.It is only in Goa that they have been kept subjugated and marginalized. Goa only wants to show the world that they have beaches and properties for SEZs.Nothing else,” he says in disgust.

Another major problem the community encounters today is that of scarcity of land. The tribals always owned land collectively under the ganvkari system but this worked against them when the Portuguese, in connivance with the Church, usurped their land. While those belonging to the upper castes were able to enter their names, the tribals couldn’t. Today Cyril Fernandes says the village of Quelossim and St Jose de Areal are the only two villages where only tribals are members of the comunidade.

He blames the Church too and says they cannot wash their hands of this since they were a part and parcel of the Portuguese government and didn’t do anything to prevent the injustice.

The land which wasn’t taken away from them by the Comunidade system is now being acquired by the government for industrial use. Their grazing grounds are being taken away from them. Rapid development is also resulting in large scale upmarket housing which is beyond their reach. He fears they could soon be displaced from their own land. The community’s faith originally revolves around Mother Earth. He writes that the Gavvdas were first Sanskritised.

A section of them was then converted to Christianity in the 16th century.

One section of Christian gavddas bore the brunt of yet another conversion when in 1928 a missionary Masurker maharaja converted them to Hinduism.

They became the Nav- Hindu gavddas, distinct from the Christians and Hindu Gavddas. Fernandes writes that this load of conversions have contributed to their deprivation with other communities surpassing them and outgrowing them by utilizing their resources.

On the fringe of Goa’s development today, the tribal community deserves more. “ We have played with their lives to promote our own agenda. They have gone through so much. The whole focus of the government is aligned towards things which are not at all in consonance with the real life and real people in Goa.

This marginalized section has been totally neglected. They are simply not in the picture.” Review Bureau  

link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=17799&boxid=174724359&uid=&dat=08/24/2014