All the CM’s portfolios

The 'brief' four-day winter session of the Goa Legislative Assembly held in mid-December had its share of fireworks. But then, all sessions do. Only the intensity varies. What however caught the eye of some of us journos, this time, are the targets at whom Opposition Leader, Manohar Parrikar, fired his guns -- Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and Health Minister, Vishwajeet Rane.

Parrikar, in his inimitable style 'exposed' at least three scams in departments under the charge of the Chief Minister -- the Rs 40-crore alcohol import scam, the illegal mining scam and the single-print, double-print 'Digambar's Two Years as CM' brochure scam. All the three portfolios -- Finance for the alcohol scam, Mines for illegal mining and Information and Publicity for the brochure scam -- are held by the Chief Minister.

Strangely, Parrikar didn't go for the 'kill' and jaded his attacks by training his guns on the bureaucrats rather than the minister. Also, the killer instinct was extinct. Instead, the Opposition Leader mutely accepted the CM's offer of holding 'administrative' inquiries and entrusting the job to the Chief Secretary. Understandable. Thirty months, that's when the next round of elections are due here in Goa, is too long a time in politics!

As for Vishwajeet, his 'clean sweep' where the health department spent a whopping Rs one-crore on 'outsourcing' cleaning and housekeeping the swanky new but yet-to-be-opened district hospital in his home town of Mapusa that Parrikar and gang exposed, was quite an eye-opener.
Jr Rane got away even more easier than the CM with a "Speaker Sir, If the Opposition Leader has any suggestions on this (outsourcing), I will be happy to accept it," remark directed at Papa in the Speaker's seat.
We smell a plot, don't we?

Ponda’s dusty Christmas
Dashing through the snow...errr...dust!
That in a nutshell has been the story of Santa Claus's journey through Ponda city this Christmas. Fondekars, as the inhabitants of the state's cultural capital are known as, haven't quite had it easy in this last month of the 00's decade. The 'destroy the garden' plan of their city fathers and mothers has occupied their minds for some weeks now, and since September, ongoing works related to gutter repairs, road widening, paving, etcectra, etcectra, have made life miserable living.

Residents complain they can't keep their windows open with the air polluted with dust because the PWD, GSIDC and the civic authorities have bitten more than they can chew. Apparently, the machinery has opened too many fronts and almost all the works in Shantinagar, Santa Cruz, Varkhandem, Silvanagar, Tisk and Durgabhat that have been taken up are incomplete, more than three months since they were taken up.
We can sympathise with the Fondekars. Not a very White Christmas this, for them!

Agassaim PS has another DGP?
Goa DGP, BS Bassi's writ is worth nothing in Agassaim. Instead, the men at the one-storeyed police station hugging the NH-17 on the northern side of the rickety Zuari bridge, take their instructions, orders and diktats from a self-appointed DGP -- local MLA Francis Silveira. The MLA of the area since 1999, Silveira has a Hitlerish stranglehold over the police station, somewhat reminiscent of what happens in Northern India's 'jungle rule'. Any complaint made at the police station inevitably reaches the Silveira residence for adjudication.

Take this one pertaining to domestic violence for example. Some time in early December, an 18-year-old lass had walked up to the police station with a complaint that her maternal uncle, at whose house she lived, had brutally assaulted her. The girl has lost her father, and her mom, is in the Middle-East, earning their bread. The same morning, the uncle who is a government employee and happens to be the MLA's man, reaches the latter's residence. End result: Nothing. There's no case registered, although the girl was sent for medical examination to the GMC and it revealed injuries, including a fracture. Quite to the contrary, the tables were turned against the victim and the officer at the Agassaim police station, abused the girl and her fiance with crass, filthy language when the latter went there to pursue her complaint. The complainant didn't pursue the matter or take it up with the higher-ups at the Police Headquarters, because her fiance was to leave for Dubai to start his innings to earn his bread and the cops might have caused trouble for him on that front. Reason enough for NRI Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro to dump all his labour directed to the welfare of Goans overseas and instead help those who need help most -- dependants of NRIs living here at home.

Interestingly, all this happened at the Agassaim police station less than 72 hours after DGP Bassi's bhashan on how he plans to 'sensitise' the force on police-citizen interface and blah-blah-blah on Human Rights Day.

Name change
There's overwhelming feedback to have a name change. Reluctantly, I've agreed.
Several readers have written, called, e-mailed and even directly conveyed their reservations over the 'tantrums' in this column's nomenclature. It's too negative, say some. Others, including my boss Derek Almeida, say it (tantrums) is too trivial, too kiddish. Don't fully agree, because, kiddish is what the central characters of the column in most cases -- our politicos -- are. Nevertheless, with respect for my boss, and the many readers who want it, the column will have a new name in the new year: Tuesday....... Have a couple of names in mind but haven't quite made the final decision. I have until next Tuesday. Until then, Happy New Year!

Shantaram’s tantrum ‘Boomerangs’

We are under attack... Goa is under attack, our Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, seems to believe. That's why Diggu chose his speech at the 49th Liberation Day Parade, an opportunity otherwise reserved by past Chief Ministers to be the proverbial 'donkey' and indulge in some self praise, to deliver to us his 'stand up and fight to protect Goa's image' battle cry.

Obviously, the reference was to the bad press, specially at the hands of 24x7 TV news channels that Goa and its government has got in the wake of the December 1-2 rape of a Russian lass at Colva. The incident reportedly happened after a dinner that prolonged into the wee hours at the 'Boomerang' shack, at the hands of John Fernandes, a young and able politician who has now absconded into hybernation to evade arrest.

And ironically, much of the bad press was triggered by the fool-hardy attempt of Goa's 'I know all' MP Shantaram Naik to follow the CM's battle cry and protect Goa's image in the Rajya Sabha, which boomeranged with Brinda Karat, Najma Heptulla and Jaya Bachchan pouring scorn.

Shantaram's 'it's different because the Russian lass was out in the dead of the night' didn't quite cut ice. Instead, this foot-in-the-mouth comment, ensured a slugfest, which fortunately for him was in the House of Elders and not the streets of Khareband, lest he'd end up a dead duck at the hands of Brinda Karat & Co like Tadev Diniz did with Filsu Rani!

Clearly, theory that tourism rivalry is the cause for all of Goa's troubles with the national and international media is only half the truth. Often, it turns out to be a 'whole lie' much like the WMD horse-shit on Iraq. Rapes happen. They happen in Washington DC and even in Brinda Karat's CPM-ruled West Bengal too. It almost happened in the White House during Clinton's reign. So, it's no ninth wonder it happens here in Goa. Truth of the matter is, if we are to fight to protect Goa's image as our CM says, it's prudent we -- CM, Shantaram, Churchill, Mickky and their likes included -- make 'truth' the artillery and tell it to shame the 'enemy' who's pounding us. Tell the truth about the rape, the investigations the police are conducting and the state's response to protect and comfort the victim.

Pilot on wheels

Not every twenty-something kid can dream of a BMW for a 'birthday gift'. But here in Goa, there are some who can dream dreams which fructify because daddy is willing to play Santa 24x7 and the 366th day of the leap year too!

Savio, the only son of the eldest strongman from Varca, dreamt he was a 'pilot'. Daddy did everything he could and even packed him off Down Under in his teens to allow him to fly his pilot dream. Unfortunately, he didn't quite come out with flying colours, the congratulatory advertisements notwithstanding. No airline has for almost a year laid out the red carpet to their cockpits for him as yet.

But daddy's not one to give up on his son's flying dreams. If he can't fly in the skies then fly he will, even if it is on Goa's roads. So, he had a surprise for Savio on December 5, this year. The keys to a brand new, top-end BMW alongside his birthday cake! And, fly indeed was what Savio did in his latest machine, all the way from his Varca home to the hustle and bustle of 'Butter' in Candolim. Tequila was on the house and flowing! A fish who almost drowned in the flowing Tequila tells us that every drop of the Mexican drink was accounted and paid for!

So now, Goa has the distinction of not only having 'pilots' on two wheels -- our good old motorcycle taxiwallahs -- but at least one 'pilot' on roaring four-wheels!...and Audis too!

Not to be outdone, a politician from the North who's known to be flashy with the wheels he owns and drives, has gifted his son a ride in Audis, perhaps all his life. The politico has taken the agency for Audis in Goa and the son, who was in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, takes a jolly good ride on every single one that lands in the state. There is one we know of that's crashed, smashed and mangled!

Goa’s still green

Last weekend, I drove down to my native village in Salcete and took the road along Zuari's banks from Cortalim southwards. A bumpier ride then NH-17 but no regrets. At least it gave us the pleasant view of women bent down to sow the fields!

Yes. Contrary to the general feeling, agriculture isn't really dead or confined to the further reaches of Sanguem, Quepem and Canacona. In Salcete too the niz Goenkar is returning to sowing the second crop and it's not just concrete growing in our fields although some eyesores do contaminate one's view during the drive. Credit for this, at least in the Quelossim-Rassaim belt must go to the former Cortalim MLA Matanhy Saldanha, who pursued the ryots' interests with missionary zeal and ensured the manos (sluice-gate) got the money for it to be sealed and saline intrusions done away with, once for all.

Could we have more regions in Goa coming under double and triple-cropping? If money can be 'outsourced' (a whole one crore of rupees) to ensure that the yet-to-be-commissioned district hospital in Mapusa is the whitest of elephants, could the health minister who incidentally is also the agriculture minister, use some of his fiscal wizardry to buckle up the sluice-gates along our rivers and let our generations taste the thunder of para-boiled, red rice?

Where’s Santa gone?

It's December 22 today. Geography taught me it's the longest night on our side of the equator. Gosh! what a long night it seems to be. Forty-eight hours away from Christmas and the jingle is missing. It's nowhere close to white and barring the 'santa hats' on the heads of salesboys and girls in stores, I'm yet to come accross any scene where cacophonic children chase 'Santa Claus'. Even 'Climate Change' and the melting snow isn't driving Santa away from the North Pole it seems!

Hey, journos! Leave them kids alone…

Over this year, my peers have forced upon readers a several dozen times the ‘news’ (sic) that Baba, Babush and Patnekar are joining the grand old party. One of GT’s peers - which prides itself with ‘The Paper You Can Trust’ 'mission statement' and uses it right under its Masthead - even predicted the date, hour, minute and second of their celebrated entry a few times. And each time, its 'mission statement' got murdered!

Yesterday December 13, it repeated the act. It led its Sunday edition with the ‘news’ that Baba and Baush will be joining the Congress on Monday. The mission statement got murdered, yet again.

As if not to be outdone, other newspapers followed suit and one paper had a Page 1 lead on Monday that said the home-coming was delayed. Ditto with the Miramar edition of the Old Lady of Boribunder, which gave the Babush-Baba re-entry event a timeline -- sometime after the upcoming session of the legislative Assembly session ends on December 21. Thankfully for our profession, the world’s largest newspaper, quoted the horse - Babush - saying this.

Let the 'Bs' come and go when the kingdom comes. Not a pin in this administration will move any faster or slower if it eventually happens (that's if pins actually move in this administration at all). Beats me how this bit of pure speculation repeatedly turns out to be 'news' in our dailies. In the Congress or outside, the 'Big B' from Taleigao and the 'Small (piqueno) B' from Valpoi will be part of Goa's political palate for many years to come, if only for the sheer colour of their money.
For the moment though, the NCP, for whose 'group of six' Baba seemed the pivot, will be left licking its wounds... unwanted by Big Brother to run its government in Goa.

It's best that these kiddish politicos are left alone on this political theatre. I'd borrow a line from Pink Floyd's 1980s 'Another brick in the wall' hit -- Hey journos, leave them kids alone!

Mickky’s ‘rape capital’
Tourism Minister, Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco, made the news last week for more reasons than his birthday celebrations. The 'enfant terrible' of the cabinet is apparently still not in talking terms with the CM, and so, he had to take his point across to Diggu through a letter -- that Goa could soon be touted the 'Rape Capital' of India - if he, the CM, does not set things right in the police department.The provocation obviously was the December 1-2 incident in which Mickky's tormentor at the 2007 assembly elections - John Fernandes - has been accused of raping a Russian. In normal course, John should have been arrested, and Mickky was reportedly hovering near the Colva police station, around the time the Russian filed her complaint. But it did not happen, perhaps because PI Edwin Colaco, who is said to be the minister's blue-eyed boy, was on leave and the case was being handled by Maina-Curtorim PI, Sidhant Shirodkar. And, when Edwin returned, he got just 12 hours on the case before it got transferred to the Crime Branch, which has a history with Mickky on the 'I-owe-the-casino and casino-owes-me' front!

So, the 'Rape Capital' of India letter makes the news even faster than the letter reaches the Chief Minister's office, with help from a fair and lovely young journo, who allegedly distributed copies to his journo mates at the behest of the Minister's office. Beats us why the overtly accessible OSD of the Minister couldn't officially dispatch the letters to newspaper offices!

Nevertheless, the letter per-se was a marvel from the tourism minister, except that it came a wee bit too late. Mahanand Naik had already made Goa the country's 'Rape-and-Murder Captial' months ago!

Churchill’s ‘white skin’ funda

Not to be outdone, Mickky's foe (or friend?) Churchill Alemao too made the headlines with his 'media is obsessed with white skin' remark. Clearly on the opposite side of the spectrum as Mickky on the Russian's rape episode, Churchill lambasted the media for what he called its penchant of hyping reportage of rape case where the victims are foreigners. Several rape case involving local victims get shunned to obscurity, he lamented.

But what from what Churchill said, perhaps caught the mind of the average Goenkar, the aam admi so to say, is his remark on the cultural invasion that tourism has forced on to the local populace, at least in the coastal belt. 'I have five daughters. They all come home from partying by 11 pm, max by mid-night. What are these girls doing in shacks at 2 and 4 in the morning?' was the elder Alemao's refrain. Certainly strikes a chord with the fifty-something and sixty-something Goans!

‘Kodas’ having a free run in Goa!

The surge in mining which began at the fag end of the last millenium in late 1990s, is just refusing to die down. And any, and almost every, Tom, Dick and Harry from Goa's political arena are rushing to become mine owners. Licences and legalities be damned. The mining industry is cluttered to such an extent today, that the doyens of mining in Goa, are finding the going tough.
Industry sources believe that this is one, if not the major, reason why a leading mining firm sold all itself lock-stock-and-barrel to another leading mining firm.

But all that's happening on the mining front, like is the case with real estate, comes in all shades of black and gray. At least half-a-dozen 'Kodas' are looming large in iron-ore rich forests, looting and plundering the rich earth of Goa. Some without licences or even leases!

The sum and effect of all this is the story of our politics. Hate them, and yet they win. For, in elections, unlike in life, money can buy you voters' love!

Meanwhile, Rajendra Kerkar, Ramesh Gauns, Sebestian Rodrigues and the Goa Mines Affected People (GOAMAP) continue their fight against the destruction in the hinterland all by themselves and without any support either from Opposition politicos or the dime a dozen white-collared activists swarming our cities. But finally, the Opposition BJP is threatening to take the government to task on the illegal mining issue in the next assembly. Let's wait and see.

Real estate adds to the story
Ditto like mining is the story of real estate. When the cyclic boom in real estate happened here in Goa in the 1980s and the better part of the 1990s, Goa politicians, from petty panchas to the top-most MLAs and ministers, weren't satisfied with just the kick-backs. They wanted more. So, they themselves became developers and builders, floating companies in the names of their wives, sons, daughters, in-laws, out-laws, cats and dogs. This gamble, in fact, saw one politician, who according to political folklore could not even afford his security deposit for his maiden MLA election, rise up to become at one point the highest income tax payer of the state.

In the second wave of the real estate boom which began early in the new millenium and continues till date, the politicos found more company -- the babus. Every big land deal in the 2000s had an MLA, minister or a bureaucrat, act as a broker, and that too officially. In fact, not very long ago, a high-profile bureaucrat lost his job, ostensibly on disciplinary grounds. The real reason however was that he had beat the high-profile son of a politician to brokering a land deal. Talk is that the stamp papers used to formalise this deal alone were worth some 30-odd lakhs of rupees! Another top politician, who once championed the cause of 'Mundkars' cracked a deal worth some half-a-dozen crores of rupees for property around the Cine National area. Months after this deal, kiosks that cluttered the footpath around the Massano de Amorim building, that obstinately refused to vacate the area despite that famous 'clear the foothpaths' judgement of Justice Ferdino Rebello, disappeared in a single night. Now, despite the 'Save Goa Movement', the scrapping of the monstrous Regional Plan 2011 and all that the Task Force did, the 'mega projects' keep propping up here, there and everywhere.

Jai ho!Slips that slipped past the journos
The IFFI that just went by got reported as if journos held a magnifying glass. As a journo myself, no complaints about it. But what's upsetting is that despite their microscopic glare which in some instances even caught 'pleasurable moments' of audiences at one of the sizzling screenings, a glaring goof-up in broad daylight went unreported.
Waheeda Rehman who was chief guest at the opening ceremony arrived at Dabolim and there was nobody to receive her. At ground zero in the old GMC complex however, people were deputed to receive her. Those given the responsibility reached the airport and did pick up Waheeda. Only, their Waheeda turned out to be the wrong one, and they realised this half way to their destination -- Cidade de Goa.

What the ushers did was give a warm welcome to two women who they thought were Waheeda and her companion!

Fortunately for the officialdom at ESG, the issue got swept right under the Red Carpet as no journo got a whiff of it, except yours truly, well after the show was all over and done.

The great shacks scam
Last week I wrote about how the Tourism Department found the Supreme Court closer than the Bombay High Court's bench at Goa. This week, however, it seems that the department is restoring the distances. With the Supreme Court upholding the High Court order for 'shacks by lots' and imposing on it a policy opposed to the wishes of its head-honchos, the order just doesn't seem to be reaching the desk of Toursim Director, Swapnil Naik. For the tourism department, the Apex court is now beyond the Himalayas!

Naik, according to his own admission, has been briefed about the Apex Court's order by the lawyers that represented him and the Goa government. Yet, there's no sign that he's doing anything to implement it.

On the contrary, he told journos yesterday, that he'll have to check how many 'illegal shacks' have already come up on the beaches and only then set in motion the process of allocation of shacks for this season, already half over. What cheek!

IFFI: In conflict with ‘conflict of interest’

Yet another edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the fortieth overall and the sixth in Goa is on, this time with the red-carpet in full flow, yet the head-honchos and honchos at the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) just don’t seem to learn.

Everyone and sundry in the ESG are in complete conflict with ‘conflict of interest’. The head-honcho of the controversial hotel that’s won the hospitality contract is also a head-honcho at the ESG! Ditto with the eternal King Momo of Goan Carnival -- Francisco Martins -- who, in the last few years lost his monopoly over the state’s R-day tableau, but seems to be slowly and surely, building a monopoly over IFFI.

Less spoken the better of the smaller honchos at ESG like the self-proclaimed father of Goan Cinema, Rajendra Talak, and his associates, who as members of the Red Carpet Committee believe they own the Red Carpet. While anybody who is somebody is getting to walk the red carpet, these bunch of self-seekers managed to ensure that Goa’s ‘Man Beyond the Bridge’ stayed just there... beyond the bridge.

Laxmikant Shetgaonkar earned us laurels not just beyond the bridge but beyond a hundred bridges, rivers and seas... in far away Canada. Yet this home-bred lad, these honchos thought should be dealt a raw deal. But, all this back-biting has a reason. Not very long ago, at the Maquinez Palace itself, the maker of ‘Poltodcho Munis’ had the courage to stand up and tell Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat, that the ESG, packed as it is with self-seeking businessmen out to corner the loaves and fishes, the film culture won’t progress very far. Bravo indeed, but the businessmen in ESG don’t think so. Why should these businessmen show any courtesy to the award-winning film-maker? Why all this brouhaha in the media over Shetgaonkar’s Red Carpet fiasco?

Diggu rocks... now with fans!

Goa’s CM rocks again. Digambar Kamat seems to have taken IFFI this year both in letter and spirit. At the Ravindra Bhavan bliztkrieg on Day Two of the festival, he sang a line on stage and even did the jig. And Asha too joined him and broke into dance. Days after this, there was this huge political show, to celebrate his 10 years as minister in Margao, unfortunately on a day when the rest of the nation was sombrely remembering 26/11, its heroes, victims and all. But all said and done, the state’s first couple did rock at Ravindra Bhavan, and now Diggu also has an official ‘Fan Club’, whatever that means. On the political stage, however, Diggu seems to be ploughing a lone furrow at the IFFI. Except for Water Resources Minister, Filipe Neri Rodrigues, who also happens to be the vice-chairman of ESG, and Quepem MLA, Babu Kavlekar, whom he’s put in charge of the Red Carpet, not many politicos from the ruling side have kept him company at the film fest. Even Speaker Pratapsing Rane, who heads the Kala Academy where most of the action takes place and who’s towering presence was always felt at past IFFIs, has been pretty conspicuous by his absence!

Shacked

This can happen only in Goa!

Certain events, savoury and unsavoury, that have unfolded in the bitter factional feud among ‘shack owners’ (sic) has proved the impossible true. For instance, that the distance from Delhi is shorter than from Altinho for the tourism department at Patto. Now, that two factions of self-proclaimed ‘shack owners’ are engaged in a bitter battle over the government’s shack policy, is common knowledge. What’s not, however, are the many little sub-plots within the larger battle. For instance, one that reduced the distance between Delhi and Patto-Panjim to less than that between Altinho and Patto-Panjim.

It so happened that one of the factions, The Goa Traditional Shack Owners Association (TGTSOA), which is reportedly backed by PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao, approached the Bombay High Court at Goa. It accused the Tourism Department of hanky-panky in allotment of shacks this year. The court after hearing all the parties, including the state’s Advocate General on behalf of the tourism department, struck down the process and directed that shacks be allotted purely by lots, with 90 per-cent of the quota reserved for ‘experienced’ shack owners and the balance 10 per-cents for new-comers in the business.

But the tourism department did not implement this order of the Bombay High Court for almost five days, ostensibly because its director, Swapnil Naik, did not get a copy of the order. But in these five days that the Tourism director did not get the copy of the order, the other faction Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS), which is reportedly backed by Churchill’s new-found buddy, Tourism Minister, Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco, was busy in Delhi searching for the ‘best lawyer’ to secure a stay on this order from the Supreme Court of India. Finally, the Supreme Court granted SOWS the stay. But astonishingly, the order of the Supreme Court granting the stay on the order of the Bombay High Court at Goa, reached the desk of the Tourism Director in flat six hours!

So now, shack business has to stay up until December 4, when the Supreme Court will hear the petition filed by SOWS next.

Quite a slip between the cup and the lip!

FOOTNOTE: Inspite of the shack owning on the many Goan beaches for decades, I have been unable to come to terms with the term ‘shack owners’. If the so called ‘shack owners’ are indeed owners, what is it that these shack owners own, now that the tourism department is caught between the courts and hasn’t allotted any shacks on the beach? Thin air?

Dwarfed by the giants?

On Friday the 13th, Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat, held a press conference at his official Altinho residence to announce ex-gratia for the missing fishermen. At this press conference, Diggubab was flanked by the 'giant' trawler owners and ex-trawler owners from his cabinet -- Churchill Alemao, his brother Joaquim Alemao and Jose Philip D'Souza. Also present, with the tattoos on his forearms prominently visible, was St Andre MLA, Francis Silveira, who jointly with his family members, reportedly owns some half-a-dozen trawlers.

More than announcing the ex-gratia for the missing fishermen was this press conference meant to assure the trawler-owner politicos that the government would consider converting the Phyan losses into gains? Diggu said at this press conference that he has asked both the district collectors to assess the losses of all the trawler owners and submit the report to him so that he can forward it to the Union Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, for seeking assistance. This said, the journos at the press conference were treated to some cacophonic laments from the trawler-owner politicos of how Phyan had destroyed the nets on their trawlers. By the way, the cost of nets on each trawler, could add up to Rs one-crore depending on the size of the trawlers!

Phyan: Mammoth disaster for Goa

When at Christmas in 2004 the tsunami drowned a multitude, the role of the Met department came into sharp focus. Governments and everybody and sundry devoted their time and energies to discuss how more should be invested into advance warning mechanisms to alert humanity of such tragedies in the nick of time. Half a decade later, there seems to be no progress. The Met office warned us of cyclone Phyan much after we began to feel its effect, and the result? Well, disaster!

Goa hasn't seen a worse tragedy strike it in decades. Sixty-odd fishermen are still missing and are presumably dead. Yet, there's no feel that disaster has struck us. On day one, 'No major damage, few vessels missing' said the headline of one major daily in rather bad taste. In hindsight, it perhaps echoed the general response of Goans to this tragedy -- Oh, nothing much, just a few vessels missing and some non-Goan workers on them lost.

Non-Goan. That's the key-word. Is it because those 60-odd missing men are 'ghantis' as we Goans generally call these 'non-Goans', that this tragedy hasn't stirred our hearts enough?

The shabby treatment given at the Goa Medical College to some Tamil fishermen who survived the cyclone and landed at the Malim jetty wounded, is another shocking example of this inhuman trait in us Goans, especially in our dealings with these 'ghantis'. The three wounded men were ignored for six whole hours, simply because they were 'non-Goans' and admitted only at 2 am when they had knocked the hospital's doors at 7.30 pm. Florence Nightingale must be frowning in her tomb.

Churchill, Mickky still on warpath?

The much talked of backroom truce between Tourism Minister, Francisco Mickky Pacheco, and his colleagues in the cabinet, the Alemao brothers, has seemingly not percolated down to the battleground. At the most it seems to have thawed the ties between Mickky and the junior Alemao -- Joaquim.

As for Churchill, he seems to have not forgotten the humiliation he suffered at Mickky's hands of being defeated in the assembly election from Benaulim in 2002. The hostilities between the supporters of the Senior Alemao and those of Mickky on ground zero meanwhile keep raging. In fact, recently the two sides even knocked the doors of the High Court on the contentious Shack Allocation Policy, devised by the department headed by Mickky to please his supporters who run the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS). Churchill supporters who run The Goa Traditional Shack Owners Association (TGTSOA) weren’t pleased. SOWS chief, Cruz Cardozo, is from Cavelossim and a known Mickky supporter. As for TGTSOA, Kennedy Afonso, is its pointsman and there's no doubt he's a Churchill man. He in fact is the man who filed the plea in Delhi High Court challenging the Election Commission's grant of legitimacy to the Save Goa Front faction led by Antonio Gauncar on which hinges Mickky’s petition before Speaker Pratapsing Rane, seeking Churchill's and Reginald's disqualification. Meanwhile, round I of the shack war has gone to Churchill faction with the High Court scrapping Tourism Department's policy tailor-made to suit Mickky's supporters. But the war hasn't ended. News is that Cruz Cardozo is in Delhi, scouting for a good Supreme Court lawyer!

Digambar for status-quo?

Apparently, Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat, is a compulsive status-quoist in his efforts to retain the top political post in the state. That's why the much-threatened change in his cabinet hasn't happened yet. Maharashtra polls was the pretext taken to postpone the decision of dropping a minister or two and replacing them with those for long longing to be ministers. The polls are over, and a government has taken seat in Mumbai after much wrangling for the loaves and fishes of power between the Congress and NCP there. Yet, there's no sign of any cabinet reshuffle in our Goa.

Kamat, according to Congress insiders, is a strong votary of Newton's third law of motion, not in physics but politics. Therefore, he isn't too keen to act, lest he'll have to save his CM's chair through the turbulence of the reaction. So lacking in inertia is this CM that his politics is seemingly defeating the very principal that has ruled Goa's political scenario since 1990, of politics being dynamic, not static.

But, the calm on the surface is deceptive. If sources are to be believed, dissidence is taking root and a whole load of them, including Dayanand Narvekar, Pandurang Madkaikar, the Alemaos and their new found friend, Mickky, are prodding Speaker, Pratapsing Raoji Rane, to make the move and challenge Digambar's leadership. The senior Rane seems willing, especially after junior Rane has reportedly agreed to stay out of the cabinet if Papa gets to be the CM again. It is in light of these backroom developments that Rane senior made the strong statement against Sanatan Saunstha, saying the right-wing organisation should be banned. A stand, diametrically opposite to the Digambar's on the issue.

Rane watchers say, its typical of him to play such softball politics. It's his way of testing the waters. Interestingly, Digambar too is a player of similar political technique -- defensive -- unlike serve-and-volley politicians like the Parrikars, Luizinho's, Churchill Alemao's and Dr Willy's. This Digambar-Rane rally, therefore promises to be a long one, with both sticking to the baseline.

Goa Police: Led from the middle?

Not many police chiefs have been the 'real bosses' of the force they head in Goa. In fact, it's always been the No 2 that called the shots. Except perhaps for Dhuriya of the 1990s and more recently Amod Kant, the Director General of Police (DGPs) in Goa were all left playing second fiddle to the DIGs of Qamar Ahmad's and Karnail Singh's ilk. The scene seems no different today. In fact, it has 'progressed' to the Number 3 running the show. DGP Bassi and his second-in-command, Inspector General of Police, KD Singh, are tweedling their thumbs and it's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Yadav, who's the operational boss of the men in uniform in our state.

Journos got to see this state of things in the police force one Saturday afternoon. It was Saturday, October 31, when a group of journos dashed off to DGP Bassi's Altinho residence after success eluded all their efforts to get confirmation and information on the arrests of Vinay Talekar and Vinayak Patil by the SIT investigating the Margao blast case. For 20 whole minutes, the DGP made no appearance, and when finally he did, Bassi didn't have much to offer. He plainly admitted he didn't know the 'exact details' like the name of those arrested, etc., etc. But, he said he would ask DIG Yadav to hold a briefing and requested the journos to meet the latter in his cabin at the Police Headquarters. That done, some of the correspondents of outstation news organisations who have early deadlines, then requested the DGP to ensure that Goa Police's official spokesperson, SP (CID/SB) Atmaram Deshpande, pre-pones his daily briefing from 6 pm to 5 pm. Bassi agreed to tell Deshpande. Satisfied, the group of journos decided to leave Bassi's residence but he insisted they do that only after sipping a cup of tea. He summoned his cook and asked him to serve the guests tea. Unfortunately, the tea never came, and another twenty minutes later, Bassi discovered to his horror that his cook hadn't obeyed his order and instead got busy doing something else.

Profusely apologising for keeping them waiting, he then resigned to the journos leaving without the promised cup of tea.

Dashing down to the police headquarters from Altinho, the journos were in for a ruder shock. DIG Yadav, who Bassi had promised would brief them, the journos found was stubbornly non-cooperative. He refused to take any questions and spoke only in mono-syllabals, reading out bare minimum details of Talekar and Patil's arrest. And, to top it all, Deshpande had his briefing that evening well beyond 5.30 pm!

Margao blast: A wake-up call!

A little less than a year ago, our hopelessly unprepared Goa police were running helter-skelter to secure the state's 105-km long coastline. Because, having seen what ten men did to Mumbai in what is now referred to as the '26/11 terror attacks', it wouldn't take a Brajesh Mishra or his successor, M K Narayanan to tell that Goa is a 'sitting duck'.

Historically, Goa's coastline has been extremely porous, exposed by the innumerable 'landings' one heard of in the pre-liberalisation era. So, it was natural that the top brass at the police headquarters go about thumping their chests over coastal security. It's another matter that they are still clueless over the task, but even as they go about burning the midnight oil to secure our coastline, it's ironic that they get smitten by this shocking attack that had its origins in hinterland Ponda.

Surely, the Margao blast is a wake-up call not just for the police but also for the Digambars, the Ravis, the Dhavlikars, the Ranes, the Monserrates, etcetera, etcetera...and of course, the Parrikars too!

We were lucky that the two members of the Hindu right-wing outfit Sanatan Saunstha, who later died -- Malgounda Patil and Yogesh Naik -- were the only ones injured, and from the evidence available, were themselves carriers of the Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) that exploded.

Had their plans materialised, Margao would have had a bloodbath, and God knows, a possible repeat of Curchorem, with Moti Dongor and Kharebandh facing all of the backlash.

No amount of walks and public meetings can ensure peace. Merely setting up groups and tagging the word 'secularism' to its nomenclature, can help when known right-wingers don't condemn the blast. It would have made better sense if Uday Bhembre, Sridhar Kamat, Dr Francisco Colaco, Dr Oscar Rebello and co had done what it takes, to bring on stage Shramad Raiturkar and co, to condemn the blast if secularism was their goal.

Is it just a coincidence, that Shramad who is Manohar Parrikar's blue-eyed boy and claimant No 1 to BJP's Margao ticket has lost his voice? It's more than a week now that Margao witnessed a blast that killed two people, yet there's not a word from the otherwise verbose Shramad. Surely, his silence and that of my friend Rupesh Mahatme and others from the BJP brigade in Margao is deafening, and perhaps, revealing.

As for Parrikar, it would do Goa and his own tottering party a world of good if he only left his potshots at Ravi Naik for some other day, and let the cops do their job in the blast case, lest it end up like the Socorro mosque burning case... dead but not buried.

No policing this!

Doesn't seem like our cops are up to it. Although their immediate response to the Margao blast was speedy and more than satisfactory, the way their men have been going about staging nakabandhis is ridiculous to state the least.

A senior colleague who travels home to Vasco on a two-wheeler from our St Inez office always past mid-night had this very queer story to tell. On the day of the blast, the policemen at the Cortalim Nakabandhi post were extremely strict, stopping every vehicle that went by. But from day two, they seemed more interested in latching on to guys on two-wheelers without helmets, rather than checking antecedents of those moving in those unearthly hours.

They just let a whole load of vehicles pass by because of this uncanny trait of theirs to eke out a few bucks from helmet-less bikers, narrated this senior colleague of ours.

And, another colleague from Margao says, the festivities at Harimandir, the heartland of Digambar country, went on well beyond midnight despite the blast, when cops went about shutting down Narkasur events all over the state!

‘Ban? How can we ban?’

These were the exact words that the world's largest newspaper quoted Chief Minister Digambar Kamat: "Ban? How can we ban them? They will go to court," in the context of the demand for a ban on the Sanatan Saunstha's activities.

So has Goa Foundation, but that did not deter him or his government from promulgating an ordinance and later a law, to save a hotel in blatant defiance of the land's highest court -- the Supreme Court of India.

Pramod Muthalik of Ram Sene too has gone to court challenging the government's ban on his entering Goa. But then, that's the process of law that needs to be followed and not put the cart before the horse to pre-empt a ban, if it's prudent to defeat the bigots and terror mongers.

Mickky on the backfoot?

The Maharashtra elections are over, and as expected, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has lost its top position to ally Congress. Sources say, encouraged by what's happening in Maharashtra, Congressmen here in Goa are bracing themselves up for another round of NCP-baiting. Another round of 'observers' coming from Delhi cannot be ruled out, say some senior Congressmen.

So, where does it leave Toursim Minister, Mickky Pacheco, who belongs to the NCP and has been under fire over his escapades in a casino? Clearly on the backfoot, with or without the Alemaos.