But as wehave seen in many path breaking campaigns by the press in India, Justice isn’tthe end result but the mini victories on the road to justice.
Thebeginning of the campaign itself is a success, taking it forward is anothersuccess. Holding on against all odds is yet another and then comes thefrustration, the delays, the apathy and the disinterest in the powers that canand do not deliver justice. Tolerating and going through this farce too is a sign of success. Often the grand summitof final justice is not reached but the failure lies in not trying and notachieving that summit.
Ourinaugural campaign, Justice for Vishwas Harmalkar, is our journey. We are overwhelmedwith the response, the calls, the facebook messages and the emails, telling usthat we are right in fighting for justice for the PWD contractor who committedsuicide because -- and yes we are saying it -- he was forced to pay bribes tothe PWD department, money which must have gone up the gravy chain to the verytop and then did not get paid for the contract he undertook.
Everyoneknows this. The former dispensation and the recent dispensation knows this. TheGoan on Saturday, on behalf of the people of Goa, demands that aninquiry be completed by the Anti Corruption Bureau within a very short time andthe guilty in the PWD be arrested. PWDminister Sudin Dhavlikar said that the magisterial report of the AdditionalCollector Amarsen Rane was “one sided”. It’s strange that the PWD Minister hasplayed a clever game by casting doubts on the report to dilute its authenticity.Who is he trying to protect, the engineers who were just pawns in the bribe machineor his predecessor in the department Churchill Alemao?
The Goandemands that Churchill Alemao responds to the charge that the PWD headed by himwas the sanctum sanctorum of governmentcorruption and Vishwas Harmalkar dies because he was forced to pay bribes tothe department and the department did not clear his dues.
Let the AntiCorruption Bureau check this. Was there an advance of Rs 21 lakhs paid toHarmalkar immediately after the allotment of the contract? Was a large amountof cash withdrawn from that account immediately thereafter and if yes, how wasthe cash used?
Let’s getthis straight. If the government is serious about nabbing the killers ofHarmalkar, they very well can. If they are not, then this case will be well andtruly suppressed. Let this be officially clear too that The Goan won’t allowthat to happen.
