The mortal remains of firebrand activist Bismarque Dias were finally laid to rest on November 6, after a three-year tumultuous phase marked with anger, uncertainty and suspicion. The priest-turned-activist, whose death in 2015 in the murky waters of River Mandovi triggered allegations of murder certainly deserved a decent funeral and his family’s decision to lay Bismarque to rest must be respected.
In Bismarque’s case, however, all’s not well that ended well. The hushed voices and open outbursts at the funeral said it all. The feeling of deep agony and anguish continues, and the fire to fight for justice still rages. Bismarque’s body is finally rested, but the issues are not.
Bismarque was an epitome of fearlessness and his opposition to mega projects in Vaxim, St Estevam, Tiracol and Electronic City in Tuem is well known. Fearless to the core, he fought tooth and nail for the environment and often struck a musical chord to prove his point. Bismarque’s activism was so intense that he didn’t even allow his priestly duties to come in between his fight for his motherland.
A video that emerged a few days before his death, where Bismarque made pointed references to mighty lobbies trying to target him, sparked off strong suspicion of a plot. People doubt the system, they doubt the police and there is a huge trust deficit that has built up. The carelessness with which the police went about their job and the gaping holes in the probe are reasons enough to doubt the sincerity of this investigation.
Moreover, political interferences are rampant within Goan systems and that adds to the suspicion. The recent case in point is the formalin-in-fish imbroglio where a designated FDA officer tested imported fish as formalin-positive only to be overruled by her superior and later openly slammed by the health minister. Upright and honest investigations can go haywire on account of such pulls and pressures and that is where public trust is breached. People have lost their trust in the system because politicians continue to meddle in sensitive issues. Questions continue to be raised on Bismarque’s death only because there was no belief in the police or the investigating agencies, neither on the assurances of the politicos.
There are numerous instances of moves to silence voices of dissent. And any moves or attempts to stifle voices of dissent and curb peaceful struggles against the government’s anti-people ideology are always going to raise suspicion. Lest we forget, even the High Court came down heavily on moves to shift the NGT Pune bench to Delhi stating that “there is something that nobody can deny and Goa is a land truly worth fighting for”.
Outside Goa, there is another glaring example “ the recent arrest of five activists on suspicion of the Bhima-Koregaon violence. It is here the Supreme Court has gone on record terming dissent as democracy’s safety valve and the move as an attempt to suppress the dissenting voice.
And references like these form the epicenter of the Bismarque campaign.
As Bismarque finally rests, Goans salute its brave warrior who fought the high and mighty land mafia and real estate developers and builders with a song. The voice of this brave warrior may be silenced, but the spirit will live on and so will his music. It’s time to look beyond debates and theories of accidental drowning, murder, ghost-busting or the court’s observation of ‘mistake of facts’ and carry on the fight for Goa and its lands from where Bismarque left.
