Days after the encroachments on Comunidade land at Sangolda were razed down, around 150 people were rendered homeless with nowhere to go. These people, including women and even children, have been taking refuge in the very same area amid the debris with the scorching summer heat piling on.
If we recall, 22 illegal structures were demolished between April 12 and 13 at Sangolda with men and machinery going about executing court orders ignoring the pleas and cries of residents. Tension and emotion rent the air as structures standing tall for decades were brought down one after another. The issue escalated into an inter-state spat with the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asking his counterpart in Goa Pramod Sawant to rehabilitate the Kannadigas displaced due to the demolition.
In the background, the beats of the electoral politics are growing louder literally drowning the cries of these people who have been displaced and struggling with daily life. There is no roof or cover overhead, and they cook and sleep in the open without any sort of shelter or amenities. The debris of the structures they resided in have become their homes.
The local MLA however claims that offers of temporary accommodation in government-run shelter homes have been turned down while adding that those affected have been resolute over their demand for permanent rehabilitation.
The law has prevailed against illegal encroachments irrespective of the number of years that people have been occupying the land and the heart-rendering stories which have emerged. The crux of the matter is that the court's ruling has to be respected, no matter the fallout. It is for the local MLA, those backing these settlers and those in the government to ensure that people are moved out of the present site to a reasonably safer destination to avert an escalation of the crisis.
Technically, the government may not be able to provide a permanent rehabilitation package to those displaced because of the illegality involved. Any move to relocate them would open up a Pandora’s box for the government because thousands of such settlers are facing court cases elsewhere, and thousands of others have already been displaced in recent times. Nonetheless, the issue must be handled keeping in mind the humanitarian perspective.
Agreed that those affected have invited this situation on themselves by ignoring all the deadlines and extensions given in the past possibly nurturing a hope that they may get the benefit of the government’s proposal to regularise illegal encroachments on Comunidade land. But that cannot be the sole reason for authorities to turn away.
Goa as a society cannot be tone-deaf to the situation at hand and the government cannot stay put because it is election time. Understandably, the political class has distanced itself away from the issue because it is a double-edged sword that could hurt interests either way.
It is heartening that legislators have been sending rations and food supplies. That is a good gesture, but not a solution to the problem at hand. Leaders must mediate and ensure that those displaced see reason and reconcile with the law of the land. The issue must be handled with utmost sensitivity because the dignity of women and children is at stake.
