The Padyatra organised by Revolutionary Goans Party to create awareness on River Mhadei was stopped twice along the route in Thane and Koparde in Sattari on Monday, leading to a heated confrontation between RGP members and the police. Police cited a complaint by the local panchayat to the deputy collector and justified their action, even as party leader Manoj Parab and St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar argued against moves to stop the rally.
Interestingly, after proceeding for around four kilometres, the rally was halted at Koparde, with police fearing a possible law and order situation. Additional police forces were requisitioned, and the deputy collector was on-site, holding animated discussions with the RGP members. The rally ended abruptly with only slogan-shouting with no discourse on Mhadei happening.
The Monday developments were unfortunate and exposed the cowardice in facing situations arising from the Mhadei tangle, and the issue remains completely muddied in politics. There has been a conscious attempt to silence voices trying to create an outreach on the vexed issue, and government machinery has been unleashed ruthlessly to thwart such attempts.
It is a common understanding that awareness is lacking about River Mhadei, leave alone the water-sharing and diversion complexities. Therefore, the general call is to understand the issue from the common man's perspective, what water diversion means to Goa and the areas that will be impacted. The Mhadei tribunal award itself runs into twelve volumes.
Moves to stop the Padyatra are against the very principles of fair democracy and reflect the discomfort of a few in facing the situation. This is not the first time that attempts have been made to silence voices. Earlier, the permission granted for a rally organised on January 16 this year at the Sanquelim Municipality ground was revoked with absurd reasoning by the civic body that the meeting coincided with the weekly market in the area. The organisers eventually changed the venue to a private ground in Sanquelim.
While the organisers of the Sanquelim meet made a sloppy attempt to target Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in his backyard, one could see through the agenda of launching a malicious hate campaign against Sawant, and a constructive discourse on Mhadei was nowhere in sight.
The RGP had every reason to begin their Padyatra in Sattari because it's an area that will be the worst hit on account of Mhadei water diversion, an admitted fact by Poriem MLA Deviya Rane at the recently concluded Assembly session. The water diversion from Surla, which again comes under the Sattari taluka, has been another worrisome factor for Goa. Blocking mass outreach programmes of the Opposition parties generates more interest among the masses and are seen as a covert attempt to conceal something.
Conversely, leaders should avoid leveraging their political interests with the Mhadei issue. Awareness campaigns are often camouflaged and run as slander campaigns against those in power. In the Sanquelim meeting, the shift in focus was evident. RGP must steer away from such rhetoric, avoid a political flavour to the issue and engage people in constructive discourse and awareness of Mhadei.
