Accuse govt of using cops to silence dissent
Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao accuses govt of using State machinery to suppress protests after half-and-hour of questioning at police station.
PANAJI
Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao and AAP MLA Cruz Silva were questioned by the Panaji police on Monday in connection with the agitation against Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act.
Emerging from the police station after half-an-hour of questioning, Alemao struck a defiant note, accusing the BJP-led government of using the police to intimidate opposition voices.
“Our mantra is Daro Mat. We are fighting for the causes and issues of the people. We are only protecting Goa,” he said, as he was surrounded by his supporters.
He further alleged that the State machinery was being used to suppress protests against large-scale land conversions and hill cutting.
“So many land conversions are happening, and when we raise our voice and go to support those fighting these issues, the government uses the police machinery. The way the BJP is looting, the corruption that is happening, the sale of land, and the way outsiders are being given everything on a platter ... when we tried to hold a silent protest to stop hill cutting, the government got scared,” the LoP alleged also adding that the government had curtailed the Assembly session and managed to scrap the Ponda bypoll after sensing political ground shifting in favour of the Congress.
Calling the police summons a political witch hunt, Alemao said the BJP was known to keep the police engaged in silencing dissent.
The questioning was in connection with the third FIR, registered on February 28, against Alemao, MLAs Carlos Ferreira, Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva, along with Revolutionary Goans Party chief Manoj Parab and an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 others for allegedly staging an unlawful protest outside TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane’s private residence at Dona Paula.
The FIR stated the protest was held without prior permission, with demonstrators allegedly blocking the entire stretch of D B Marg up to Dona Paula for more than eight hours. Police have also alleged that protesters trespassed onto the minister’s property.
