Belagavi man's body dumped at Chorla Ghat

STOKING A COMMUNAL DIVIDE?

Over the last couple of weeks, an intense and a communally polarising debate has ensued over the twin issues which have gotten raked up in Goa: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's "need to wipe out all signs of Portuguese legacy'' exhortation on June 6 at the event to mark Chhatrapati Shivaji's coronation anniversary and this week's violent episode where Calangute panchayat was attacked when a group of 'Shiv premis' who had erected a statue of the Maratha king without permission were ordered to remove it. Irrespective of the merits, demerits, ironies and double-speak on either side, the debate has inadvertently re-opened an underlying fissure in Goa's polity and society -- the Hindu-Catholic divide -- and thrown up suspicions that it is another surrogate attempt by the ruling dispensation to further its Hindu supremacist agenda. Conversations with individuals connected with these twin controversies, including Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Calangute sarpanch Joseph Sequeira, some of those in the forefront of the attack on the panchayat, besides a few of Goa's well-known history buffs, indicate that neither of the twin issues are anywhere close to a consensus or resolution. On the contrary, these twin subjects which possess inherent religious and communal overtones, could end up being exploited for political gain. The Goan reports.

ASHLEY DO ROSARIO

Published Jun 25, 2023, 12:18 AM IST

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