MARGAO
Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai took the Goa Liberation Day platform to hit out at the constant cynicism that pervades the State’s social media environment, going to the extent of asserting that Goans need to be liberated from the negativity and engage with the government that intends to take one and all along whilst taking Goa forward.
He also took the occasion to take on the Congress, saying the opposition is seen as being fixated on the topic of the Chief Minister’s health and spreading negativity through insensitive behaviour and malicious lies.
Addressing the gathering after unfurling the national tri-colour at the District Collectorate on Wednesday, the TCP Minister said it is true that Goa’s Liberation took place in 1961, but hastened to add that Liberation is a continuous process and it can never be over. “Only the adversaries have changed. We have new threats from the inside and the outside that we have to liberate ourselves from. We have to liberate ourselves from regressive ideas, pseudo-activism, external interference and patronising attitudes. We have to also liberate us even from ourselves, from our prejudices, negativity, dogmas and petty rivalries. We need liberation from dependence so that Goa can be taken forward. We’re in need of a neo-liberation. For that we need neo-revolutionaries and neo-activists. We need neo-Goemkars,” he asserted.
Sardesai said he has tried to expand on the idea of Goemkars without boundaries specifically to tap the Goan diaspora abroad and have promised to extend the Goemkar First idea when it comes to investments by overseas Goans. “Whilst we do all this and intend to liberate Saxtikars from the neglect especially when it comes to the long pending demand of the modern bus terminus and the demand of the Muslim community for a kabrastan, we see the Opposition being fixated on the topic of the CM’s health and spreading negativity through insensitive behaviour and malicious lies.”
While remembering the freedom fighters, the martyrs who laid down their lives to liberate Goa from colonial rule and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who played important roles in liberating Goa from four and half centuries of Portuguese rule, he said Goa is seen as a huge socio-economic transformation, with the State surpassing other states in many indicators and is considered by Indian Commission on Population to have the best quality of life in the country.
“We have achieved this by being alert and fighting to preserve Goa’s distinct identity through the struggle of the Opinion Poll and the Konkani Language agitation. In the course of this journey we have seen the emergence of brand Goa as a global brand attracting millions of tourists every year. Goa’s peaceful, hospitable and secular nature has largely contributed to this. The government especially the present one has also played a big role in infrastructure upgradation of the state with about Rs 20,000 crore being presently spent on bridges and enhancing connectivity through wide road network.”
