MARGAO
Divisions surfaced amongst the groups espousing the cause of tribal communities on the eve of the death anniversary of the two tribal youth who had died during the United Tribal Association Alliance (UTAA) led agitation at Balli on May 25, 2011.
The Mission political reservations for the Scheduled Tribes of Goa on Tuesday said they were pained to see that the celebrations are made by the Goa government on this day when the entire tribal communities of Goa are in a state of mourning, remembering the tragic memories of May 25, 2011 where the community lost their two youth.
The Mission appealed to the members of the ST community to remain present on this day at Lohia Maidan and show their gratitude towards the supreme sacrifice of the youth leaders.
Addressing the media, Mission president Adv John Fernandes recalled that after recognising Gawda, Kunbi and Velip as Scheduled Tribe communities of Goa in 2003, an alliance was formed in 2004 to fulfill the constitutional obligations towards Scheduled Tribes communities of Goa.
Since the formation of the alliance, various agitations and protests were held including the infamous Balli agitation that led to the killing of two young tribal leaders in 2011 in an outrage.
“The agitation under the alliance should have been intensified post May 25, 2011 after we lost our two youths”, he said.
He, however, said suddenly the alliance leaders restrained themselves from taking forward the agenda of the alliance and as a result they have not seen any protests or agitations or lobbying with the government after the Assembly elections of 2012.
He said the leaders who were leading the agitation then are now enjoying power under the present government. “At this moment, we would like to bring to the notice that most of the demands have remained unfulfilled. The claims made by leaders of the alliance that only two demands have remained fulfilled are incorrect and we strongly condemn such statements”, he added.
Ravindra Velip and Rupesh Velip said the ‘Mission Political Reservation for Scheduled Tribes of Goa’, Gakuved Federation along with 14 ST organizations will observe the 12th death anniversary of Dilip Velip and Manguesh Gaonkar on May 25 at the Lohia Maidan, Margao who were martyred on May 25, 2011 in the infamous Balli agitation.
The duo said senior leaders from the community will sit for a hunger strike in the morning at the Lohia Maidan.
Later in the afternoon at 3.30 pm, the members of Scheduled Tribe community including youth, women, senior members and community leaders from across Goa will assemble at Lohia Maidan, to pay homage and tribute to late tribal youth leaders Dilip Velip and Manguesh Gaonkar.
The hunger strike will be followed by a ‘Chitan & Manthan’ programme wherein the intellectuals from the community will shed light on the present status of the constitutional rights of the community that were raised by the alliance in 2011.
During this meeting, they will also analyze what the community has lost and gained in the past 12 years after the supreme sacrifice of the 2 youth leaders.
