OLD GOA
Expressing concern over the spate of communal incidents in recent times, CM Pramod Sawant informed that there is a need to find out which force is fuelling communal disharmony in the State as also the reason and the purpose behind the same.
Sawant made the statement while speaking on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti celebration function at Old Goa on Monday.
Speaking at the function, Sawant said, “Never ever such communal tensions happened between religions in the State. Nobody had to go to the police stations, but why only now? We need to find out which force is behind such incidents, the reasons behind it as also the purpose.”
“The government is not going to tolerate attempts to create communal unrest by way of statements against other religions, be it on social media or otherwise,” Sawant forewarned.
“One should restrict oneself to practicing one’s religion and not make statements against other religions. We should follow Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings of ‘Sarv Dharma Sambhavta’ and respect every religion,” the CM stated and urged the people to have faith in the government.
“People should have faith in the government as strict actions have been taken in such communal instances,” he added, while also criticizing those who are trying to politicize such issues.
Later, speaking to reporters, Sawant said that in recent times such incidents are increasing with instances of Shivaji’s statue being desecrated, a Catholic priest speaking against Hindu religion and a social media post against Muslim religion.
“The public then gets disturbed and goes to the police station. But the people should have faith in the government as action has been taken against the ones who desecrated Shivaji’s statue, those who spoke against Hindu religion as also those who published social media post against Muslim religion,” he added.
“The public, instead of coming on the streets, should have faith in the government as we will not tolerate any such acts as Goa is a touristic State and we have to maintain the concept of ‘Sarv Dharma Sambhav’ as propagated by Mahatma Gandhi,” Sawant said.
Earlier, Sawant along with other dignitaries garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and also paid floral tributes.
Then, the CM and others paid floral tributes to Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Se Old Goa panchayat hall.
MP Shripad Naik, Cumbarjua MLA Rajesh Faldessai, former MLA Dharma Chodankar, NGZP chairman Siddesh Naik, and other dignitaries were present.
