Only second time NSA invoked pan-Goa after language stir

PANAJI
The Pramod Sawant government's rare and sweeping move to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) across the State for a three-month period starting November 5 marks only the second time in Goa’s history that the stringent preventive detention law has been enforced statewide.
The only other time it was invoked across the entire State (Goa, Daman and Diu Union Territory at the time) was during the violent Konkani language agitation in the mid-1980s.
The State government's move to invoke the NSA follows a series of disturbing incidents, including a gang clash in Mungul, Margao, and the assault on social activist Rama Kankonkar.
With conventional law enforcement measures having failed to contain repeat offenders and organised criminal networks, the Home Department has resorted to keeping the option of extraordinary detention powers under the NSA available.
Under the Act, the Collectors (district magistrates) in North and South Goa are now empowered to detain individuals for up to 12 months without formal charges if they are deemed a threat to public order, national security, or essential services.
While the current invocation is unprecedented in its scope, Goa has seen sporadic use of the NSA in the past.
The most recent occasion was in 2013, when the law was used to detain notorious gangster Zenito Cardozo, whose criminal activities, including an extortion threat to former Chief Minister Shashikala Kakodkar's son Samir and his business associates, had sparked widespread outrage.
Previously, in the early 2000s, the law was used to detain a handful of gangsters from the capital city and its suburbs.
A decade earlier, in the early 1990s, the NSA was controversially applied to political figures, including current St Cruz MLA Rudolf Fernandes, and his mother, the late Victoria Fernandes, among other non-political individuals.
These arrests, done during the tenure of former Chief Minister Ravi Naik, had earned praise but had also drawn criticism from civil society and Opposition leaders, who had questioned the proportionality and political motives behind those detentions.
The most significant historical use of the NSA in Goa dates back to the mid-1980s, when the State was engulfed in violent protests over the demand to recognise Konkani as the official language.
The agitation, which saw widespread arson and clashes, led the then Pratapsing Rane government to impose preventive detention on several agitators and political leaders to restore order.
Civil liberties groups have expressed concern over the current move, warning against potential misuse of the law.
Local human rights activists, meanwhile, point out that the NSA allows detention without trial.
"It must be exercised with utmost caution,” one activist said.
However, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has defended the decision, stating, “Goa’s peace and tourism-driven economy cannot be held hostage by criminal elements."
Sawant added that invocation of the NSA was a necessary step to ensure safety and peace.
With the peak tourism season approaching, the government hopes the measure will act as a deterrent against further unrest. Whether this unprecedented step will restore calm or trigger fresh controversy will be known in the months to come.