MARGAO
If the Sonsodo land was acquired to meet the requirements of burial grounds of all the three communities, how come the Margao Municipal Council inked an agreement with the Jamia Masjid, Margao for the management and the maintenance of the acquired land is a question which has become a subject matter of debate in city circles.
On December 9, 2011, in the run up to the 2012 Assembly polls, the Margao Municipal Council had inked an agreement with the management of Jamia Masjid, Malbhat wherein
the civic body handed over the acquired land admeasuring 30,000 sq mts at Sonsodo to the Muslim body for management and maintenance.
The agreement was signed by the MMC Chief Officer J B Bhingui, Chairperson Sushila Naik and president of Jamia Masjid, Najib Saudagar in the presence of then Chief Minister Digambar Kamat in the chamber of the MMC chairperson. Kamat even told the media that the agreement between the Municipality and the Jamia Masjid, Malbhat fulfills an important item in his election manifesto to provide spacious land for Kabrastan for the minority community. “The Kabrastan issue was an important item on my election manifesto. The same stands fulfilled today,” Kamat had then told the media.
The agreement mandated the transfer, management and maintenance of the Sonsodo land to the Muslim body, while the government and the civic body will fund development of the land.
