the goan I network
MARGAO
Welcome to the Rumdamol Housing Board, hailed as a mini-India by many in the 90’s as people from different corners of the country and communities co-existed peacefully, in an environment of amity, harmony and brotherhood over the years, especially in the 90’s.
In fact, if Goa maintained its rich tradition of amity and brotherhood amongst the three major communities, the Housing Board area has been no exception, until a decade ago when communal violence rocked the area around a decade ago in 2007. Since then, stray incidents of communal flare up has not been uncommon in the Rumdamol Housing Board area and the adjoining Gogol Housing Board, which plays host to a large migrant population.
And, the reasons behind the sudden flare ups could be many and varied, right from eve teasing to Tipu Sultan’s celebrations, the one-upmanship over hoisting flags and the more recent incidents that rocked the two housing boards in the run up to the Julus preparations. The rising influx of migrants into the two housing boards with threats of a demographic imbalance seemed to have acted as a trigger behind the occasional flare ups.
Inquiries by The Goan have revealed that exactly two years ago, both the Rumdamol and Gogol Housing Boards were rocked by violence in the run up to the Tipu Sultan celebrations on November 19, 2016, wherein vehicles were torched down by miscreants on the Gogol-Rumdamol border as the Housing Board played host to Tipu Sultan’s flags and banners. Around that time, the Rumdamol village panchayat had swung into action to ban installation of flags on public installations. The panchayat had even imposed a ban on processions other than religious events.
Going into the genesis of the recent flare up at the Gogol Housing Board, a senior police officer said it began when local residents were not happy over the illumination of the portion of the road in their neighbourhood ahead of the Julus (procession) on the occasion of Eid e Milan Un Nabi. Local residents, who mostly comprise the original Goan population, also were unhappy over the drilling of roads to erect poles for the illumination, close to their residential houses, before two groups clashed in the Gogol Housing Board.
On a satisfying note, residents insist that there’s no Hindu-Muslim tension in the two housing boards, seeking to blame handful of persons behind the flare-up. “There’s no tension between Hindus and Muslims. We live peacefully here. Members of both the communities attend to each others functions and programmes. These stray incidents are the handiwork of handful of people hailing from outside the State. The law enforcing agencies should nip such tendencies in the bud,” remarked Rumdmol panchayat member Vinayak Naik, who along with a group of Rumdamol housing board residents on Tuesday night had called for the arrest of the people who were shouting anti-India, pro-Pakistan slogans.
A senior police officer added that the district administration should call for peace meetings with the local residents. “Going by the incidents at the Gogol Housing Board, it appears there was no communication between the two groups when preparation was underway for the Julus. Timely interactions between both sides would have helped to avoid the ugly incidents. I think the district administration should work out a mechanism by holding routine interactions with both sides,” the police officer added.
Handiwork of outside elements: Rumdamol sarpanch
on incident in housing board
