MARGAO
A Muslim land owner, the donor of a piece of land; Shiv Premis, who have installed the statue of Shivaji Maharaj and inhabitants of a village predominately dominated by the Christian community, opposing the statue on grounds it is beings installed without permission.
As an uneasy calm prevails in the sleepy village of Sao Jose de Areal over the installation of the statue of Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a host of questions have come to the fore over the reasons behind installation of the statue in a hilly and interior area in Areal village.
In the words of Social Welfare Minister Subhash Faldesai, who had come in the eye of a storm after he was attacked by irate villagers after the statue inauguration, “the local villagers ought to have no problem with the statue since the statue has been installed away from human habitation on a hillock not accessible by road”.
A host of unanswered questions, however, have come to the fore since then. One, when statues are being installed for people to pay respect, what was the reason behind installing Shivaji’s statue away from human habitation, where the property in question is an isolated and hilly area, not accessible by a motorable road?
Another question that has come to the fore is why the statue has not been installed in the property belonging to the owner, located close to the road? Is it because that Shivaji’s statue, once installed, would pave the way for a road access to the undeveloped property, which is presently not accessed even by a kutcha road?
Again, when the property owner Sartaj Makandar approached the Areal Panchayat on February 9 seeking permission to make 8x3=24 square metre PCC platform in survey no 229/5 at Areal, why was no mention made that the PCC platform was for the statue of Shivaji?
On Sunday, the property owner Makandar pointed out that he had issued NOC to the Shiv Premis to install the statue in a parcel of land admeasuring 100 meters in his property in survey no 229/5.
Areal deputy Sarpanch Valente Fernandes expressed his apprehension that the statue has been installed to make way for a road access in order to develop the property. “The site where Shivaji statue is installed cannot be seen from the main road. This raises the question why is the statue at an isolated and hilly area. We cannot see any other reason behind the statue than to make the property accessible by road”, he added.
