PANAJI
Goencho Avaaz Party Thursday strongly condemned the high handedness of Laxman Naik, Chairperson of the Cuncolim Municipal Council who threatened to bar social activist Ronny Dias from attending Council meetings.
Following a donation pledged by Yuri Alemao for the repair work of the Freedom Fighters Memorial, which is public property, the Cuncolim Municipal Council revealed plans to bypass the laid down, proper tendering procedures and hand over maintenance work to a private individual. Goencho Avaaz Party hails Dias for opposing the CouncilÃs initiative of succumbing to financial and political pressure instead of placing the electorate at the heart of all decisions as required.
Commenting on the incident, Captain Viriato Fernandes, State Convenor of Goencho Avaaz Party said: ëÃDespite being in the wrong, we are shocked at Naik threatening to bar Dias from attending the Council meeting. We demand to know under what section Naik is empowered to ban someone from attending a council meeting. We would like to remind Naik that we still live in a democracy and that resorting to threatening behaviour will not be tolerated.
"It is the duty of the people of Goa, including activists to call out elected representatives or oppose any activities that are against the purview of the law. Rony Dias was rightfully reminding the Cuncolim Municipal Council not to bow down to financial and political clout but instead to strictly adhere to the due process of law,ÃÃ he concluded.
