His cherubicface does not bely the pains that he has gone through in the past few years butfor Sunil Kawthankar, losing 5 teeth and getting 16 stitches below his lips wasworth it. His crime “ he had dared to raise his voice against thepolice-politico drug nexus in the Goa. “It was disturbing. They caught awatchman of St Xavier’s College with drugs and let him off on bail. Drugs werenearer to us students than we thought”, says Kawthankar. Kawthankar’s singlehanded dedication against the drug menace got him the greatest reward when HighCourt of Bombay in Goa transferred the case of police-politico drug nexus toCentral Bureau of Investigations. Powerful politicians haven’t had easy eversince Kawthankar stood up against them.
Bob Dylanhad once said I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree ofresponsibility that comes with his freedom. At 26 years, the former leader fromCongress’s student wing NSUI understood the meaning of power with thisresponsibility. “I wanted power to change things” says the son of a former VicePresident of Goa Government Employees Association, but then the Hindi movie Rangde Basanti happened. “It changed me. I sat alone in the theatre crying and knewthe meaning of my life” says Kawthankar.
Life has notbeen the same for him. As a student of Saraswat College’s BBA course he led amorcha demanding justice in the Cyberage scheme. Bigger responsibilitiesawaited as he led students to successfully demand change in NFT regulations forengineering students, followed it up with another campaign for marks for lawgrads which helped them ready for exams in time. “In a way I came to be noticedwhen I took up the cudgels for Goa College of Arts students”, confessesKawthankar. It was freedom of creative students versus the tyranny of adogmatic Principal who had enforced clothing and behavioural restrictionsbesides indulging in financial frauds, Kawthankar brought justice to the artstudent.
While the waragainst drugs was his big fight, Kawthankar became a legend of sorts when hetook another party bigwig, Churchill Alemao, by the horns. “I have no respectfor a man who stamped our National tricolour in the name of a movement” saysKawthankar. His dislike gave him a charge to grill Churchill on corruption anddrag him to the courts. But don’t Congress party seniors stop him? “Formallynobody did but covertly I have been under pressure. My mother asked me to takea step back from agitations, since I was her only son. I told her, ‘If your sondoes not get hurt, then someone else’s will. Someone has to stand up”, saysSunil as he gears up for another string of campaigns.
