Dr. Jack de Sequeira's Statue
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Luizinho Faleiro offered floral tributes to the father of the Opinion Poll, the late Dr. Jack de Sequeira at Calangute and at Ponda on Friday, 16th of this month. It was Dr. Sequeira who in his face to face dialogue with Nehru impressed upon Nehru to grant Goa the previllege of Opinion Poll to decide the fate of Goa’s merger with Maharastra. Hence, Dr. Sequeira was rightly called the father of Goa’s Opinion Poll. According to one source during that time, Nehru agreed for holding the Opinion Poll with the expectation that mergerists will win as he wanted and thus close the case of Goa's separate identity. Indira Gandhi as premier of India after the demise of Nehru and Shastri just implemented the decision taken by her father.
It is true fact as expressed by Faleiro in his speech that BJP has the hidden agenda which it will implement and that agenda is to diminish the influence of minorities in India. With its brute majority BJP will not develop India but it will only develop its communal arrogance thereby minorities will be treated as second class citizens of India. Because of this hidden agenda of BJP the life security of minorities in India will be put into peril. Under BJP with its partner RSS the survival of minorities is at risk. In view of this minorities should be very careful when giving their allegiance to BJP.
Can Congress Party give an alternative solution? Never with the rogue Congressmen around, never with the old guards as candidates to contest the next election, never ever with the defeated candidates re-contesting the next election. The major damage to Congress party was done by the defeated candidates and as such they should be discarded unless Faleiro wants total R.I.P. of Congress in Goa. Most of the defeated candidates lost in the last election because of their arrogance, pride, revengeful nature and also because they were looting the public.
In my Calangute constituency if Luizin Faleiro and his Congress Low and High Commands want a victory then the Congress candidate should be upright, should not have past record of arrogance, revenge, pride, bribe taking, womanizing and must not be known to behave like a Maharaja. We want a candidate who identifies himself with the common men and not the one who move in foreign brand car like a Maharaja.
The Calangute village has unique distinction of honouring Dr. Jack de Sequeira by erecting his full size monument without any support from the government. In fact this job should have done long time back by the Congress only when Faleiro was ruling in Goa, by erecting this monument in Panjim itself. But he and his Congress party failed Dr. Sequeira and now to fool the people releasing Crocodile tears. Where Congress party failed Calangute village succeeded and the major credit for this success should go to Joseph Sequeira – current Panch member and ex Sarpanch of Calangute.
Pedro Coutinho
It would have been very appropriate if the late Pedro Coutinho had been posthumously honoured during the function at Calangute for being a very powerful activist during those critical days. Pedro Coutinho played a very important role during those days in Calangute village and constituency as well to motivate the people to vote for TWO LEAVES. I remember once he organized a big Cycle rally from Calangute to Mapusa and to participate in this rally I even remained absent from my school. Not only this, on that particular day Bandodcar brought real Lions and sword wielding goondas at Mapusa to silence our voice. But if it was not for our Pedro Coutinho’s daring support for our rally there would have been blood bath at Mapusa, the victims would be we and our people only.
In Calangute, there is yet a Pedro Coutinho to be born again. He was the pride and support of the village. While appreciating Dr. Jack de Sequeira, I also commend the late Pedro Coutinho for playing a major role in Calangute in support of Goans to gain victory for Goa in the historic Opinion Poll.
Candolim, Goa.
Tel: 7507394349.