the goan I network
PANAJI
Wednesday’s inaugural ceremony of the 50th International Film Festival offered the perfect opportunity for Mhadei activists to attract eyeballs and they did not disappoint.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar who was the ceremony’s guest of honour was heckled by Mhadei protesters who accused him of betraying Goa’s interests and pandering to Karnataka in the tussle over sharing of the river waters.
Javadekar is also the Union environment minister and finds himself in the vortex of the storm between the two neighbouring States which erupted recently when the MoEF&CC issued a letter to Karnataka virtually giving that State a go-ahead to its plans for diverting the river’s waters for a purported drinking water project.
Javdekar had tweeted in late October a day after the controversial MoEF&CC letter was issued and praised the “persistence” of Union Mines Minister Prahlad Joshi, who is an MP from Karnataka, in pursuing the matter with his office.
The minister however abruptly deleted that tweet after it evoked strong reactions from politicians in Goa including chief minister Pramod Sawant.
Javadekar meanwhile was also heckled during his speech at the IFFI opening ceremony where three protestors who raised slogans were ushered out forcefully by security wardens. The trio were later detained by the police.
Meanwhile, hundreds of party members and sympathizers from Opposition
parties including Congress, Goa Forward Party and members of civil society also staged a protest outside the IFFI opening ceremony venue and criticized Javadekar’s refusal to withdraw the MoEF&CC letter to Karnataka which gives the virtual nod to its Kalasa-Banduri project.
Several of the protesters were arrested some of who were identified as Hrudaynath Shirodkar, Rajan Ghate, Santosh Sawant, Mahesh Mhambre and Durgadas Kamat.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, Goa Congress president, Girish Chodankar and some other activists were issued letters by the Agacaim police, in whose jurisdiction the IFFI ceremony venue is, to refrain from protesting and disrupting the event.
Meanwhile, greens in Goa continued to insist on the immediate withdrawal of the letter issued to Karnataka by the MoEF&CC and some of the activists also got an audience with Javdekar on Wednesday morning.
They told the Minister that although the letter seemingly does not have legal sanctity, it will be misused by Karnataka to commence work at Kalasa-Bhandura and therefore has to be withdrawn.
Noted environmentalist and Goa Foundation director, Claude Alvares, told the media that they have asked for immediate suspension of the letter.
“We don’t trust what Javdekar has said. If a ‘director’ has given the approval why can’t he as minister withdraw the letter. Once that is done the ministry can take as much time as they want for inquiry through the committee,” Alvares who was among the greens who met Javdekar, said.
Meanwhile, the greens claimed that Karnataka has already executed significant work at the Kalasa-Bhandura project site illegally and the 15-days time which is being sought is because December 5 is the date for by-elections to some 25 assembly seats in the neighbouring State.
