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GOA NOT SAFE FROM BURGLERS, DOGS
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GOA NOT SAFE FROM BURGLERS, DOGS

Uncategorized November 21, 2025 , by

AND a few stray thoughts and a few observations for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when this year’s first ever open-air inaugural ceremony of IFFI 2025 took off, featured politicians only. Those on the dais at the inaugural ceremony were the Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of State for Information & BroadcastingDr L Murugan, Minister of State for Power & New and Renewable Energy Shripad Naik, Governor of Goa Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, and Chief Minister of Goa Dr Pramod Sawant.
There were no filmstars from Bollywood on the dais. Members of the IFFI jury who were normally introduced at the inaugural function were conspicuous by their absence. Director of the festival Shekar Kapur of “Mr India” fame did not get a seat on the dais. The truth is that there was no formal inauguration as the double-engine government forgot to block the usual venue of Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium at Bambolim plateau for IFFI this year. It was already blocked for FIDE or the global chess championship awards. They could not be asked to vacate as this would cause an international scandal.
The inaugural ceremony was substituted by carnival style parades since every event in Goa tends to be reduced to a carnival. The IFFI parade of floats began at about 4 pm at the old GMC building in Panjim. Like all such carnivals it was open to the public. It has been claimed that there were 23 floats with the main float sponsored by the Central Bureau of Communication titled “Bharat Ek Sur” — a folk symphony tableau featuring a 100 artistes from 16 states, with the Punjabi bhangra meeting the Gujarati garba and Maharastrian lavni flowing into Rajasthan’s gumar. There were also floats from Andhra Pradesh showcasing BJP ally Chandrababu’s Vishakapatnam. There was also the spirit of Tollywood, cheering for Telugu cinema of Andhra.
The only film celebrities were N Balakrishna and Jackie Shroff who are not by any means the bigger stars in the country. The cost that the janata had to bear was the closure of Panjim’s arterial Dayanand Bandodkar road from 1 pm onwards. The INOX lane was also closed for all types of vehicular traffic.
The highlight of this year’s IFFI is reportedly the inflatable theatre auditorium. Presumably this is instant cinema hall-cum-theatre which can be installed anywhere and everywhere. This is being called a convergence of technology and cinema. This is a special collaboration between the National Film Development Corporation and the Entertainment Society of Goa. The mobile digital theatre is pioneered by Picture Time Digiplex, it is not known how much is the contract fee. Since the Kala Academy is in a terrible state this inflatable audi will be put up on the lawns of the Kala Academy and there will be screenings of films for children and members of the public across Goa.
Amongst the films to be screened in these inflatable auditoriums will be Shah Rukh Khan’s classics “12th Boy”, “Manjummel Boys” which make their debut in inflatable theatres. Also catch up with Shah Rukh Khan’s “Chak De India”, Darr” and “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayege”. Also on the schedule are Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s “12th Fail”, the Malayalam blockbuster “Manjummel Boys”, Rajkumar’s Rao’s “Srikanth”, Rani Mukerji’s “Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway”, Sooraj Barjatya’s “Uncchai”, Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay.” Also Irrfan Khan’s celebrated “Qissa” and Satyajit Ray classics like “Shatrang Ke Khilari,” Vijay Anand’s “Teesri Manzil,” Yash Chopra’s “Chandni” and “Kala Patthar” and other films. There will also be open air screenings on Miramar beach adding to the litter.

RAMA KANKONKAR OUTCOME
AND a few stray thoughts on the predictable outcome of the investigation into the assault on social activist Rama Kankonkar in September 18, 2025. The 1,000 plus pages charge sheet filed by the Goa police concludes that the assault was due to prior rivalry between Rama Kankonkar and Zenito Cardozo. There is no mention of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the charge sheet although a case has been filed against him for stating that the chief minister should be buried alive. There is no mention of Rohan Khaunte who had been accused of demolishing the temple shrine and heritage tree in Porvorim.
None of the other ministers and MLAs that Kankonkar had exposed figure in the charge sheet. It may be recalled that right from the beginning the police had been insisting that it is a case of rivalry between Kankonkar and Zenito Cardozo. Though a number of thugs who were involved with the actual assault were arrested the police have been claiming that it was Zenito Cardozo who orchestrated the attack.
Incidentally, Zenito Cardozo was convicted by the district court in a case of culpable homicide during a clash between his gang and the Vasco gang. Zenito has so many strong supporters that the conviction which was upheld by the high court went on appeal to the Supreme Court. The SC has apparently ruled that it was a case of self-defense. So presumably in the Rama Canconkar case also the verdict will be that Zenito ordered the assault to defend his honor. Never mind that nobody believes in the police any longer.

HOW SAFE IS GOA NOW?
AND a few stray thoughts on how Goa has emerged to be a dangerous place due to a total breakdown of law and order in the wake of the burglaries in Mapusa and Dona Paula. There was a fresh burglary this week in Baina in Vasco da Gama port city. Incredibly, the burglars managed to get to the 7th floor of a high rise building and in the flat they bashed up the head of the family, threatened and tied-up all the other family members, and got away with Rs70 lakh loot.
The police of course have no clue as to who committed all three burglaries including those in Mapusa and Dona Paula and the latest in in Baina. Very conveniently the police have shifted the blame to some unknown Bangladeshis. As far as we know no formal case has been registered against any of the accused who have been rounded up by the police. What is clear is that all the burglaries happened with the collusion of the security guards with the delivery guys. The burglars knew their targets. They knew how much money was lying in the house. Apparently, the Baina family had kept a lot of gold in the house as they were planning to attend the unveiling of the statue of Lord Rama at the Patagali Math on November 27 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi is a close friend of Srinivas Dempo, who is the main patron of the Patagali Math in Canacona.

SIR HALF WAY THROUGH
AND a few stray thoughts on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls. The SIR is almost half way through as it started on Nov 4. Though the block level officials came to the building in Caranzalen where we stay in a rented place, they did not visit our flat. This is because in the electoral rolls our address is listed in an older rented place at Dona Paula where we lived about two decades ago.
Indeed, the enumerators did not visit most of the flats where we stay because most are vacant as owners are living in Mumbai and have given their flats on rent. Presumably among those who have lost his vote is Dr Oscar Rebeiro who has a flat here. My physio Jonathan who now stays at Models Status also shared with me that the electoral folk had not visited his place. This is because his ancestral house is close to the Panjim church.
Unlike in the previous elections, those of us who had voting right could check the electoral rolls and go to the polling booth and cast our vote, even though they we may have shifted rental residence. We have been going to the government school at Dona Paula to cast our vote.
In the case of the SIR if you are not at home at the address recorded in the voter id card, then you are eliminated from the electoral roll. If you are staying at an address not listed in the electoral roll you have to produce proof of your identity. The worst affected are those living in slums as they cannot produce ration cards or electricity bills or rent agreements as they do not have any of these. Let alone passports which are considered proof of birth. Most people do not have their birth certificates ready so they can’t even proof that they exist or are adult enough to cast their vote.
What is irritating is the secrecy over the SIR, not a single advertisement on what a citizen should do, not a single press conference has been held by the chief electoral officer. The electoral officer admitted in an interview with Praveen Sharma of the Goan Observer that this was the first time an SIR was being done and that the block officer had to cover 900 voters in less than 48 hours. Even if the BLO is a superman he cannot do this.
There are allegations that the BLOs in Panjim are all chamcha of Panjim MLA Babush Monserrate. Similar is the case in Calangute and Siolim constituencies of Michael and Delilah Lobo.

ZILLA PARISHAD NEWS
AND a last stray thought on the forthcoming zilla parishad elections. For the first time reservations for women and other backward classes will be enforced in the zilla parishad elections. This of course does not make much difference as the politicians will only fill in with their wives. The wife of Jiten Arolkar, the Saligao MLA has already decided to nominate his wife to contest the zilla parishad polls. There is no sign of scheduled tribes who account for 12% of the population getting a representation.
Meanwhile Utpal Parrikar, who seems to have been disowned by the BJP, has decided to contest all the seats in the elections to the Corporation of the City of Panjim. Clearly, Utpal plans to contest the Panjim seat in the next elections, despite having lost to Babush in the last elections.

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