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TRAGEDY OF YOUNG ACTIVISTS! By Rajan Narayan
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TRAGEDY OF YOUNG ACTIVISTS! By Rajan Narayan

May 30- June 05, 2026, Stray Thoughts May 29, 2026 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when Goa lost the green activist Father Bolmax Pereira. For a Saturday following the week when Justice Ferdino Rebello being refused permission to hold a public meeting at the Azad Maidan in Panjim on May 30 to commemorate 40th Statehood Day. For a Saturday following the week when on the state of the hospitality industry. For a Saturday following the week when the crackdown on the National Cockroach Party.
 AND a few stray thoughts on when Goa lost the green activist Father Bolmax Pereira. Fr Bolmax reportedly collapsed at the Vasco railway station when he was on the way to Collem for a picnic with some young friends. There was a delay in rushing the parish priest of the Chicalim church to the GMC. The priest was taken to the local Vasco hospital, where it was suggested that he be moved to the cardiac unit of the GMC in Panaji.
All was well and so his followers and fans decided to return to port city Vasco da Gama. However, it is learned that at 10.30 pm Fr Bolmax suffered a severe heart attack and the GMC cardiac team led by Dr Guruprasad Naik did an emergency angioplasty. However, Fr Bolmax remained critical and was put on a ventilator, he died in early hours at 4.30am on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
Even before he breathed his last there was social media posts commenting that he should not have been taken to the GMC. The presumption being that both chief minister and health minister were hostile to Fr Bolmax and perhaps he might be safe at the GMC! It is stupid as the GMC cardiac unit is the best in Goa and the team of doctors led by Dr Guru Prasad are extremely professional. They did their best to save the life of Fr Bolmax who apparently had a cardiac history. His family was probably misguided by some elements and a post-mortem was demanded. This was also done although the results have not been released. Apparently the family is satisfied as the burial took place on Thursday, May28 at Quepem, which is Fr Bolmax home place.
Fr Bolmax had a PhD in Botany and besides his duties as the parish priest of Chicalim church he also taught at the Jose Vas College in Quepem. He was the mentor of the Save Mollem movement against the double-tracking of the South Central Railway. It may be recalled that Pope Francis dedicated a special mass for the protection of the ecology of the world. Fr Bolmax was the chairperson of the Ecology Committee of the Diocese of Goa. He is known to be outspoken and got into trouble with the Hindutva gang over some remarks about Shivaji Maharaj. Fr Bolmax rightly pointed out that Shivaji was not part of Goan history.
Fr Bolmax is the second in prime of his life activist (he was in his early 50s) and we are sorry he was taken away when Goa needed him most. It may be recalled that Dr Khetan Bhatikar too passed away recently reportedly of a snake bite at the age of 41.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH GOING NOWHERE
AND a few stray thoughts on Justice Ferdino Rebello being refused permission to hold a public meeting at the Azad Maidan in Panjim on May 30 to commemorate 40th Statehood Day. The Corporation of the City of Panaji initially gave him permission subsequently cancelled it apparently under pressure from Goa chief minister and Vishwajit Rane. This is the first public rally that has been proposed by the former chief justice Ferdino Rebello. All his earlier meetings took place in closed halls with limited capacity.
 A meeting at Azad Maidan is very symbolic as it is the venue of all the major battles fought in Goa, ranging from the Opinion Poll to the Konkani and Goa Abhiyan Bachao movements. Apparently, Enough is Enough movement is not willing to challenge the denial of permission for the May 30 public meeting. The State government’s excuse is that it is holding an exhibition to commemorate the 39th anniversary of Goa being declared a state on May 30, 1987.
Incidentally, it was the late prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi who made the announcement at a public rally at Campal grounds. The latest we understand is that the Enough is Enough movement has decided to hold a virtual meeting instead of a public meeting, the timing of the meeting has not yet been announced. Part of the problem is that many of the veterans are too busy for a prolonged association with the movement. Sandesh Prabhudessai is busy writing his book. Cleofat Coutinho is probably enjoying a well deserved holiday as court is in vacation. Claude and Norma Alvares are of course busy with their own public causes court battles.
The organization of the meeting has been left to Francis Coelho, who is a newbie and has no experience of mass movements. Perhaps Ferdino should have chosen an alternative venue readily available in Nagalli hills itself at the Bambolim plateau close to where he resides. It looks as if Enough is Enough is losing its steam for want of quick action. Goans have no patience anymore for a protracted fight and want instant results.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY NEEDS
AND a few stray thoughts on the state of the hospitality industry. There have been claims that the rate of attrition is very high in the hospitality industry. This is primarily because the 5-star and 7-star hotels in Goa literally function on slave labor. They hire a large number of trainees or interns from the hospitality institutes within and outside Goa.
Goa has a half-a-dozen hospitality institutions including the Goa chapter of the Indian Institute of Hotel Management started by Thangam Phillip. There is also the hi fi VM Salgaocar Residential Hotel Management Institute which offers internships in Switzerland. Amongst the oldest hotel management institutions is the Guardian Angel Polytechnique run by the Pilar Fathers. The Cidade de Goa has a culinary course. The Kamakshi Group also has a hotel management program. All the graduates of these institutes want a certificate claiming that they have worked in a five star hotel. The internship and training is compulsory because without this they are not likely to get a job.
The 5-stars including the Marriott and the Taj groups pay as little as Rs5,000 to Rs7,000 per month to their trainees; even domestic maid servants in Goa make more money. Moreover, the trainees are required to work for 12 or 14 hours when there are big parties. They put up with all of this because a certificate from one of the 5-stars is their passport to a job in the Gulf. Unfortunately, this avenue too is closed now. In any case Goans on their part have preferred to join the cruise lines which offer much better wages and terms. The new option of course is the casinos where the kitchen is open 24×7.
The time is gone when Goa produced some of the most outstanding chefs like Chef Rego and Chef Acanje Menezes. Goa is no longer part of the ABC syndrome — A for ayah, B for butler and C for cook. All the cooks nowadays in the shacks of Goan beachs and eateries are only Nepalis, failing with Bengalis.

COCKROACH PARTY BLUES
AND a few stray thoughts on the crackdown on the National Cockroach Party. Apparently, the BJP government at the centre has managed to persuade Meta and Instagram to block the accounts of the NCP. This is claimed to be because the online portal of the Cockroach Party has attracted over 20 million views, which is more than that of both Narendra Modi and the BJP. There are also reports of harassment of the founder of the party, Abhijit Dipke, an Indian public relations student at Boston University. Abhijit it is reported is a former social media strategist for the Aam Aadmi Party.
Ironically, the Home Minister of Karnataka banned a public protest by the Cockroach Party. The formation of the social media handle has coincided with protests over the cancellation of the medical entrance exams. We can always relay on Arnab Goswami of The Republic for the most fanciful conspiracy theories. The latest target of The Republic is the National Cockroach Party which is claimed to be a toolkit created by Rahul Gandhi to destabilize the Modi government.

POST-WEST BENGAL ELECTIONS
AND a last stray thought for yet another Saturday. The frenzy triggered by Narendra Modi and his minions on infiltrators has gone viral. It may be recalled that in West Bengal the Elections Commission knocked off the names of over 80 lakh voters, claiming they were infiltrators from Bangaladesh. It is widely believed that it is this disenfranchisement of Muslim voters which denied chief minister Mamata-didi another victory in West Bengal.
 Initially, Home Minister Amit Shah’s talk of “gustafi” was limited to Assam. But in the run up to the West Bengal elections it was extended to West Bengal too. The new West Bengal chief minister……has even gone to the extent of creating externment camps. The purpose is to place all those Muslims who have been rejected by the Election Commission as voters into these externment camps. Those in the camps willnow be deported to Bangladesh. The pesumtion is that the Muslims are eager to go back to Bangaladesh. The ground reality is that there are Bangladesh is all over the country incuding Goa. They are all poor people desperate for a job. Wherever you go in Goa yo will find them both in the five star hotesl and in the shacks and fast food takeaways. They areherejustto survive and don’t pose any threat to the state of Goa. The hyperactive Hindutva chief minister of Goa has also ready started conducting raids on restaurants an hotsle . cops have been sataitons at the Madgaon railway station to block the entry of so called Bangladesi migrants. This is became known as an off-duty police man who objected to the railway police harassing young people, who had come to Madgaon in search of jobs.

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