THIS IS ALL LIP-SERVICE TO SIR MATANHYS LEGACY As we remember Sir Jose Matanhy Saldanha with public functions of tribute to him these days, this is what I personally feel very strongly -- that it is all a farce and just lip-service. I have been blessed to have had a very close relationship with this great personality called Matanhy Saldanhy on three different fronts: 1. student-teacher, 2. journo-politician and 3. Just plain friends.... I proudly interviewed him for the Herald in January 1993 (it was my first big assignment and it was the Page 1 Lead the next day) from the TB Cunha Memorial at Azad Maidan when he along with Fr Eremito Rebello and Parab of Carambolim were on an indefinite fast to protest against the Konkan Railway alignment. At that time, Matanhy was an ANTI-NATIONAL for a lot of the bhakts including Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, for the mere reason that what he stood for vis-a-vis the Konkan Railway Project was political inconvenient for them. I have spent many, many evenings/nights with Sir Matanhy at a common watering hole in St Inez which we both called Best in the World. There we have discussed, argued, agreed, disagreed and even screamed at each other over issues and things that we both held close to our hearts... I treasure all those times and memories. Matanhy was an unique man. All of us normally think with our mind and love with our heart....He was uniquely different....Matanhy loved with his mind and thought with his heart, especially when it came to Goa. No one, including those who praise him today although they had once cursed him and even branded him an ANTI-NATIONAL during the many politically inconvenient struggles he launched, understood what Matanhy stood for. I did, in a way! A few weeks after his death, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikars government with great fanfare named the South Goa Collectorate after him. It was a bid to show gratitude and it was claimed to be a tribute to Matanhys contribution to Goa. For me, it was an insult of the worst kind to Sir Matanhy and all that he stood for and I am sure most of his close associates who stood by him through thick and thin throughout his thirty-forty years of life of struggle for Goa, will agree with this viewpoint. Naming the South Goa Collectorate after Matanhy is an insult to him because that Monstrosity in Margao has been built by trampling and murdering everything that was so dear to Matanhys heart... It is built on verdant, Khazan paddy fields violating all the laws of the land and by using the cunning loophole of section 18K of the Agricultural Tenancy Law of Goa. This was an issue so close to Matanhys heart. In fact, the reason for Matanhy to spearhead the Konkan Railway route Realignment agitation was this very love he had for Goas unique and ecologically fragile Khazan land ecosystems. Sorry to say this Madam Alina, but I will say it anyway. Almost every decision the Manohar Parrikar government, of which you are a part, has taken ever since Sir Matanhy left us, has virtually trampled on every principle in public life that Sir Matanhy stood for. This government and everyone else who have been praising him at the drop of a hat ever since he passed away, are only paying lip-service to the memory and legacy of my beloved Sir Matanhy. Rather than the many physical symbols of tribute to Matanhy, it would be prudent and perhaps the best tribute to his truly mind-boggling legacy, if Manohar Parrikar and all men/women in position of power just pause for a few seconds and weigh in all the principles that Matanhy stood for into their decision-making, before putting pen on paper to sign the files and formalise decisions. Rest in peace sweet prince, Sir Jose Matanhy Saldanha.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:06:18 +0000
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