I would like to thank FORCE secretary Savio Lopes and his team who have suffered for the brighter future of our children. Some of us parents, who aspire to educate their children in English, received a big relief when FORCE was formed In 2011. Lopes and his team along with PTAs of various schools held protests in Margao at the then chief minister Digambar Kamat's residence. It was FORCE that pressurized the Kamat government to take a cabinet decision in favour of parents. The BJP government only implemented the decision. We love our mother tongue and so do our children. But why only the underprivileged are forced to protect their mother tongue? Our goal has not yet been achieved; we will relent only when the cabinet decision giving grants-in-aid to English medium primary schools is enacted into law during the winter session of the state legislative assembly.
MELANIE ALVARES, SANGOLDA
THIS is with reference to the news report 'Baga-Sinquerim beach belt to be illuminated' (NT, August 4, 2015). The tourism department will illuminate the entire stretch from Baga to Sinquerim, which is in total darkness, before the Ganesh festival. Calangute deserves special attention as it sees the maximum number of footfalls. The entire beach area must be lit up every evening as a security measure. A lot of people still consume alcohol on the beach and sometimes create a nuisance. The promenade area must be covered by CCTV surveillance. And finally, Goa is probably the only place in the world, which bans consumption of liquor on the beach and at the same time encourages people to drink on the beach by allowing liquor shops on the beach promenade itself!
ROBERT CASTELLINO, CALANGUTE
THE 61-day fishing ban has come to an end and owners of trawlers have started ventured into the sea for catch. The fishing ban is being implemented in order to allow the fish enough time to breed. However, it is seen that at the end of the fishing ban, various varieties of baby fish are sold in the market. It must be said that the aim of the fishing ban should be not just to allow time for the fish to breed but it should also give sufficient time for the fish that has been bred to grow to their normal size. For this to happen it may be necessary to extend the period of the fishing ban to more than 61 days from the next fishing season onwards so that the fish are allowed to grow to their normal size. Fishermen who venture into the sea should desist from catching baby fish so that they (the fish) is allowed to grow to its normal size, a move which incidentally will also fetch the fishermen a better price for the catch.
ADELMO FERNANDES, VASCO
THE government is yet again caught on the wrong foot unnecessarily overstretching on issues that are insignificant when there are loads of problems surmounting it on the national front. The latest move to block 857 sites on the ground that they are pornographic is being widely debated all over and once again the government is ridiculed for going overboard. Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has lost no time going on the defensive and clarifying that the step is only an interim measure, apparently trying to take recourse under the Supreme Court's directive to ban sites on child pornography. Whereas everyone will concur that child pornography is detested all over the world and needs to be blocked, there was no justification in imposing a ban on other adult sites for it would simply amount to moral policing by the government and impinging on individual's choice. It has been debated time and again that it is the right of the individual to watch what he deems fit as long as it does not infringe on other's space. The Supreme Court itself has noted benevolently that blocking all adult sites could infuriate a person to question what crime he has committed in browsing such sites in private within the four walls of his room and how does it violate any law. In our opinion let the government remain focussed on solving the vexed problems afflicting the society instead of imposing ban on what we eat and what we watch. The endless crimes against women like ogling, stalking and molestation by lustful men need to be tackled on war footing. Further, if the government is so keen in imprinting its seal on the statute book we would suggest it can make a beginning with criminalizing marital sex, a topic that is being avidly debated by social activists, to uphold the dignity of the woman. Likewise decriminalization of homosexuality is another topic that needs to be given due priority as it is an issue confined to personal choices of individuals without tampering on other's freedom.
