IndiaTomorrow.net,
Panaji, July 18: A civil fact-finding team has claimed that the arrest in connection with the recent vandalism of a cemetery in Goa seems “to pacify the civil society and the affected communities” and to “divert attention from the actual perpetrators.”
“It has been reported that one Mr. Francis Pereira has admitted to have single handedly desecrated and vandalized one hundred and forty odd religious symbols since the last five years. The team strongly feels that the arrest appears as a familiar script to similar crimes across the country to pacify the civil society and the affected communities and divert attention from the actual perpetrators,” the team said in a statement.
A special investigation team (SIT) of Goa Police has arrested Francis Pereira, a resident of Curchorem village in South Goa, in connection with the Goa cemetery vandalism where more than 40 crosses, plaques and gravestones were desecrated by unidentified persons on 10th July.
Cemetery Vandalism to Frighten Christians in Goa
The team also felt that the incident was to instill fear among the Christians in Goa.
“The desecrations are carried out in a form of a campaign to strike fear, insecurity and mistrust among communities in Goa. Most of the desecrated crosses visited by the team have been targeted more than once in the past more particularly hinged around political developments in the state. The law and order machinery have failed to solve the cases and apprehend the culprits responsible for such crimes thereby emboldening the perpetrators. The helplessness and fear prevalent in the Christian community is giving rise to a feeling of being treated as second class citizens,” it further said.
The five-member fact-finding team that visited the sites of desecration in South Goa on 14th July comprised of Adv. Irfan Engineer, Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) and Neha Dabhade associated with CSSS, Fr. Savio Fernandes, Executive Secretary, Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP), Ranjan Solomon and Roselle Solomon, prominent activists working for rights of minorities associated with CSJP.
In its observation, the team has pointed out the possibility that the incidents of desecration and vandalism are a part of a pattern which is planned and executed by the same persons or organizations as all the attacks have been executed with heavy steel implements directed at the bases of the structures to cause maximum damage.
After talking to the community members in the region, the team also found that majority of the community members have a perception that some certain statements delivered at a Hindu conclave held in the mid of June here perhaps encouraged this incident.
In the mid of June this year, a four-day long “Hindu Conclave” conclave was organized by many Hindutva outfits including Hindu Janajagriti Samiti. In the conclave Sadhvi Saraswati had allegedly made an open call for violence against beef eaters and seculars.
The fact-finding team has also demanded a judicial probe to investigate the incident of cemetery vandalism in a time bound manner.
