Unreasonable demands by tribal leaders

 A morcha was held under the banner of United Tribal Associations Alliance at Panaji yesterday. It culminated at Azad Maidan where several tribal leaders spoke before a crowd of nearly four thousand people. This meeting was held, reportedly, to protest against the arrest of BJP MLAs Mr. Vasudev Gaonkar of Sanguem and Ramesh Tawadkar of Poinginim, and former MLA Mr. Prakash Velip. They had been reportedly arrested by the Crime Branch for leading a protest outside its office in Dona Paula.

The tribal leaders in this meeting at Panaji yesterday also demanded from the government, a ban on sale of scheduled tribe land, notification of tribal areas and scheduled land for upliftment of the scheduled tribe community. They also wanted simplification of procedure for issue of the caste certificate.

The May 25 “rasta rook” agitation which turned violent, was initially held to demand for reservation in government jobs. This spate of agitations and demonstrations have been a regular feature with the tribal associations. It started off with the demand for funds ear marked for scheduled tribe areas which the government in the past have used for other projects.

The government subsequently acceded to this demand and earmarked Rs. 10 crore for the development of scheduled tribe welfare. Then came the demand for setting up of Scheduled Tribe Commission, which again the government acceded to.

The tribal leaders felt that the Rs.10 crore budget was not sufficient, and hence led a morcha to the Crime Branch Police Station at Dona Paula, where they were arrested.

It is a sorry state of affairs in the State of Goa that the government acts only when morchas are held. And the tribal leaders are resorting to morchas at the drop of a hat.

We get the feeling that the tribal leaders don’t want their problems resolved.

When they demanded for a tribal commission, they got it. When they demanded money for development, they got it.

And now, at the end of their wits, they are demanding release of their leaders arrested for the Balli violence, and apparently they are not going to get it.

So more vociferous is the demand.

Tomorrow, if by chance, they do get released, then we can expect one more morcha with several more unreasonable demands.

The government must put its foot down and stop tolerating all this. If the tribals have any genuine grievances, they must approach the government through the proper channel via the State Tribal Commission.