CHERYL'S STORY

Lonely Women Arrested for Protesting Against Powerful Miners of South Goa
Still say 'We will not leave our farmland'

Photos by Shaweta

Sitting near late Anthony San Francisco's grave Cheryl D'Souza recounts the time when she and her late husband came to settle in Maina Village, the dreams they built around it and how they built the foundations of the house, and farm in the area. "Those were the times his pet kite- Moses-would sit on his shoulder and eat peanuts from his hand," she reminsced. After her husband's death, the bird flew into a moving fan and got one of its wings chopped but somehow continues to live on today, force-fed though.



"We used to fall asleep in a hammock tied there so easily before, without fearing anything or anyone" says Cheryl while remembering good-old times with her husband.


Our thoughts suddenly got disrupted when a car zoomed past with a child gently waving at us from one window while her bodyguard drove her to school cautiously. Unfortunately, the situation in Maina has become so tense and insecure today that Cheryl is scared not only for her daughter's safety but also for her mother's deteriorating health condition. With regular threats, and circling of mining company jeeps in and around the house, she believes anything could happen to them.


After protesting against mining in their vicinity for threats to person or environmental damage, today, Cheryl D'Souza, her eighty-five year old mother Dora D'Souza, and her eight-year old daughter Akki D'Souza are languishing in police custody at Aguada police station.

The lady was offered monetary incentives by mining authorities earlier to give up her land, but she had refused all offers vehemently. 'I knew this land was rich in ore when I bought it,' she says, adding, 'had I wanted to start mining here, I would have done so in 1992 itself. I wasn't greedy for money then and I am not greedy for money now.' Her resistances however have not gone down too well with local mafias, politicians and mine owners. There have been regular threats including being threatened by trucks and mining jeeps while traveling out in private vehicles on the road, and regular threats to her daughter, Akki, especially when she goes to school.
Beisdes all of this, the Government of Goa had built a canal in Cheryl's backyard to channel spring water into the village few years back. However, the current location of mines is such that it is bound to pollute this drinking water source, which will not only affect her but all the other villagers in and around Maina.

'Can we fight alone' asks Dora D' Souza, her mother, who shares how a freedom fighter in the neighbouring village refused to budge from the area initailly. But when mining companies started digging next to his house, he couldn't resist pollution, noise and dust produced and was thus forced to move.

What do people's representatives have to say in Goa? Cheryl visited Digambar Kamat, present CM of Goa, who could not promise her anything substantial, almost as if his hands were tied. Helpless, Cheryl's mother said that she will chain herself to their cars and protest on the road demanding all mining activities be stopped in Maina.

Villagers from Colamb, Cowrem and Maina supported her during yesterday's protest demo as a result of which 200 trucks were prevented from going out of the area yesterday. However, in an ugly turn of events, the contractors and truck drivers attacked and damaged cameras of supporting environmental activist Sebastian Rodrigues and film-maker Kurush Canteenwala from Pune. The Police only watched the drama and arrested eight protestors including Cheryl and her family.

One wonders how Tarcar Mines got Environmental Clearance in the area, which is a green forested zone, and mining would mean devastating changes for ecological balance. Most people survive on agricultural livelihoods here. In fact cashew and coconut plantation is a thriving agricultural option for the middle class and small farmers of the village. Mining therefore has proven to be an extractive process, benefiting none of the locals.

Resistances have continued in adjoining Colamb village since last few years against Formento mines that were releasing waste waters into drinking water sources and fields, destroying crops in the area. Colamb villagers successfully pressurized them and managed to issue a show cause notice to stop mining in the area, which was hampering all usual activities. However in Colamb too, people are being regularly harassed by mining companies that make repeated complaints for arrest of activists by police.

Activists across the country are demanding the release of Cheryl's family and immediate stopping of all mining at Maina, legal or illegal.

The article was written after an exclusive interview with Cheryl some days before her arrest on 11th October 2008 for protesting against encroachment on her land by miners.