Activists to support Sebastian in fight against Fomento

Herald, January 13, 2009

Angered by the Rs.500-crore defamation case filed against anti-mining proponent Sebastian Rodrigues in the Kolkata High Court by Fomento company, activists and members of several NGOs resolved to stand firmly behind him and take the issue to the people’s court.

A meeting organised by the Gawda Kunbi Velip and Dhangar Federation held on Monday at T B Cunha Hall, here, to condemn Sebastian’s defamation ended in social activist Pravin Sabnis, who presided over the convergence, adopting three strong resolutions.

The first resolution called for immediate withdrawal of the defamation case filed against Sebastian by Fomento and the second resolve warned of taking the issue to all villages till the accusation was drawn back.

The third resolution called upon eminent persons, artists and other people to conduct study tours to mining sites and see the extent of the destruction caused by the activity.

Sebastian said the defamation for some of his internet writing on the Fomento’s mining activities was an attack on the freedom of speech and lamented that the intellectual class was mum on the whole issue of destruction on account of the activity.

At the centre of the ire of today’s meeting was Sujay Gupta the Vice President Communications of Fomento. Award-winning teacher Ramesh Gauns, environmental activist Rajendra Kerker and Goa Suraj Party’s Floriano Lobo were amongst those who took a dig at Gupta, who was former editor of Gomantak Times.

At the end of the meeting, Lobo said they had decided to hold a meeting close to Gupta’s house in Moira in the coming week to show solidarity with Sebastian.

He said Sebastian was Goa Suraj Party’s very important member and his work had blessings of the party. “Audooth Timblo, who is also a very dear friend of GSP, must immediately correct his foolhardiness of filing the suit in the Kolkata HC and file it in the Bombay HC if he feels Seby’s writings were defamatory,” he mentioned.

Gauns said the fight was for right to live and called upon people to save the tribals who live in mining belts as they were the true custodians of Goa and its inheritance.

Some of the speakers maintained there was systematic police-establishment cohesion to suppress anti-mining voices.

Pushkar Raj from Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said the Goa Police Bill 2008 intends to sideline the State’s multi-member police complaints authority by bringing in a single-member authority, which is proposed to be directly under the Goa Government.