Lok-kavi Manoharrai Sardessai R.I.P.

Manoharrai Sardessai cremated with honour

Panaji, June 23: Goans bade tearful adieu today to versatile multi-lingual literary personality, ‘Lok-Kavi’ Dr Manoharrai Sardessai. A large number of people from various walks of life attended the funeral.
Throughout the morning, his house at St Inez was crowded by the people who had come to have last glimpse of their beloved poet, thinker, teacher and above all a personality, who inspired Goan youth during the historic Opinion Poll with his popular song Goenchea mhaje Goankarano zayat zage, zayat zage.
Ravindra Kelekar and Chandrakant Keni, contemporaries and comrades-in-arms of the departed poet, could not control their emotion when they reached poet’s house. Several literary and cultural institutions, including the Goa Kala Academy, the art and culture department, the Goa Konkani Academy and the Bal Bhavan, placed wreaths on the body of the departed poet.
The body was taken out at 12.45 p.m. as there was rush to have last glimpse of the beloved poet. Dr Sardessai’s elder son,Mr Sunil Sardessai and younger son, Mr Umesh Sardessai lit the funeral pyre amidst presence of a large number of writers, thinkers, poets, poetesses at St Inez crematorium this afternoon.
Among the prominent personalities visited the departed poet’s house include, the GKA president, Mr Pundalik Naik, the Dalgado Konkani Academy secretary, Mr Tomazinho Cardozo, short story writer, Hema Nayak, the art and culture director, Mr M V Naik, the city Mayor, Mr Tony Rodrigues, the deputy mayor, Mr Yatin Parekh, the Bal Bhavan chairperson, Ms Vijayadevi Rane, the Transport Minister, Mr Pandurang Madkaikar, the Town and Country Planning Minister, Mr Atanacio Monserratte, the leader of the opposition, Mr Manohar Parrikar, former speaker, Mr Viswas Satarkar, Prof Olivinho Gomes, Mr Viswas Dempo, Udai Bhembre, Mr Damodar Mauzo, pop singer, Remo Fernandes, Mr Vilas Sardessai, Mr N D Nayak and others.
Dr Sardessai was a member of the Dempo Research Fellowship Trust. The chairman of the trust, Mr Srinivas V Dempo has sent a condolence message to the bereaved family expressing his grief over the death of Dr Sardessai.

From the Navhind Times

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Manoharrai Sardessai - Concannim khambo, DEVACHEA kusveant.

Eminent Konkani poet, Manoharrai Sardessai passes away

The celebrated Konkani poet, popularly known as ‘Lok-Kavi’, Dr Manoharrai Laxmanrao Sardessai passed away in a city hospital after a brief illness late tonight. He was 81 and is survived by wife, Ms Pramilabai Sardessai, two sons, Sunil and Umesh and a married daughter Ms Maya.
All family members of the veteran Konkani poet were beside him when the end came in, family sources said. Funeral procession will leave his residence at Vanarai Apartment, St Inez for St Inez crematorium tomorrow at 12 noon.
Hailing from Savoi Verem village, Dr Sardessai, son of Konkani and Marathi author, late Laxmanrao Sardessai, was born in Panaji in 1925. He pursued his education in Goa, Mumbai and Paris. Dr Sardessai did his doctorate in French with distinction at Paris University. He stood first in MA examination (French and Marathi) from the Bombay University. He worked as a French lecturer in Wilson College and Ruparel College in Mumbai. He also taught French at Chowgule College, Margao and the Centre of Post-Graduate Instruction and Research of Bombay University. He was also head of French department at the Goa University.
He leaves behind vast oeuvre in Konkani. A recipient of the Sahitya Academy award for his collection of poems ‘Pissolim’ (1980), Dr Sardessai was honoured with Sahitya Sharada Puraskar of the state government for lifetime achievement. He bagged Kala Academy’s award for his collection of poems ‘Zaio-Zuio’. Besides, Dr Sardessai had other literary awards to his credit.
Dr Sardessai presided over the 8th All-India Konkani Conference held in Margao in 1962. He edited Konkani Bhasha Mandal’s magazine ‘Saad’, and for some years also edited ‘Novem Goem’. He was president of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal for three years.
Dr Sardessai had been at the vanguard of the Konkani movement for the last six decades. He vehemently fought for recognition of the Sahitya Academy to Konkani and later to make it as an official language of the state. Dr Sardessai also played a prominent role in the historic Opinion Poll of 1967.
The nursery rhyme ‘Hadvotall Bebo, Shetamerer Ubo’ is on the tip of the tongue of every child who has studied Konkani, while another poem ‘Hi Lokshai’ is a sarcastic comment on present-day political system.
His literary works include Aiz Dholar Padli Badi, Goeam Tujea Moga Khatir, Jaipunyabhu Jai Bharata and Bebyache Kazar, Zaio-Zuio, Pissolim, Bhangrachi Kurad, Mankuli Geetam, Manohar Geetam and God God Geetam.
His other works include Aamchi Bhas Aamkam Jai, Shenoi Goembab, Sahitya Suvad, Jaducho Kombo, Vivekanand and Devachim Utaram.
Dr Sardessai also wrote plays namely Smuggler and Birad Badallem. His English work An Anthology of Modern Konkani Poems is also well known.
Dr Sardessai penned songs for Konkani films like Jeevit Aamchem Ashem and Shitu.

From the Navhind Times.

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Concannim or Konknni?

There has recently been a hue and cry in the allegedly Goan Catholic Community in favour of Roman Script for Konkani. Konkani in Roman Script is being projected as the language of the Goan Catholics and the move is to seek its recognition as such under the `minority rights' enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Consequently a demand is apparently being concocted for an amendment in the State Official Language Act of Goa that contemplates only the Konkani in Devanagri Script. The amended Act should comprise both Konkani in Devanagri Script and Konkani in Roman Script for the sake of the Minority. Rajan Narayan had already said, about 20 months ago ("Goan Observer",Feb.21-27,2004) that the then BJP/RSS Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar "had virtually instigated the Romi Konkaniwadis to demand that the Konkani in Roman Script should also be recognised as the official language". We know very well Parriker's love for Konkani and for the Catholics! The contenders for the Official Status for Marathi are overjoyed for the present agitation will surely help them achieve their goal! The promoters of this movement also demand that the Schools - which have been teaching Konkani in Devanagri Script for 30 years, amounting to a generation - should switch over to Konkani in Roman Script.
1. Most of the `reasons' brought forth are rather complaints or grievances of a presumably affected few that can be well redressed with an amicable dialogue. They do not justify at all the intended upheaval in the social, political and educational fields likely to damage the unique harmonious and secular fabric of the Goan society at large. And that too at this stage where all the educated people of 50 years and below are well conversant with the Devanagri. 2. The slogan " One Script, One Language, One Literature" of Akhil Bharoti Konknni Porishod, right from its birth in 1939,in Karwar, is blown out of proportion to make the gullible majority of Catholics take it as a threat to their culture. It does not actually mean more than the Catholic motto "One Flock and One Shepherd". It does not spell in the least a blow of death on the other scripts and an imposition whatsoever of Devanagri instead. At its widest, it is a `wishful thinking' or an ideal goal unanimously agreed upon by all the Konkanis in the session in Karwar in 1939. 3. Nothing is further from the truth than to say that Konkani was never written before the arrival of the Portuguese. Historical books and documents such as "Oriente Conquistado" and the letters of the Missionaries of that time amply indicate the existence of people who knew to read and write in the local language. Dr. Pratap Naik's contention is that Marathi was written to some extent and Konkani had been only a spoken idiom. He further says that it was the Missionaries that gave it a Script. This trend may lead to a dangerous implication that Konkani is just a dialect of Marathi. It may jeopardize all the achievements of our `giants' of the past and present, like Dr.Gerson da Cunha, Eduardo Bruno de Sousa, Mons Dalgado, Shennoy Goybab, Dr. Mariano Saldanha, Bakibab Borkar, Dr Manoharai Sardessai, Ravindra Kellekar, Purushotam Mallaia, Felicio Cardoso, Dr. Olivinho Gomes, Adv Uday Bhembre - to name only a few - in proving that Konkani is an Independent Indian Literary Language rather older than Marathi itself and, being a descendant from Sanskrit, its rightful script is Devanagari. Fr. Stephens and Fr. Maffei could be quoted in favour of the latter assertion. 4. History shows us that the Catholics, other than the elite, clung to Konkani, that too mostly the spoken one, for want of other options. It was not a "sacrifice" as such! Whereas Hindus were given the advantage of having their education in Marathi, the mavxi bhas, a sister of their mother-tongue, even at the Lyceum level. They had thus the opportunity of enjoying and interacting with the rich literature of the neighbouring regions. Hence the deep multi- centennial influence of Marathi in their social, cultural and religious life. This explains their relative reluctance till today to change their mindset and the painstaking struggle Shennoi Goybab had to endure to win over his confreres to the cause of Konkani. Shedding their centuries old Marathi tradition amounted to shedding off their own skin, as Ravindra Kellekar puts it, for the sake of Unity and Identity of Goans. 5. Dr. Pratap Naik calls "Murkh"(Stupid) the promoters of Devanagri Script. Dr. Mathew Almeida, on the other hand, casts aspersions on the slow process of transition of Hindus from Marathi to Konkani. Both being born and bred in Karnataka and consequently not fully aware of the peculiar historical circumstances that shaped the ethos of Goans, should have been more prudent in their statements. One gets the impression that they are bent on creating a rift between the two communities. 6. Familiarity with the Devanagri will definitely throw open a window to appreciate the Indian languages, such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi and others of the same clan. It will help the Goan Catholics to enter emotionally and socially into the main Indian stream. Or do we intend remaining a ghetto forever? Are the Goans going to be a divided society of "hindu dexi somaz" and "kristi pordexi somaz", as Fr. Moreno says? Inter-religious dialogues tend to be a farce! 7. Tremendous has been the development in the field of Konkani Literature in Devanagri. We have plenty of books of poems, essays, dramas, novels of international standards, many of which already translated into Indian and European languages. We have at least four good Konkani Dictionaries and a magnificent Konkani Encyclopedia divided into four huge volumes. It may take another 50- 60 years to create such a wealth in the Roman Script. 8.Last but not least is the threat of Marathi being an Official Language of Goa. That will be the end of the Goan Identity.

Fr. Jaime Couto, M.S., B.Ed [Professor of Konkani Language in Goa seminaries] strita@sancharnet

Comment:

Fr Couto has eloquently presented the case for the Devanagiri script. He has history and the convenience of usage on his side. But then the acceptance of the suzerainity of Devanagiri would certainly be tantamount to condoning the demise, if not the sentencing to death, of a five hundred year old heritage, the disappearance of Romi lipi Concannim. Because as surely as night follows day, the adoption of any one of the scripts by the denizens of Goem would ring the death knell of the other. One is torn between ensuring absolutely the reign of Konknni and the emotional attachment to a tradition one has grown up with and one that is so , for want of a better or more evocative word, lovely.

And all the arguments for the prevailing of the Devanigiri script are not all that forthright. Take for example the assumption that the commonality of a script will facilitate the access to the rich lore of other Indian languages. All of Western Europe uses the Roman script, not all Western Europeans speak or understand each others languages. And the Devanagiri script is a North Indian script isolated from Southern India. Do the advocates of Devanagiri then prefer the North to the South? And take the argument of access to other traditions. While Devanagiri may well assist as far as the regions north of Goem are concerned, in this day and age of internationalism, would not a script that would give Goemcars the advantage all over the world be more preferable? I am all for delving into the richness of Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi et al, mother and sisters to Concannim.

But because of who I am, a Goemcar. A descendant from the believers of the Mahabharata. Whose family have adhered to the Roman Catholic faith for about four hundred years. Because of which I have had to familiarise myself with and use Romi lipi. Because I have been brought up in an amalgam of a fantastic eastern and an equally great western traditions, where a European script and a western religion with Eastern connotations have been so beautifully merged, I am naturally inclined to tend towards Roman lipi Concannim.

This is an absorbing argument. The fear though is whether this tussle amongst the Konknniwaddis will hasten the demise of amchi Maim bhas? As our grandparents would have said, "reddea ani paddeachem zuzz , vundracher far yeatta."

All good men and women need to come to the aid of Concannim. May our Maim bhas live forever.

Viva Concannim.

Or Konknni, if absolutely need be.

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G - D and the Pope

The Divine’s ‘silence’ — and the Pope's

By Jeff Jacoby

"Where was G-d in those days?" asked Pope Benedict XVI as he stood in Auschwitz last week. "Why was he silent? How could he permit this endless slaughter, this triumph of evil?"
It is the inevitable question in Auschwitz, that vast factory of death where the Nazis tortured, starved, shot, and gassed to death as many as a million and a half innocent human beings, most of them Jews. "In a place like this, words fail," Benedict said. "In the end, there can be only a dread silence, a silence which itself is a heartfelt cry to G-d: Why, Lord, did you remain silent?"
News reports emphasized the pope's question. Every story noted that the man who voiced it was, as he put it, "a son of the German people." No one missed the intense historical significance of a German pope, on a pilgrimage to Poland, beseeching G-d for answers at the slaughterhouse where just 60 years ago Germans broke every record for shedding Jewish blood.
And yet some commentators accused Benedict of skirting the issue of anti-Semitism. The national director of the Anti-Defamation League said that the pope had "uttered not one word about anti-Semitism; not one explicit acknowledgment of Jewish lives vanquished simply because they were Jews." The National Catholic Register likewise reported that he "did not make any reference to modern anti-Semitism."
In truth, the pope not only acknowledged the reality of Jew-hatred, he explained the pathology that underlies it. Anti-Semites are driven by hostility not just toward Jews, he said, but toward the message of G-d-based ethics they first brought to the world.
"Deep down, those vicious criminals" — he was speaking of Hitler and his followers — "by wiping out this people, wanted to kill the G-d who called Abraham, who spoke on Sinai and laid down principles to serve as a guide for mankind, principles that are eternally valid. If this people, by its very existence, was a witness to the G-d who spoke to humanity and took us to himself, then that G-d finally had to die and power had to belong to man alone — to those men, who thought that by force they had made themselves masters of the world."
The Nazis' ultimate goal, Benedict argued, was to rip out Christian morality by its Jewish roots, replacing it with "a faith of their own invention: faith in the rule of man, the rule of the powerful." Hitler knew that his will to power could triumph only if he first destroyed Judeo-Christian values. In the Thousand-Year Reich, G-d and his moral code would be wiped out. Man, unencumbered by conscience, would reign in his place. It is the oldest of temptations, and Auschwitz is what it leads to.
"Where was G-d in those days?" asked the pope. How could a just and loving Creator have allowed trainload after trainload of human beings to be murdered at Auschwitz? But why ask such a question only in Auschwitz? Where, after all, was G-d in the Gulag? Where was G-d when the Khmer Rouge slaughtered 1.7 million Cambodians? Where was G-d during the Armenian holocaust? Where was G-d in Rwanda? Where is G-d in Darfur?
For that matter, where is G-d when even one innocent victim is being murdered or raped or abused?

The answer, though the pope didn't say so clearly, is that a world in which G-d always intervened to prevent cruelty and violence would be a world without freedom — and life without freedom would be meaningless. G-d endows human beings with the power to choose between good and evil. Some choose to help their neighbor; others choose to hurt him. There were those in Nazi Europe who herded Jews into gas chambers. And there were those who risked their lives to hide Jews from the Gestapo.
The G-d "who spoke on Sinai" was not addressing himself to angels or robots who could do no wrong even if they wanted to. He was speaking to real people with real choices to make, and real consequences that flow from those choices. Auschwitz wasn't G-d's fault. He didn't build the place. And only by changing those who did build it from free moral agents into puppets could he have stopped them from committing their horrific crimes.
It was not G-d who failed during the Holocaust or in the Gulag, or on 9/11, or in Bosnia. It is not G-d who fails when human beings do barbaric things to other human beings. Auschwitz is not what happens when the G-d who says "Thou shalt not murder" and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" is silent. It is what happens when men and women refuse to listen.

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Povitr Pustok

Bible and Konknni


By Fr Pratap Naik

A. How did we get the Bible?

The English word "Bible" is derived from the Old French word "Bible", which is in turn based on Latin and Greek "Biblia" means "books".

The Bible is a book of revelation, revealing the great plan of God for humankind. It is a book of communication from God to man. God inspired many people over a period of time, from different places, revealed His purpose and plan for humankind. Thus the Bible in its written form is a sum total of oral traditions of faith communities spanning a period of about 1500 years.
The "authors" were inspired by God to write with the result that in spite of diversity of writers there is oneness and a systematic unfolding of God's plan of salvation for humankind.

The Jewish and Christian Bibles are actually collections of what were originally a number of independent books. The overwhelming majority of Christians refer to the Bible as the combination of Hebrew scriptures, known to Christians as the Old testament or First Testament, and the New Testament, which describes the life and message of Jesus. For some
(primarilyRoman Catholics), the Apocrypha and deuterocanonical books - various writings important in the Second-Temple period of Judaism - are also considered to be part of the Bible. For Jews, the term refers only to the
Hebrew Bible, also called the Torah. Both Christians and Jews regard the Bible as the revealed word of God, with widespread variation on its accuracy, interpretation and legitimacy.

In traditional Judaism and Christianity, the Bible has been more than a historical document to be preserved or a classic of literature to be cherished and admired; it is recoginzed as the unique record of god's dealings with people over the ages.

The Bible is divided into two sections, one is called the Old
Testament, and the other is called the New Testament. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew language and the New Testament in Greek language. A few sections of the Old Testament and a few words in the New Testament are written in Aramaic language.

A number of deuterocanonical books which are part of the Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew Bible are often referred to as the Apocrypha. Most modern Protestant traditions do not accept the Apocrypha as canonical, although Protestant Bibles included them until around the
1820s.
However, most other Christians (including members of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orhtodox Churches) include the Apocrypha as part of the Old Testament. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes seven
such books (Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdonm of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus also known as Sirach, and Baruch), as well as some passages in Esther and Daniel. Various Orthodox Churches include a few others, typically 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151. 1 Esdras, Odes, Psalms of solomon,
and occasionally 4 Maccabees.

The Catholic edition of the Bible has 72 books. The Old Testament has 45 books and the New Testament has 27 books. The Protestant edition of the Bible does not recognize certain books of the Bible as canonical books. therefore they are found in their Bible version.

B. Writing Materials

In ancient times, various materials served as writing surfaces. Texts cut in stones were often found popular. Later on, wood and metals were also used as riting surfaces. Over a period of time clay, bone, wood, leather, various etals, potsherds, and parchment were used as writing surface.

Both the Old Testament and New Testament were written on parchment (made from specially treated animal skins) or papyrus (marsh reeds hammered together), which were rolled up for storage. The writing on the scroll was done using reed pens and ink made from carbon, gum and oil.

C. Codex

During the second century A.D. the scroll began to be replaced by "codex", the ancestor of our book with pages. The codex was made of pages folded and fastened together. Sometimes codex had covers like modern books. Codex
became popular because it was easy to be carried and also it was easier to find a particular passage as compared to the scroll.

D. Translations

The first translation of the Scriptures was the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek in Alexandria during 3rd century B.C. In the 2nd century A.D. the Bible was translated into Latin and was called Latin Vulgate. In the 5th century A.D. the Bible was translation into Anglo Saxon language. In the 14th century A.D., it was translated into English. The
printing process was not yet invented at that time so copies were made by handwriting.

As on 31 December 2005 there are 6912 languages in the world. Out of these, in 426 languages the entire Bible has been translated. 1,115 languages have the New Testament translation. 862 languages have at least one book of the
Bible translated. In 1640 languages the translation of Bible is in progress.

As on Census of India 1991, in India there are 862 languages. In India the entire Bible is translated into 50 languages. New testament is translated into 81 languages. A portion of the Bible is available in 50 languages.

The Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world. Both Hebrew Scripture and the Christian Bible have been translated more times and into more languages - more than 2,403 languages in all - than any other book. It is said that the Bible is the best-selling book of all-time. In some cities,
the Bible is considered to be the most frequently stolen book. No book in the world has been translated in so many languages of the world as the Bible.

E. Printed Bible

When John Gutenberg made the printing machine in Europe, the first book to roll out of this printing press was the Latin Bible in 1450. The first English New Testament was printed in 1525 A.D. The most popular translation of the Bible in English is called the King James Version, which was published in the year 1611 A.D. This Bible is used in many universities
around the world for teaching English language. Later on, many other translations in English like RSV, NIV, GNB, and many other versions were published. The translation of the Bible into other languages of the world also continued.

The most important and influential of translations of the Bible into German is the Luther Bible. The influence that Martin Luther's translation had on the development of the German language is often compared to influence the King James Version had on English.

Bible has inspired and continues to inspire countless poets, writers, artists, musicians to produce literature, art and culture.

In the world the highest number of copies printed, sold and read are that of Holy Bible. Compared to Catholics, Protestant Christians have done enormous work to translate, print, sell and distribute Bible.

F. Bible Translations in Konknni:

In history of Konknni language the credit of translating a portion of the Bible for the first time, goes to seventeenth century Italian Jesuit missionary Ignazio Arcamone (1615-1683) who worked in Salcette, Goa. His "Sogllea Vorunsache Vanjel" was printed at Rachol Seminary Printing Press in 1667. It had 120 + 335 folios. No copy is available of this book.
Since then a number of attempts have been made by various people to translate either New Testament or a portion of the Bible into Konknni in Roman, Kannada and Devanagari scripts. Protestant missionary William Carey at Serampore, West Bengal; Joaquim A. Fernandes, Mumbai; Fr. Rymond
Mascarenhas, Mangalore; Fr. Sylvester Menezes, Mangalore; Fr. C.C.A. Pai, S.J., Mangalore; Fr. Vasco do Rego, S.J., Goa; Fr. Moreno de Souza, S.J., Goa; Felicio Cardozo, Goa have translated a portion of the Bible into Konknni.

Among Konknni speakers there are hardly any Protestant Christians. If there were, the Bible would have been translated into Konknni in 19th or early 20th century.

The credit of translating the entire Bible into Konknni for the first time, goes to William R. da Silva of Mangalore Diocese, Karnataka. He translated the entire Bible into Konknni in Kannada script. Konknni Bible committee at Mangalore published it in 1997. Since this Bible did not have the
Imprimatur (official permission of the Church Authorities) it could be used only for private use.
Mangalore Diocese published its official translation in 2000. Rev. Dr. William Barboza translated the Old Testament and Rev. Dr. Victor Pinto translated the New Testament. For the first edition 30,000 copies were printed. The copies were made available at Rs. 100/-.

Konknni readers in Roman script had to wait till 4 June 2006 for the Konknni Bible to see the light in their script and dialect! It was released on Sunday, 4 June 2006 at Se Cathedral by the Archbishop of Goa at 10.00 a.m. during the Eucharistic celebration of Pentecost Feast. For the first
edition 60,000 copies have been printed, of which 40,000 are booked at pre-publication price of Rs. 150/-. The post-publication price is Rs. 300/-. Since most of the Konknni readers in Roman script are from lower middle
class and middle class families it would have been ideal and desirable to subsidize the price of the Bible and sell it for Rs. 100/- only. This translation is bound to boost the use of Konknni in Roman script.

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CHURCHILL KHODEGANT ZUZARI

Inox withdraws Vinci Code

In view of mounting pressure from the Christians community against the screening of the controversial film The Da Vinci Code, the Inox management today withdrew the movie following intervention of the state government.
The film, which was released in Inox here on Friday, had held eight shows. The management withdrew the film this morning and placed a notice in its complex.
The announcement to this effect was made by the deputy collector, Mr Agnelo Fernandes at a meeting held by the Anti-Blasphemy Action Front at Church Hall here. The South Goa MP, Mr Churchill Alemao, the Calangute MLA, Mr Agnelo Fernandes, Mr Edmund Antao of the Association of Crusaders of Jesus and Mary, former MLAs, Mr Simon D’Souza, Mr Victor Gonsalves and others were present.
These leaders threatened to take out a morcha at the Inox multiplex and take law into their hands if the screening of the film was not stopped in Goa by today.
Addressing a meeting, Mr Alemao came down heavily on the Christian ministers in the Congress government. However, he congratulated the Chief Minister, Mr Pratapsing Rane and the Chief Secretary, Mr J P Singh for taking swift action in halting the screening of the film, thus respecting the sentiments of the Christian community in Goa.
The South Goa MP went ahead saying that even the Bharatiya Janata Party leader and leader of the opposition, Mr Manohar Parrikar was for halting the movie from being screened in the state.
He lambasted the Christians ministers for not seeking a ban on the controversial film in Goa. He also named two senior Congress leaders from South Goa and added that these leaders are only interested in preserving their chair, rather than taking up people’s issue.
Stating that nobody should be allowed to produce a fiction film on god, Mr Alemao slammed the two priests who were appointed as Christians community representatives by the Government of India for granting clearance to the film in India.
The South Goa MP informed that he had written a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh seeking a ban on this film in India because Jesus is revered by millions in the world, irrespective of religions. He said he met with Mr Rane and broached the issue with him yesterday adding that the Chief Minister immediately talked to the Inox management, demanding halt to screening of the film from today.
He said he had had an argument with the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunshi as how his ministry allowed the released of the film on the ground of a “fiction” and added that no one had right to do fiction on divine figures and make money.


Comment:

Shabas Churchill Alemao. The rest of the Cristaos in the Government and Cabinet are but 'bhatlele' or 'dirtied ones', as our Hindu bretheren would call those with shortcomings amongst them. Churchill too has his faults as has been obvious over the last decade or so. But when Goemcarponn is at stake everyone calls on the Lion of Varca, Churchill the Warrior - KHODEGANT ZUZARI.

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