BY A GT REPORTER
PANJIM: Lack of seriousness on the part of the government to smoke out culprits involved in temple desecration cases in the state rankled the opposition benches and the treasury benches in the House yesterday. Tightening the screws on the Home Minister Ravi Naik were five MLAs -- opposition leader Manohar Parrikar, Fatorda MLA Damodar Naik, Sanguem MLA Vasudev Meng Gaonkar -- and Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar and Curchorem MLA Shyam Satardekar. The latter raised the matter through a Calling Attention Motion. Finally, Home Minister Ravi Naik relented to assigning all such cases to the Special Investigation Team(SIT) while promising that the SIT will exclusively handle these cases only.
But it was the opposition leader who charged the government with an utter lack of seriousness to smoke out the culprits involved in such desecration cases. Despite the alleged main culprit Kavesh Gosavi in police custody, Parrikar said the desecration cases are continuing in the state." The brain mapping was carried out in January. There is still no trace of the report. Why has the narco-analysis test of the accused Gosavi not conducted," remarked the opposition leader.
In so far as the SIT is concerned, it was Parrikar's contention that it was entrusted with many cases in addition to temple desecration cases. " The incidents of temple desecration is the handiwork of a gang of five to six people. It cannot be done by one person," he opined.
He shared the sentiments of other members of the House that such incidents are indulged in by elements to the detriment of the prevalent communal harmony in the state. To ward off such incidents in the near future, Parrikar wanted the Home Ministry to constitute a team of five officers comprising the SIT to unearth the culprits.
Earlier, Satardekar highlighted the gravity of these incidents by pointing out to the incidents of temple desecration occurring in the heart of Curchorem city. " Curchorem is a sensitive city and incidents of temple desecration are on the rise in this city. If these incidents increase, there can be a vertical split in the communal harmony in the state," he warned.
Broadly endorsing Satardekar's views, Fatorda MLA Damodar Naik also expressed concern over the attempts of some forces to disturb communal harmony in the state. He pointed out to the gradual increase in the number of such incidents ever since they first occurred in 2007. He wanted the Home Ministry to tighten the beat system for inculcating fear of law in the minds of these culprits. Joining the debate, Kavlekar demanded some financial assistance from the government to enable temples upgrade their security. Vasudev Meng Gaonkar also highlighted incidents of temple desecration in his Sanguem constituency.
In his reply, Naik gave details of the arrests of culprits and assured the House that he will assign the task of investigating temple desecration incidents to SIT which will exclusively deal with it.
