Brutal Attack on Environmental Activist in Goa

Strong protests by environmental groups but is the government listening, asks Avertino Miranda

Courtesy: screengrab from Rama Kankonkar’s facebook video)

The brutal assault on tribal leader and social activist, Rama Kankonkar, on September 18 has shocked and angered environmental groups in Goa. The attack triggered massive protests throughout Goa. Kankonkar is a staunch critic of the BJP government’s anti-environment development model and has spoken out against corruption in the government.

On September 18, Kankonkar and a friend, journalist and fellow activist Soiru Velip, had gone to a restaurant for lunch at Caranzalem, near Panjim. When they were leaving the restaurant, Kankonkar was attacked with knives, rods and sticks by a seven member gang. Velip tried to intervene but was stopped at knifepoint. Kankonkar sustained grievous injuries, with deep wounds on his head and face, front and back. The retina of one eye was also damaged. Eight days later, he is yet to recover.

Kankonkar was dragged behind the restaurant and mercilessly beaten by the gang. According to his friends, the gang probably dragged him behind the hotel to avoid the assault being captured by the front CCTV camera of the hotel. However, little did they realise that the restaurant had another CCTV camera tucked away behind this hotel with both video and audio recording. This CCTV recorded the entire assault and the video went viral.

Kankonkar’s friends allege that a notorious criminal gang known as Bang Bang led by Zenito Cardozo had been following his movements for some days and though he was not present at the scene of the assault, they suspect that he may have had a hand in it.

Despite protests and condemnation from environmental groups, the police has dragged its feet over investigating the assault. Even before the investigations were complete, Superintendent of Police (North Goa) Rahul Gupta blamed it on personal enmity. Goa Police refused to give call record details of the attackers though the CCTV footage clearly showed them taking orders from someone and even sending video clips of the assault.

Besides, police have not applied provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, though Kankonkar is from a Scheduled Tribe.

Kankonkar has been a vocal critic of the state’s development policies and had, in a video on Facebook as recently as Sept 11, pointed out that youth-led protests in Nepal and earlier in Sri Laknka and Indonesia, were against corruption, warning that the corruption local people faced in Goa would also come to a boiling point. Earlier, he had spoken out against the CAA/NRC bill and against projects like the  Information Technology Park in the Chimbel biodiversity region and tourism projects in khazan lands.

Environmental and social groups protest the attack on Rama Kankonkar at Azad Maidan, Panjim (Pic by Avertino Miranda)

The bloody assault has triggered street protests and brought the entire opposition together in a united condemnation. Activists in Goa have announced mass protests in the coming days to demand speedy action by the police, immediate arrest of the attackers and the resignation of the Chief Minister, who holds the home portfolio, to ensure an impartial investigation into the assault.

(Avertino Miranda is a former journalist and environmental activist. He is based in Goa).