TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

MARGAO: Condemning the Parrikar government for stuffing the General Council of Ravindra Bhavan, Margao with BJP cadre, members of the tiatr fraternity has threatened to take to the streets if the government fails to reconstitute the Committee with adequate representation to the tiatr artistes.

Up in arms over the absence of any representation to tiatrists on the Ravindra Bhavan’s General Council headed by ex-BJP MLA Damu Naik and Vice-Chairman Chandan Nayak, BJP Margao unit chief, agitated tiatr artistes petitioned to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to reconsider the decision by giving representation to at least four members from the tiatr fraternity and to reserve the post of either chairman or vice-chairman of the Council to a tiatr artiste from Salcete taluka.

They pointed out that members on the Council, including ex-BJP Margao president Navnath Khandeparkar, BJP-backed Curtorim candidate Domnick Gaonkar, BJP Fatorda Mahila Morcha President Priya Kamat, Margao BJP member Shaila Parsekar are not associated with tiatr, adding that majority of the nominees indicate that the persons are closely associated with the BJP.

“We condemn the act of the government action of appointing BJP losing candidates, BJP office bearers and BJP members on the Ravindra Bhavan Committee, who do not have any knowledge of art and culture”, thundered noted tiatrist and state cultural award winner, C D’Silva.

President of Konkani Non-Stop Tiatrist Saunstha, Ben Evangelist said the constitution of the Committee appears communal with no representation to the tiatrists and condemned the government decision to appoint all BJP members on the Council. He replied in the positive when questioned whether the tiatrists had any representation on the General Council of Ravindra Bhavan last time around.

Tiatr artiste Fatima D’Souza said the tiatr fraternity is upset and disturbed by the government action, saying that there are more BJP members on the Committee than people connected to art and culture.

Osvy Viegas said that Ravinda Bhavan hall is running successfully because of revenue generated by tiatr shows. “Most of the members on the Council are BJP members. If the government does not know to respect the tiatr community, Parrikar should remove the board of Pai Tiatrist from the Bhavan”, he said.

State award winner Sabina demanded to know whether the people appointed on the Council have any knowledge of art and culture. “Why are tiatrists not counted by the government when it matters the most. A representative from the tiatr fraternity on the Council would have helped us to effectively redress our grievances”, she added.

In the petition, the tiatr artistes reminded the Chief Minister that Salete taluka is highly represented by the minority community, which have huge interests in tiatr activities. “This popular form of drama originated in Salcete. There are 20 groups who are engaged in production of tiatr and almost 3000 artists are associated with tiatr from the taluka”, the representation pointed out.