Goa: Confusion put to rest, Tricolour flutters high on St Jacinto Island

PANAJI: Defusing the tension at St Jacinto island through informal discussions with the villagers and fishermen, the Tricolour was jointly hoisted by Indian Navy personnel and locals on Saturday at noon. Naval officials and veterans met with the villagers, who had been misled by local politicians, and convinced them that there was no ulterior motive behind the Indian Navy’s move to hoist the national flag.
Naval veteran (Capt) Viriato Fernandes described the tensions created by local politicians as “uncalled for” while former navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash called it a “storm in a teacup”.
Scores of locals, including the elderly and children, turned out to salute the national flag and sing the national anthem at 2.45pm accompanied by the local chaplain.
“After a slight misunderstanding on Friday, a team from Goa Naval Area and residents amicably participated in hoisting the national flag at St Jacinto Island,” said the Indian Navy in a brief statement. “The residents also sang the national anthem along with the naval team during the event.”
Naval authorities had to abandon their plan to hoist the Tricolour on the picturesque island on Friday after a misunderstanding cropped up between the locals and the naval personnel. Nationalist Congress Party state president Jose Phillip D’souza added fuel to the fire with the outlandish claim that the patriotic event was a ruse to “capture the island” and drive away the locals.
“This is a plan to try and test our reaction before they capture this island,” D’souza had said on Friday after mobilizing a few residents.
While condemning the locals, chief minister Pramod Sawant described the locals as anti-nationals and directed authorities to initiate an inquiry. “These attempts of anti-India activities shall be dealt with an iron fist,” said the chief minister.
Shedding light on the unfortunate event that occurred on Friday, Fernandes said that the villagers are wary of the government’s intentions ever since the homes of the islanders were dropped from the state government’s coastal zone management plan (CZMP).
“They are afraid of losing their homes where the government has not shown their homes in the CZMP,” said Fernandes.
“The villagers have been hoisting the Tricolour by themselves every August 15 at 8am. They asked the naval personnel that instead of hoisting the national flag by themselves, naval authorities could join the villagers on Sunday,” said Fernandes.
Former navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash said that the issue had been blown out of proportion.
“A typical ‘storm in a teacup’? In a tiny island village in India’s smallest state, the villagers - all Indians - want to exercise their right under Art 19 of the Constitution, to hoist the national flag. They don’t need the navy’s help for this,” said Admiral Prakash.