Goemkarponn Desk
CUNCOLIM: On Sunday, there was tension in Cuncolim as the mahajans of Shree Shantadurga Kunkalikarin Temple, who belong to the Desai community, protested in the streets against what they perceived to be statements made by activist Shreya Dhargalkar against the Naik-Desai community that is in charge of the temple.
An angry mob blocked the NH66 in front of the Cuncolim police station at around 4.30 pm on Sunday evening, in support of their demand, after they had given the police there until Sunday evening to arrest Shreya.
Until the police diverted traffic, a sizable number of vehicles were left stranded on the National Highway.
The demonstrators removed the road blockade only after Shreya apologized to the public following her arrest, but not before causing traffic disruptions on the highway for more than three hours.
Tension was clearly building when Shree Shantadurga committee members, led by President Kavendra Desai, gave a press conference at the Cuncolim police station at midday, demanding that the police arrest Shreya by nightfall.
Kavendra demanded that Shreya apologize for remarks she made at the Naik-Desai community, claiming that she had made some offensive remarks. According to him, Shreya made the comments in relation to a property dispute that the Temple Devasthan and a woman named Namita Fatarpekar had brought up.
When a sizable contingent of the Naik-Desai community assembled in front of the Cuncolim police station at around 4 p.m., trouble started. According to the Cuncolim police, Shreya from Margao has been taken into custody. But when they discovered that Shreya hadn’t been brought to the Cuncolim police station, they blocked the NH66, causing all traffic to stop, and they gave the police more time to comply with their demands before things got out of hand.
Police moved in more force from the Margao and Vasco police subdivision as the situation threatened to become a serious law and order issue.
The crowd rejected Shreya’s attempt to apologize with folded hands when she emerged from the police station later that evening, insisting that she make her apology in public. She later came out once more to clarify that she didn’t mean to offend anyone, and she added that she was sorry if her widely shared statement had offended anyone.
