Canada-based Goan ‘freedom fighter’ has shut down his online petition to ‘liberate’ Goa from ‘Indian invasion’ and ‘continued illegal occupation’. One Atanacio Lobo, who lives in Canada, had filed an online petition which will be addressed to UNGA to intervene and get India to ‘withdraw forces’ from Goa.
However, the online petition which garnered around 4,200 signatories, asking Goa to be a ‘free country’ came under the radar of Goa Police after the NGO ‘Revolutionary Indians’ (RI) lodged a complaint against the accused.
The Goa crime branch police have booked one person on sedition charges after the self-proclaimed freedom fighter ran an online petition to demanding to free Goa from “Indian invasion” and illegal occupation since 1961.
According to the reports, a complaint has been registered at the Mapusa police station in Goa against an individual named Atanasio Lobo and the other signatories to petition for attempting to break the unity and integrity of the nation by stating that Goa is not part of the country.
The complaint pointed out that the petition had attempted to provoke disloyalty towards the law established by Government of India.
Online petition to liberate Goa written to United Nations
The petition appealed to the current members of the United Nations General Assembly to review the subject matter of this petition – Goa’s Liberation – with a fresh perspective.
“We, the indigenous people of Goa known as “Goans” from the Goa Territory of “Estado da India” displaced Goans from outside Goa, Goans living in exile in other foreign countries; Goan allies and sympathizing citizens of the world; hereby prayerfully petition the United Nation General Assembly and state that: The petitioners appeal to the current members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to review the subject matter of this petition with a fresh perspective as the conscience keepers of world peace,” read the petition.
The petition further read, “Goa might not have attained sovereignty but that right does not lapse, a right that cannot be assumed by others, a right which is inherent to people. In this case, the right belongs to the Goans and has to be exercised consciously and freely within the framework established by the United Nations Charter.
Lobo accuses Goans for ‘not caring enough’
Following the legal proceedings initiated against him, Lobo updated his 2-year-old petition on 11th May 2020 and accused Goans of not caring enough for ‘freedom’ and said he was actively considering closing down the petition.
Hours after this update, Lobo closed down the petition stating that despite two years, the petition did not garner even 5,000 signatures and hence he will be shutting it down. He chose not to mention that a sedition case has been filed against him, following which he chose to give up the ‘fight for freedom’ for Goa from ‘illegal Indian occupation’.
“Surely Goa cannot be separated from India now with all the debt it has accumulated with failing/failed tourism and mining being the only two industries as it walks towards being a bankrupt state. Also, Goa will never be without trouble with India if it becomes a separate state in the womb on India with cross border problems. A separate state of GOA therefore is just not possible and feasible,” he wrote as he gave up the struggle.
‘Freedom Fighter’ Lobo lives in Canada
According to Goa Herald, the Crime Branch has registered a complaint against the accused on charges of sedition under IPC section 124A after he for floating an online petition claiming that Goa has been invaded the territory of Portugal. The Crime Branch said they will summon all the signatories for questioning even though the list of signatories is huge in number.
The freedom fighter Lobo, who was supposed to liberate Goa by inspiring fellow Goans to wage a war against the country, however, lives in Canada. Lobo has also deleted his Twitter account and gone into hiding.
Speaking to Times of India, Crime Branch Superintendent of Police Pankaj Kumar Singh said that the accused Lobo is not presently staying in the country and only a few of the many who signed the petition reside in Goa.
