This Goa village doesn’t know Hindu-Christian hatred

Even as neighbouring Karnataka is burning in the heat of communal violence, a nondescript Goa village has set an example of brotherhood and secularism.

Even as neighbouring Karnataka is burning in the heat of communal violence, a nondescript Goa village has set an example of brotherhood and secularism.

Youths belonging to Hindu and Christian communities in Loliem village, four km from the Goa-Karnataka border and 90 km from Panaji, came together to clean a century-old Hindu crematorium, which was in a dilapidated state over the years.

“We really do not know why this (violence) is happening in Karnataka. We are a small community. We are cut off from the rest of the region because of the remoteness,” Peter Fernandes, a villager, said.

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A group of 25 youths, all in their mid-20s, took up the task of cleaning the crematorium, covered by debris and shrubs, and completed the work in one day, he said.

“We wanted to do this on Gandhi Jayanti but somehow we could not, hence we did it on Sunday (October 5),” said Raju Bandekar, who took part in the exercise.

However, initially the youths were not fired by the zeal to set an example of communal harmony. But a trip to the crematorium after the death of an elderly villager set them thinking.

“The other day we had come here to cremate one of our elderly villager. We were shocked after seeing the condition of the crematorium. All of us then thought why not clean it up ourselves,” Elvis Fernandes, another villager, said.