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Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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Remo rejects award

Special Correspondent

Remo Fernandes

PANAJI: Pop singer and Padma Shri awardee Remo Fernandes has declined the “Rajya Sanman” of the Goa Government.

The award for “bringing glory to the State at national and international level” was to have been given on Saturday at a State function.

In an open letter to the Government on Friday, Mr. Remo said that he was declining the award as a mark of protest against the “loot of Goa” by its Ministers, Opposition leaders and politicians, and referred to the “large-scale attempted rape and sale of Goa through the infamous Regional Plan 2011”, either actively or through their inaction.

“I had the privilege of receiving the Padma Shri award at the hands of the then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, one of the most honest, upright, wise, qualified and dignified gentlemen in India,” he said in the letter.

“After that, receiving an award from the Government of Goa, with corrupt and incompetent Ministers, would be an insult to Mr. Kalam, to the Padma Shri award itself, as well as to me,” he said.

Questioning the rationale behind such awards, he said, “I cannot understand the logic behind the Government of Goa, irrespective of the party in power, not ever recognising or even acknowledging a Goan’s achievements at the State level, and then rewarding him when he gains recognition at the national level.”

Easy target

PTI report adds:

Reacting to Mr. Remo’s letter, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Saturday said: “I would not make any statement on Mr. Remo’s criticism but politicians are easiest for anyone to beat them from both the sides.”

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