STD VIII student slams CAA, NRC at Goa government function; stirs debate

A bold speech by a Standard VIII student slamming the controversial Citizenship Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at a function recently organised by the state Education Department, has got political tongues wagging in BJP-ruled Goa.

The speech by Diksha Talaulikar, a student at Maria Bombino High School in South Goa’s Cuncolim village, was delivered on Thursday in front of hundreds of school headmasters and principals as part of the function organised by the Education Department to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution.

While the Congress has now questioned whether Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who has branded opponents to the Citizenship Amendment Act as ‘anti-nationals’, would also brand the student as anti-national too, BJP leaders have now slammed the Education Department for promoting anti-CAA thought.

In her four-minute-long speech on Thursday, Diksha Talaulikar said that the CAA amounts to murder of the Constitution and its values.

"And today this bill discriminates them (Muslims), thus making a mockery of my fundamental duty to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood among people transcending religion, region, and linguistic diversities. The country is burning. The soul of the Constitution, the Preamble, the liberty, equality, and fraternity has been murdered," the student said in her speech in presence of Goa Advocate General Devidas Pangam at the National Institute of Oceanography auditorium near Panaji.

The speech made on June 16, in presence of nearly 400 heads of educational institutions, went viral on WhatsApp on Friday.

"Shattered as I see young students and citizens, who are mostly Hindus, protesting to clarify the Indian Citizenship Amendment bill 2019, that has been passed by the Parliament which has murdered the Constitution that upheld the right to equality, thus discriminating our Muslim brothers and sisters who are made to feel different in this country. Did not our Muslim brothers sacrifice to give us the freedom that we enjoy today?" Talaulikar also said.

"Are not the secular ideas of our Constitution makers destroyed? My dear friends, most of the Constitution makers in the assembly were Hindus. But they never thought of breaking the secular fabric of India. Today, for the sake of greed to remain in power ideologies are imposed on citizens," she also said in her speech.

BJP leader and ex MLA Siddharth Kuncalienkar urged the Chief Minister to take stern action.

"@BJP4Goa's #Education Dept toes line of #CAA_NRC_Protest by anti #CAA speech at official prog alleging @narendramodi murders #constitution", Kuncalienkar tweeted.

Reacting to the speech, Goa Congress general secretary Janardan Bhandara said that Goa Education Director Vandana Rao should be appointed as the national spokesperson of the BJP. “Vandana Rao should be made the new national spokesperson of BJP, to teach PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the Constitution,” Bhandari said.