Fight against attempts to defame state: Kamat

PANAJI - Under pressure to contain the adverse publicity over the Russian rape case, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat Saturday appealed to citizens to “fight unitedly against attempts to defame the state highlighting certain incidents”.

Speaking at the Goa Liberation Day parade function in the city, Kamat asked tourists to have full faith in Goa as a tourist destination.

“These are only isolated cases. Tourists have full faith in Goa,” Kamat said in his speech at the function which marks the liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule on Dec 19, 1961.

Goa has been rocked by several incidents in the recent past that have not only exposed the functioning of the state police to a great deal but also questioned the safety of women and tourists in this state.

A string of incidents like molestation of a woman allegedly a commercial sex worker (CSW) by three police constables in a police control room van, police officials caught partying onboard casinos, visit of US-based terror mastermind David Headley to Goa and finally the alleged rape of a 25-year-old Russian woman by a local politician has ensured Goa its share of infamy in recent times.

Subsequent to the Russian rape, Kamat has had several run-ins with the media, with the chief minister ordering a national television reporter to stay away from him, when he was asked to respond to Congress MP from Goa Shantaram Naik’s comments in the Rajya Sabha partially blaming the victim for getting raped.

December marks the peak of the tourist season in the state. Tourism industry stakeholders have already suggested that the adverse publicity, along with other factors like fears of a terror strike in Goa and global recession could affect tourist numbers coming into the state.

Goa sees nearly two million tourists visiting the state annually, including 4.5 lakh foreign tourists.