KARWAR: An activist from Goa has written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) alleging that devotees are prevented from visiting the Anjediva Island, off Karwar coast, for the feasts of St Francis de Assisi and Our Lady of Springs Church on October 4 and February 2 respectively, by the Indian Navy citing security reasons. The island is currently under the control of INS Kadamba Naval Base.
Natividade D’Sa, 77, a resident of Canacona, has appealed to PM Narendra Modi to direct the authorities concerned to allow devotees to visit the island. He claimed that Goa and the Indian Navy had entered into an agreement to allow people to conduct religious rituals in the island, but people have been stopped from visiting the island for the past 15 years. The Navy has constructed a breakwater attached to the island.
He said he wrote the letter to the PMO in June and had also alleged that a few artifacts were missing from the island.
In its reply, the PMO asked the Home Secretary of Goa about the details of the island, including survey numbers and also questioned about the artifacts.It is said that Vasco da Gama, on his way back to Portugal after visiting Calicut as part of his expedition to India, landed on the island on August 29, 1498.
He declared the island a territory of the Portuguese crown on September 24, 1498. In 1505, a fort and a church were constructed. The church is considered to be the first on the west coast.
Anjediva Island is about 1.5 lakh sqm and it was administered by Portugual before the liberation of Goa in 1961. After that, the Goan government administered the island. In 1990, when Indian Navy wanted to construct a naval base at Karwar, they inked a pact with Goa of acquiring the island and allowing devotees during festivals.