Goa's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party Tuesday denied that it had any plans to set up a censor board for tiatrs (local theatre), even as the opposition attacked the state government for even considering such a move.
Speaking to reporters here, BJP state vice president Wilfred Mesquita said that "neither the government nor the BJP as a party have nothing on our minds about censoring tiatr".
"This is just a figment of imagination used by the opposition to attack the party," he said.
For thousands of Goans, especially Goan Catholics, the tiatr is more than just a play or a theatre outing. With its socially and politically relevant and organic themes, watching a tiatr show on weekends, religious feast days and holidays is like watching their own lives play out under bright lights, mixed with a bit of banter and slapstick fun and a touch of tragedy.
Interestingly, the roots of the tiatr are embedded not in an Indian art form, but owes its inspiration to Italian operettas which were a rage in colonial India, especially erstwhile Bombay.
The Congress Tuesday however charged the BJP-led government of being dictatorial in its effort to stifle the popular art form.
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The allegation came on the heels of media reports which claimed that the government was weighing options over the issue of creating a censor board for tiatr.
"Tiatr are in fact public censors for what is wrong in society. The government will have to face a backlash from the Congress, as well as the tiatrists (tiatr-performers) if they do ahead with this dictatorial decision," Congress spokesperson Agnelo Fernandes said at a press conference.