Goa, Aug. 1 -- ALBERTINA ALMEIDA

We have a right to live. We have a right to breathe. We have a right to grow. We have a right to have the ground be neath our feet protected. We have a right to die, and to be returned to the soil with dig nity, enriching the world we nurtured. Yet miners, timber contrac tors, real estate developers, corridor builders, coal trans porters, and beautification planners, in league with mu nicipal and panchayat author ities and forest officers and officials deny us these rights. They choke our breath, stunt our growth, fracture our en vironments, and disable our ability to age with grace. They even deny us a decent memo rial, though they profit from our destruction. Across Goa and India, our voices, spoken thr...