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Dr Juilião Menezes (1909-1980)
Lino Leitão
(I treasure the freedom of thought. It’s the thought that makes the humans to arise above the beast – Menezes Bragança)
[ The author of this post,
Dr. Julião Menezes, a very significant and serious contributor to Goan political thought and activism, was born in Assolna, Goa. The pattern of Goan thought of his times was conditioned to be subservient to the colonial supremacy and to the hierarchical inequities. Goans of his times were indoctrinated to respect power and not individual rights. His spirit rebelled against such subjugation and injustices imposed upon mankind by social and political systems of that time. He studied in Goa and after finishing Lyceum, (Portuguese high school) he attended Berlin University in the 1920’s and graduated in medicine – MD. He also took courses in Indology in Berlin. It was there that he met Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, who was studying at the same University. They shared similar opinions on many issues that confronted the world then, dominated by the colonial powers. He took active part in the Indian Students’ Union in Berlin, along with Lohia who was the secretary of the Union. Even as a student, he had the insight to see through sanctimonious façades on the international forums controlled by the colonial powers. Once in the 1930’s when Lohia and he attended the session of the League of Nations, they both booed at Maharaja of Binkaner, a representative of India, who was talking about peace, while India and Estado da India were groaning under the yoke of colonialism. They were both thrown out from the gallery. Such was his indomitable spirit. In 1938 when he returned to Goa, he got himself involved in the activities of the Assolna Juvenile Club, injecting it with his progressive ideas. But those who were brought up to believe in the myth of colonial supremacy frowned upon his ideas of emancipation that he struggled to stimulate among the youth. One day when the Piazza Cross at Assolna was desecrated, the village elders pointed a finger at him and to his pernicious ideas, and the government closed the club for good. It wasn’t easy for any individual in Goa in those days to make a dent in the public opinion that was controlled autocratically by the lackeys of the dictatorship. Goans of that time were brought up to be powerless, and as such, they were scared to make changes in their ways of thinking and break up the fetters that bound them. Frustrated, Julião left for Bombay. There in 1939 he founded Gomantak Praja Mandal, and in 1942 he launched a bilingual weekly Gomantak (Konkani & English) to liberate Goans from their servile mental attitudes. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a socialist and a political activist in British India, was tired and fatigued. He needed rest to recuperate and recharge his batteries. It was then that his friend Dr. Julião Menezes invited him to Goa and take rest at his home in Assolna. Dr. Lohia accepted the invitation and arrived at Dr Julião’s place in Assolna on June 10, 1946. The news of Lohia’s arrival spread among some Goans, but when Evagrio Jorge reported it with biographical notes of Lohia in O Heraldo the news spread all over Goa. Dr. Julião’s place in Assolna became the meeting place for many Goan intellectuals and political activists of that time, who went there to consult with Lohia and Julião. It was there that the movement for Goa’s civil liberties was born. In that respect, Julião’s house in Assolana is Goa’s historical landmark. There were two schools of thoughts at that time on how to secure civil liberties for Goa, the Estado da India. One was constitutional and other was the direct approach. As the debate began, Julião Menezes and Lohia dismissed the constitutional approach, arguing that it had failed before, and it won’t work now, they said, since Portugal and her colonies were under the yoke of dictatorship. Having decided what road to take to wrest civil liberties, they discussed strategies to implement their plan. Dr. Julião Menezes came out with the idea that the defiance against the suppression of civil liberties should be staged in every town in Goa. This tactic in the end was approved. Once Julião’s policy was endorsed, Purushottam Kakodkar, who had lived in an ashram of Mahatma Gandhi, was given the responsibility to make the arrangements to execute the plan. Kakodkar organized various meetings in different towns of Goa. Even after 18th June, these meetings continued and at the end of the meeting they sang Vande Mataram. At that time, there were two idealistic visions about Goa. One vision was that of the integrationists who favored the incorporation of free Goa with India. The other vision was rooted in the Goan native nationalism. These two visions clashed at that time. Dr Julião Menezes who was an integrationist collided with the ideas of Advocate José Inácio de Loyola, a proponent of Goan nationalism. Loyola, a worthy political activist and intellectual of that time, argued in the articles he wrote that the economy of Portuguese India was feudal and stagnant, depending on British India for jobs and imports. Without the initiation of economic foundation and without political awareness coming from the Goan leadership, Loyola feared that a meaningful change would elude the future generations of Goans. With this view in mind, Loyola approached Julião and Lohia and requested them to delay the Movement to give the local leadership a chance to arrest civil liberties from the colonial administration. They ignored his request. Later, in a meeting with Lohia, Julião accused Loyola of being a ‘loyalist’. As if to test the waters, on June 15, 1946, in the evening, Dr. Julião Menezes and Dr Lohia addressed a gathering of the people in Panjim in front of the house of Jaginal Shah. Though the colonial government posted its officials and policemen, they didn’t intervene at this time and stop the meeting. In that respect the meeting was a success. But the main climax of the movement for civil disobedience arrived on June 18, 1946 at Margão, as planned. Goans – men and women--came in droves to welcome Dr. Julião Menezes and Dr. Lohia as they were entering Margão square in a horse carriage. The Goan psyche congealed for centuries by fear had thawing signs. Men and women who were conditioned to be quiet and obedient were shouting in defiance at the top of their voices that echoed in the municipal rectangle. “Jai Hind! Mahatma Gandhi-ki- Jai! Dr Lohia-ki Jai! Dr Julião Menezes-ki-Jai!” The colonial administration, which was caught off guard, failed to subdue the fervor of the crowd. Julião and Lohia were arrested and removed at the dead of night to the Panjim police station. The news of their arrest spread throughout Goa, and the people demonstrated in most of the towns. In Margão, next morning, the citizens drove in procession, and in the evening, they gathered in front of the Câmara. Even though the troops sought to disperse the crowd, they squatted resolutely on the ground, shouting in unison at the top of their voices, which resounded throughout the town: Jai Hind!! Dr. Lohiako shodd do! Dr. Julião Menezesko shodd do! In the end that day, Dr Julião Menezes was released and Dr Lohia was driven outside of Goa and released. Dr. Julião Menezes returned to Bombay and continued the campaign for civil liberties through his paper Gomantak and published a booklet, Goa’s Freedom Struggle (1947) recounting the events that took place for the fight for civil liberties. He was also one of the founders of NCG (National Congress of Goa) and played a very active role. . Manohar Sardessai, Goa’s cherished poet, asks Goans in his poem: 18 June 1946:
“Bhava tuca iad assa Ottra Jun?”
Goans of my generation, who witnessed this historic event in Goa’s history, will never forget 18th June 1946. On that day Goa’s collective soul awakened to freedom. Dr Julião Menezes, the son of the soil, stirred our dormant consciousness to freedom. Without him and without the organizing capabilities of Purushottam Kakodkar, there wouldn’t have been 18th June 1946. Without Julião there wouldn’t have been Lohia Maidan. He lit the torch to this revolution and brought the best out of the Goan soul. Goan political activists and intellectuals fearlessly endured harsh prison sentences in Fort Aguada, Fort Peniche and in Portuguese African colonies. There is a portrait of Julião in The Goan Forum–Dr. Julião Menezes--a glimpse, (June 19, 2003) contributed by Ben Antão, who came to know Julião personally in Bombay. Ben gives us a peep of another facet of Julião’s personality. Julião comes out as an unassuming man--a man, extremely kind and polite. A man who wasn’t egocentric to call himself a hero for being a civil rights activist The Government of Goa, Daman and Diu failed to recognize Dr. Julião’s contribution to the cause when he was alive. Though he was honored on the 18th June, 1986 after his death, he deserves to be remembered in a monumental way; his actions made many a Goan youth to shed fear and awe of the dictatorial rule they were brought up with. He passed away in Bombay on 2nd of July in 1980.
Bhangrachem Goem amchem Kittlem assa pois ozun!
--Mahonar Sardessai.
*************************************************** Sources: a. WHO’S WHO OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS, Volume One, Goa Gazetteer Department, Government of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu–-1986, edited by Dr. P.P. Shirodkar. b. Goa’s Awakening by Evagrio Jorge – 18th June (Goan Revolution Day) Silver Jubilee Celebrations – Panjim c. Goa’s Foremost Nationalist – José Inácio Candido de Loyola (The Man and His Writings--XCHR STUDIES SERIES No 9, Concept Publishing; edited by Charles J. Borges; 2000) d. The Day Lohia Changed Goa by Vasant Nevrekar, submitted to The Goan Forum by Ben Antão (Tuesday, June 17, 2003 4:31 PM)
Lino Leitão
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