Why the Debate?

Why Goans still debate whether the 1961 Indian Army action in Goa was an act of True Liberation.

José Colaço

This article is in response to postings on the subject on this website [access other postings]

At the outset, let us reiterate a few points and agree upon them:

1. Goa is now irreversibly a part of India.

2. Portugal has NO claims on Goa, & Goans have NO claims indicating that they wish Goa to be part of Portugal.

3. The Portuguese were physically present in Goa for 451 years. As a result, more than just their customs, language, food, music, religion & culture touched Goa & Goans. There are a number of Goans (not necessarily Catholic) who either have Portuguese genes in them or have family members who are Portuguese.

4. The vast majority of Goans do NOT live in Goa.

5. The vast majority of Goans have Lusitanian influence on their lives.

6. There are many Goans who have never known Indian nationality. They live in Pakistan, Brazil, Sri Lanka, the UK, US, Canada, East Africa, Australia & Portugal.  They are Pakistanis, Brazilians, Sri Lankans etc... but NOT Indian. They are Goans none the less.

But......."aren't they Indians by Race?". Depends.....if there is any race such as an Indian race.

Over the past several decades, it has been fashionable for many to run down almost every aspect of Portuguese influence in Goa. It is one thing to say that "1961 was as good a time as ever for the Portuguese to leave Goa". It is another to vilify everything about the Portuguese presence in Goa .

There are many aspects of the Portuguese era in Goa which were unsavory, but not all. This consistent anti-Portuguese propaganda is either a cover up for the failings of successive post 1961 governments or is as a result of a distinct lack of knowledge about Goa.

Goans might be patient, tolerant and easy going, but they are not stupid. They have experienced their land being destroyed for centuries, they see decimation continuing even today.

In every instance, many Goans did  the next best thing. Either tolerated it or got out.  Instead of getting involved in the gutter, they have just picked up and left. During the Inquisition, they left and settled in Mangalore, now they have migrated to many places around the world.

In every single mass migration, one singular act has remained constant. Goans took their culture with them and adapted it to their new milieu.

Goan culture is a composite of the many different influences that have come to affect Goa: Kunbi, Aryan, Dravidian, Saraswat, Hindu,  Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Maratha, Portuguese, Kannad, Arab, Turk, Jewish, English, Konkani, Marathi, Gujrati and now Hindi,  Malyalee, Telegu Sikh and Punjab...etc.

So, NO amount of cultural indoctrination a la Pondicherry or Tibet, will take away Goan culture from Goans. Those who are not True Goans may not understand this or even believe this, but just look at the evidence.

[Read Lino Leitão on Nehru's impression of Goa & Goans]

Many non-Goans do not understand why so many intellectual Goans feel alienated by today's Goa.  Even to this day, there are many Goans who do not feel part of India. Why is that?

Allow me to pose this query : WHY do so many children feel alienated from their own families and run away from home?

This is 2002!.

Thinking individuals are unlikely to accept so called patriotic labels and slogans, just because they are made by holier than thou politicians.  Goans know that all these speeches are High Velocity Gas. These  so called patriots have ripped the country while using slogans to subjugate the masses.

There are a few points in the preceding posts which need exploration.

*It is quite possible that NATO was looking into the feasibility of a base in Goa.  But that is a flam of an excuse for the 1961 action.

Intelligent Goans would have preferred to have the truth, which is more like "The Portuguese had no business in Goa and it was time to go. Furthermore, at the time, the Congress needed an insurance for the elections which were around the corner".

Most of us are intelligent enough to understand WHY invasions are conducted & wars fought.

It is worth repeating though that wars mainly assist  two parties: Those who produce and sell armaments & the politicians who wish to divert attention from internal corruption and mismanagement, towards an external bogeyman.


*It is total horse-blinders to state that the 1961 Rapes in Goa were because "the Portuguese and local populations were mingled so thoroughly. The colour, dress, language and other outward racial distinguishing features were absolutely blurred in a majority of the cases. In this scenario, how can a common soldier be expected to distinguish between locals and foreigners?"


Intelligent Goans would have preferred an outright condemnation of any rapes or the looting which took place in Goa - courtesy the Indian Army.

If only you had seen the face of Eloy Sequeira, years after he was totally destroyed by the cleansweep looting of his watch shop. Hopefully, we will not hear an explanation like "how can a common soldier be expected to distinguish between local and foreign watches?"

Many Intelligent Goans would have understood that the odd incidents of Rape & Looting do occur during Army actions....but not the arrogant misbehaviour which continues at Goan dances or on Goan roads.... as in the [ The senseless confrontation in Panjim ].

In any event, I just do NOT accept that ANY friend or liberator of mine will rape my people and loot my shops - whatever the circumstances. NO WAY!


In this debate, there was this quote from a Geocities URL:

One such significant folk saying advises a Goan to distrust a Portuguese in the same way as he distrusts even a baby cobra (sorop mhunncho nhoi dhaktto ani paklo mhunncho nhoi amcho)”.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1503/colonialism.html

Let me say this upfront, I do NOT accept much of the anti-Portuguese stuff that the highly intelligent and articulate author in the above URL puts out. He is after all, an individual who had been consistently anti-Portuguese and yet, decided to give up his Indian nationality to take up Portuguese....only to continue his anti Portuguese tirade from where he left off.

If Portugal is that bad a country and the Portuguese that bad a people, why would any sensible person join them...voluntarily?   Beats me!

So, I will PASS on the above Konkani proverb, save to say that there are "snake proverbs" in every culture.

Have we not read the alleged joke-proverbs: IF you were confronted by a snake and a (whoever), kill the (whoever).

Even in ancient so called sacred texts, there is "advice" relevant to whom NOT to trust. There is one which says: Don't trust any woman even if it is your mother !, and another which in effect places woman on par with an animal as in "Dhol gavar Sudar pasu NARI, teeno taran ki adhikari"

Honestly, once again, let me say......PASS!  I simply do not wish to give too much credence to opportunism.

Returning to the family model, I submit that a family will ONLY bond & stay together, if every single member of that family is treated with fairness, dignity, and deference towards individuality. No imposed regulations, no arrogance and no attempt to force a family member to CONFORM to ones whims, fancies or revisionist ideals, will ever work.

Those who postulate that "accepting an Indian passport or registering to vote in India is an act of swearing an oath of allegiance to India" may wish to think again. There are Hindus in Pakistan who have Pakistani passports and Tibetans in Tibet who travel with Chinese passports. Do they have a choice?

The problem with India:  One caste trying to subjugate or at least dominate another, a people with one religious view point trying to revise history to try brainwash another & and one set of people trying to impose their linguistics on another etc.  This is why there is so much turmoil in India. There are troubled spots in the North East and North West, and in 1965, the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu almost broke off from India courtesy the attempted imposition of the "new" Hindi on them. No consultation, just arrogant imposition. And you expect....unity? 

India will never achieve unity until the politicians and other power brokers return to the Indian Constitution and start consciously engendering unity through compassionate consultation..... or else.....have in place.....a permanent external enemy.

With reference to  Goa.

Salazar's dictatorship was bad enough, but then came the Indian arrogance. Which Goans exactly were consulted before awfully polluting Chemical plants were inserted into the Goan landscape? Which Goans were heard when the Konkan Railway were routed through environmentally sensitive farm lands and lakes ? Who exactly was consulted when incongruent tourist development on the beaches was organized, and which Goans were consulted before the civilian Dabolim airport was taken over by the Indian Air Force?

It is time for dialogue. The family needs to sit down and talk. No sensible Goan wishes for Goa to split from the Indian family of States. I can state quite confidently that even if every other State in the Indian Union tries to secede, Goa will remain firmly with the Union.

But, Goans demand fairness. Just because we are kind and hospitable does not mean that any Tom, Juana or Hari can come and impose his/her will on us. Non-Goans may not understand this demand, unless they are educated, open minded, have lived and experienced Goa for a prolonged period of time, and have families of their own. [read this from Lino Leitao on Nehru about Goans]

Goans also demand that everybody respect Goa, its ecology, its multi faceted culture, its ethnic & religious diversity and its people. The attempted imposition of new ways, ideas and methods on us without prior consultation and due regard to our feelings, is nothing short of being patronizing and abusive of Goan hospitality and open heartedness. Trust me!, Goans are sensible enough to understand what we need to import from other sources and what we don't need to.

Bonding within a nation is like bonding within a family. One cannot legislate it or enforce it. It happens.  It happens best when it is nurtured carefully.

If this careful nurturing does not happen, many more families will emigrate to another country - not all of them for financial reasons and not all of them, Goan!.......all this......while the country burns...literally!

jc
May 3, 2002