I appreciate Sachin Phadte's apology, but I wish to remind as Miguel Braganza, Santosh Helekar, and some others have already done in their recent postings on Goanet, that this list should not be used for forwarding any misrepresentations" or "fabricated" versions of any fundamentalist groups / individuals. It was a harmful and irresponsible behaviour on the part of Sachin Phadte. I will not be surprised if some others pick on his forwarded text and use it further.
Sachin Phadte suggests in this present mail that according to me the Inquisition was established in 1560 or 1565! Could Sachin let me know where did I say that? And where did I mention in my single paragraph that is inserted as introduction to a long Hindutva concoction that it was the Inquisition that started the policy of conversions and destruction of temples as Sachin Phadte suggests below in the message? Again from a Hindutva source? It looks as if this Hindutva is in many ways "bloodier" than the Inquisition it seeks to condemn. Teotonio R. de Souza Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:58:32 +0530 From: Sachin Phadte <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Goanet] Details of the Goa Inquisition or Hindutva cyber crimes? To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" First, I would like to aplogise to Teotonio R. de Souza for posting an article that gave an impression that the whole of it was written by him. Since the article was disjointed in some ways, I did feel that he was not the author of all that was said in it. The purpose of posting the article was that there was a discussion on the Inquisition, where some had tried to deny that it was targetted against the Hindus also. In the past, there have been some who have denied that conversions in Goa were not done by force. I think that when one tries to deny history, there is a certain amount of resentment that is created. In this respect, I agree with Santosh Helekar that when we discuss the violence against Christians in Orissa, we need also to recognise the events that happened prior to the violence, in particular the attack on a Hindu swami, whose name I do not recollect at the moment. Some time back, a member on this list said that the BJP in Goa wanted the return of the sites where temples were destroyed and churches built in their place. I was aghast at the suggestion of the BJP, and asked who exactly said it and when it was said. I did not get an answer to my question, and after a certain amount of persistence, someone (I do not remember who it was, and so would not like to hazard a guess) said that the member on this list made a tongue-in-a-cheek statement. However, the discussion went around to denying that temples were indeed destroyed. It must be said to the credit of others on the list, that they were upset by the denial of the historical facts. In fact, the para that Teotonio confirms was written by him, clearly states that temples were destroyed and, in some cases, the material was used to build churches. For the information on this list, I am reproducing that paragraphy here: "At least from 1540 onwards, and in the island of Goa before that year, all the Hindu idols had been annihilated or had disappeared, all the temples had been destroyed and their sites and building material was in most cases utilized to erect new Christian Churches and chapels. Various viceregal and Church council decrees banished the Hindu priests from the Portuguese territories; the public practices of Hindu rites including marriage rites, were banned; the state took upon itself the task of bringing up Hindu orphan children; the Hindus were denied certain employments, while the Christians were preferred; it was ensured that the Hindus would not harass those who became Christians, and on the contrary, the Hindus were obliged to assemble periodically in Churches to listen to preaching or to the refutation of their religion." The question then becomes is whether history should become a burden for the descendants today. I fully agree that it should not, and there is no question of holding the Christians of today to be held responsible for the acts that were done in the name of Christianity. Life goes on, and so should some historical facts should not come in the way today. There will always be some who will use these facts for an ulterior purpose. However, when these facts are attempted to be denied, then there can well be a problem, and the responsibility is really on those who are doing the denial. And the agenda of those who use the facts for the ulterior purpose comes to be part of the mainstream discussion. Before I end, I would like to deal with the question posed by Gilbert Lawrence, namely "If the aim of the Goa Inquisition was to destroy Hindu temples and convert Hindus (as is alleged), why was the Inquisition in place for 250 years?" He has pointed out that as per Teotonio, the destructions of the temples started in 1540, and the Inquisition was established in either 1560 or 1565, that is after 20 to 25 years. The objective of the destruction of the temples and converting the Hindus was not completed in the 20 to 25 years. In fact, the fact that so many of the temples did survive the colonial rule, and the fact that the majority of the Hindus did not convert, is a clearl sign that the objectives were not achieved even after the disbanding of the Inquisition. It is also my understanding that the Inquisition was targetted not just towards the Hindus but also towards many Christians, both the converts from Hinduism as well as the expatriates who lived in Goa. But the fact that the objectives were not achieved does not mean that the institution did not exist. As far as the question of the longevity is concerned. Perhaps Teotonio can confirm it, but it is my understanding that for a majority period of this time, the institution was dormant. I guess as happens in many bureaucratice instances, certain practices remain on paper but are never put in practice. Sachin Phadte
