--- On Fri, 17/10/08, Frederick [FN] Noronha * फ्रे <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> From: Frederick [FN] Noronha * फ्रे <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Goanet] Talking Photos: WE SHALL OVERCOME (Protest Meet 2) > To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <goanet@lists.goanet.org> ... > For obvious reasons (cultural biases and geo-political > interests), the NYT carried Goa on the frontpages for > almost a > fortnight, with a series of amazingly one-sided coverage. It is good that you have copies of the NYT. “Amazingly one-sided coverage” is probably closer to the truth than you think. Have you read the Indian papers of the era? Was there any truth in them - re “armed build-up”, “attacks on villages”, “jet-fighters at the ready” et al? What about some communist papers that stated that the Americans were building state-of-the-art air-bases in Goa? That they were shipping loads of arms to Goa? I suppose you know the type of arms that were used by the 3,000 or so personnel and that most of them ran out of ammunition especially in the marshes of Diu where the only bit of real resistance was shown to the Indian armed forces? > On the other hand, the former > Soviet Union > was painting itself in a "progressive" light, > supporting de-colonising > movements across the globe Quite correct, with a view to propagating its Marxist-Leninist doctrines, leading to bloody revolutions in the emerging nations. India and other Afro-Asian countries over-looked the fact that Russia had itself invaded Hungary and other states in an obviously imperialist expansion. > Self-interest was the obvious reason for such propaganda in > the > "international" media (we know how one-sided and > neo-colonial the > transational newsflows then were). Of course, the > self-interest was on > both sides, that of the "international community" > and its antedulivan > Portuguese allies, and of course the post-British Indian > state, in its > "national building" frenzy. I am not sure whether there was self-interest at work here, or genuine concern that a small place like Goa would be overrun by uncouth Indians, which today, the truth is all apparent. > With the privledged elites and the middle-classes (who had > it good) > largely supportive of the Portuguese, and the bulk of the > population > of that time hankering for a better deal. Are you sure it was the “privileged elites” and “middle classes (who had it good)”, or those who knew what it was to live in post-1947 India? My father, for one was pro-Indian until the actual fact occurred, when his disillusionment was all too apparent, because although he passed via Bombay on his voyages to Europe, he had little contact with the actual Indian administration. On the other hand, his brother, a teacher in Damão, was more observant, and had seen the post-1947 Indian-style democracy, with all its corruptive practices, was definitely pro-Portuguese. Those who couldn’t care less who “ruled” over them were the field-workers and those whose livelihood depended on manual labour. Anyhow, can you tell me if the land-reforms that were introduced in the mid-60s (effectively stopping competition among the tillers), has actually increased agricultural output? What is its effect today? Why is agricultural land being sold today to the nearest property-developer? > Of course, there were complications too ... like the > support to the > Portuguese by the poor Goan in Bombay, pushed out from his > homeland Bah! You call this “poor Goan in Bombay, pushed out from his homeland” … come out with the facts man. Say that a person no less than the Archbishop of Bombay, Cardinal Gracias, was requested by Nehru to change the attitudes of Goans in Bombay, who refused to join in the anti-Portuguese morchas and generally favoured Portuguese continuing in Goa; that Cardinal Gracias sermonized (and probably the priests of other parishes were requested to comply) for Goa’s merger with India; that there was a referendum, and the results were that a large majority was against merger of Goa with India; that after this negative referendum, a number of intellectual Goans in Bombay were intimidated, newspapers closed, editors given a “Rajan” treatment, Goan Institute given a work-over to get at the funds; and you call these guys “poor Goan in Bombay”? The result of the above, was, when questioned by a reporter on these results, Nehru’s answer was “Goans are in domestic service”, a demeaning remark with respect to Goans, if there was one; as also Nehru’s statement to that fact that India would take over Goa even if the Goans wanted the Portuguese to be there. Tell me, if there is any book by an Indian author on the “liberation” movement, that states the above facts? > due to the inefficiencies of Portuguese colonialism in the > first > place. Pardon me? Why is there such a mass movement today, as I’ve stated before, not only from from Goa, but also from India, to places like Australia and Britain? Why is there, all of a sudden, such a long waiting list for Portuguese nationality? Don’t blame the Portuguese for migration, rather thank them for the broader level of “education” that they imparted the Goans which enabled them to “fit in” anywhere they went, for the honesty that became inherent in a Goan abroad. Not all Goans might have had schooling and higher levels of “learning”, but all of them were educated enough to know how to behave and westernized enough to assimilate in western society. > It's time the handful of Goanetters who hanker for the > past woke up to > the realities, and acknowledge that while life might have > been > priviledge in pre-1961 times for them, this was not the > reality for > all. That’s what you might say, I’m sure, and expected too. But how many Goans “who know” frequent the ‘net, or Goanet for that matter? How many Goans are ready to speak out, risking their reputations as we “the handful” do? Even this paragraph in itself is arrogant in stating that we "who hanker for the past woke up to the realities…”. Truth is, we don’t. We just try to bring the realities to surface in the presence of the mass of misinformation that exists out there. Did you realize that there are many Goans who readily talk about this in private yet keep their opinions to themselves in fear of being called anti-Indian? "Eh? assum reh - zalem tem zalem. Atam ulloi-lar keslo faido assa?" Gabriel. Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
