[Goanet-News] Julio Ribeiro and the choices before Indian Christians (Jason K Fernandes/Dale L Menezes, DNA)
http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-part-1-julio-ribeiro-and-the-choices-before-indian-christians-2072444 Part 1: Julio Ribeiro and the choices before Indian Christians Jason Keith Fernandes jason.k.fernan...@gmail.com Dale Luis Menezes dale_mene...@rediffmail.com Rather than compromise with Hindu nationalism, the present moment should be used as a moment to deepen the experience of Indian citizenship. Julio Ribeiro's interventions in various national newspapers over the last few months have consistently made a case about the predicament of the Christian communities in India. However, no other article seems to have grabbed the attention of the national media than the one in which he asserted that he felt like a foreigner in his own country. Ribeiro's assertion followed the increase in violent attacks against Christians, and their churches and saints across India. At a time of crisis, like the one India is facing at the current moment, it would be expected that those who face persecution from the Hindu Right would stick together. But, as much as we need to stick together to offer a common resistance, it is also important that we use this moment to engage in fruitful discussion so that we may work out the way forward. It is in this spirit that we offer this critical response to the recent op-ed authored by Ribeiro. Following on the cliché of every crisis offering an opportunity, we suggest that rather than compromise with Hindu nationalism the present moment should be used as a moment to deepen the experience of Indian citizenship. Hindu nationalism should be seen not as a sudden entrant into Indian politics, but a force that has frustrated the realisation of the constitutional promises of egalitarian citizenship since the very beginning of the Indian state. Even as Ribeiro protests his current discomfort, his formulations unfortunately remain within the realm of Hindu nationalism and we propose to point a way out of the crisis, both for him and other embattled groups within the Republic. Our primary difference with Ribeiro stems from the fact that we differ in chronology. He inquires whether it is coincidence or a well-thought-out plan that violence against Christians intensified after the BJP government came to power. While it is true that there has been an escalation of violence against Christians since the Modi-led government came to power, the systematic targeting of Christians has been a part of the history of the Indian nation-state since Independence, and some would argue in the course of the national formation itself. We would like to draw attention to the Niyogi Committee Report published in 1956 that held activities of Christian missionaries and conversions to be a threat to the Indian state. The Niyogi Commission, it should be pointed out, was the product not of an openly Hindu Rightist political party, but the Congress Party. The Report was subsequently followed by the passage of multiple Freedom of Religion bills that seek to limit the right to conversion. Later, in the 1960s, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) faced a good amount of trouble when, in the words of Cardinal Simon Pimenta, foreign missionaries in India had been asked by the government to leave the country -- visas were not being renewed; no fresh visas were issued for others who had been detailed by their superiors for work in India. Such instances indicate the persistent hostility with which Christian activity and groups have been viewed in India. As many studies of the history of Christianity, and conversion movements in India have emphasised, Indian nationalism has seen the conversion to Christianity as the conversion to a 'foreign' religion, and thus an act violative of the very soul of the Indian nation. Further, conversion to a 'foreign' religion was viewed as a challenge to India's spiritual self-sufficiency. The problem that Christians have had in India, therefore, clearly predates the current government, even though the arrival of the current government has seen a scary intensification of activities. In other words, the problem with Christianity could be said to be part of the national make-up, and not merely an agenda of the BJP and the Hindu Right alone. The recent intensification of violence against Christians can be seen as a culmination of decades of such suspicion and violence. Contrary to Ribeiro's suggestion that Hindutva violence emerged full-grown with the Modi Government, our argument is that the history of Indian nation-state has seen a steady deepening of Hindutva, rather than constitutional citizenship. Reviewing this
[Goanet] Julio Ribeiro and the choices before Indian Christians (Jason K Fernandes/Dale L Menezes, DNA)
http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-part-1-julio-ribeiro-and-the-choices-before-indian-christians-2072444 Part 1: Julio Ribeiro and the choices before Indian Christians Jason Keith Fernandes jason.k.fernan...@gmail.com Dale Luis Menezes dale_mene...@rediffmail.com Rather than compromise with Hindu nationalism, the present moment should be used as a moment to deepen the experience of Indian citizenship. Julio Ribeiro's interventions in various national newspapers over the last few months have consistently made a case about the predicament of the Christian communities in India. However, no other article seems to have grabbed the attention of the national media than the one in which he asserted that he felt like a foreigner in his own country. Ribeiro's assertion followed the increase in violent attacks against Christians, and their churches and saints across India. At a time of crisis, like the one India is facing at the current moment, it would be expected that those who face persecution from the Hindu Right would stick together. But, as much as we need to stick together to offer a common resistance, it is also important that we use this moment to engage in fruitful discussion so that we may work out the way forward. It is in this spirit that we offer this critical response to the recent op-ed authored by Ribeiro. Following on the cliché of every crisis offering an opportunity, we suggest that rather than compromise with Hindu nationalism the present moment should be used as a moment to deepen the experience of Indian citizenship. Hindu nationalism should be seen not as a sudden entrant into Indian politics, but a force that has frustrated the realisation of the constitutional promises of egalitarian citizenship since the very beginning of the Indian state. Even as Ribeiro protests his current discomfort, his formulations unfortunately remain within the realm of Hindu nationalism and we propose to point a way out of the crisis, both for him and other embattled groups within the Republic. Our primary difference with Ribeiro stems from the fact that we differ in chronology. He inquires whether it is coincidence or a well-thought-out plan that violence against Christians intensified after the BJP government came to power. While it is true that there has been an escalation of violence against Christians since the Modi-led government came to power, the systematic targeting of Christians has been a part of the history of the Indian nation-state since Independence, and some would argue in the course of the national formation itself. We would like to draw attention to the Niyogi Committee Report published in 1956 that held activities of Christian missionaries and conversions to be a threat to the Indian state. The Niyogi Commission, it should be pointed out, was the product not of an openly Hindu Rightist political party, but the Congress Party. The Report was subsequently followed by the passage of multiple Freedom of Religion bills that seek to limit the right to conversion. Later, in the 1960s, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) faced a good amount of trouble when, in the words of Cardinal Simon Pimenta, foreign missionaries in India had been asked by the government to leave the country -- visas were not being renewed; no fresh visas were issued for others who had been detailed by their superiors for work in India. Such instances indicate the persistent hostility with which Christian activity and groups have been viewed in India. As many studies of the history of Christianity, and conversion movements in India have emphasised, Indian nationalism has seen the conversion to Christianity as the conversion to a 'foreign' religion, and thus an act violative of the very soul of the Indian nation. Further, conversion to a 'foreign' religion was viewed as a challenge to India's spiritual self-sufficiency. The problem that Christians have had in India, therefore, clearly predates the current government, even though the arrival of the current government has seen a scary intensification of activities. In other words, the problem with Christianity could be said to be part of the national make-up, and not merely an agenda of the BJP and the Hindu Right alone. The recent intensification of violence against Christians can be seen as a culmination of decades of such suspicion and violence. Contrary to Ribeiro's suggestion that Hindutva violence emerged full-grown with the Modi Government, our argument is that the history of Indian nation-state has seen a steady deepening of Hindutva, rather than constitutional citizenship. Reviewing this
[Goanet] 'Xit-Koddi' Bahrain Goans E-Newsletter - March 2015
Bahrain Goans E-Newsletter 'Xit-Koddi' - March 2015 YGC Has A New Committee Have You Heard Of The Most Haunted Places In Goa ? Will Goan Get Dual Citizenship ? And Other Regular Features Now Available Online At: https://sites.google.com/site/bahraingoans/xit-koddi---mar-2015-1 . __,_._,___
Re: [Goanet] [Secular Goa] The Inquisition Lore
Priolkar's, Dellon's and Buchanan's accounts are well-reasoned descriptions of the inquisition. Buchanan's account in particular is a fairly objective and even-handed account. For example, he also describes all the fanatical suicides and sacrificial killings of the Hindus in gory detail. Those who are trying to malign these authors and to whitewash all the atrocities have a self-serving apologist religious agenda of their own. Cheers, Santosh On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 7:01 AM, Gabe Menezes gabe.mene...@gmail.com [seculargoa] secular...@yahoogroups.com wrote: By Frederick Noronha It’s 2012 and Vincent and Martha are falling “instantly in love with Goa”. Four sentences into Ashwin Sanghi’s The Rozabal Line (Westland, 2008), we encounter the Inquisition. Predictable? Like few others, the Inquisition motif is one which comes up repeatedly in writing on Goa. It does so once more in “India’s bestselling theological thriller”. This has happened with so much regularity, that we just seem to take it as a given now. From novels to works in Konkani, translated texts, video CDs and even official accounts of Goa’s history, this story is writ large. But how much of this is really true? You get a hint of something not quite being right if search up for information on the Black Legend. Put briefly, the Black Legend is a style of writing – or propaganda – that demonises the Spanish Empire, its people and its culture. As if to suggest that the blackest were the Spaniards, while other colonial empires were rather pleasantly-run enterprises. For understandable reasons, this at times extends to the Portuguese too. Spanish history gets projected in a deeply negative light; the reasons why this happens is interesting in itself but beyond the scope of this discussion. Suffice to note that depicting exaggerated versions of the Spanish Inquisition form a key part of this. Ever since Priolkar’s book on the subject (The Goa Inquisition: The Terrible Tribunal for the East), published thrice by a State university, a Hindutva publishing house, and locally, the first time being just before Liberation, this motif is taken for granted in Goa too. Expectedly, over time, it gets new life of its own. Scratch a bit below the surface, and it becomes obvious that there’s a whole different reality out there. Globally too, questions are being asked. One place to start unwrapping the knotted ball of thread and mythification is perhaps a 1994 BBC documentary on the myths of the Spanish Inquisition. See it online at http://bit.ly/BBCSpIn. Turns out from a detailed and closer look that not only were accounts of the Inquisition grossly exaggerated, but there was in fact also a whole industry of creating these myths that survived centuries. It was promoted by various quarters, from manifold reasons. What one learn in the above documentary would go so much against what one is used to believing, that it takes quite some time for the reality to soak it in. In Goa itself, the accounts of the Inquisition depend largely on the versions of Buchanan (1766-1815) and Dellon (1650-1710). The first was a Scottish theologian, whose biases about faiths other than his own have been documented elsewhere. David Higgs (in The Inquisition in Late Eighteenth-Century Goa, in Goa; Continuity and Change, edited by Narendra K Wagle and George Coelho, University of Toronto 1995) gives us another perspective when he acknowledges the role Priolkar’s 1961 study played in shaping the debate. Higgs writes: “Priolkar drew heavily on secondary sources in his sketch on the Goan Inquisition, especially on a late seventeenth-century Frenchman, Gabriel Dellon, arrested in Goa, whose case was made famous by the denunciatory account of his experiences published after his return from France”. He calls Dellon’s version an “exuberant account of his misfortunes”. Likewise, Higgs points out, Priolkar also used the “over-imaginative account of a British clergyman, C Buchanan, who wanted to think that what he was not allowed to see in Old Goa in 1808 was what Dellon inveighed at more than a century earlier”. From the time these accounts first came about, they were taken to by a number of diverse quarters. For different reasons. Jansenists, Gallicians, pro-Protestants and anti-Spanish Frenchmen highlighted such writing. Dellon has himself been identified with pro-Calvanism and the Gallician policy of Louis XIV, to whose court Dellon had been admitted. Since then, the mythification of the Inquisition has been used to push 21st century communal battles. Perspectives from Judaism and Hindutva also take the debate along a road of its own. But it is not only the world of fiction that is shaped by the assiduously created Inquisition lore. When former top cop Julio Ribeiro voices alarm over the communalisation of Indian public life, someone in cyberspace thinks it fit to remind him: “We, perforce, have to talk
[Goanet] Goa news for March 30, 2015
Goa News from Google News and Goanet.org Visit http://www.goanet.org/newslinks.php for the full stories. *** Goa Budget excludes mining revenue estimate - Moneycontrol.com 6 presented in the ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNGFIL-WniIruWtbYu_ItXCZ16MO_gclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778781951713ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/goa-budget-excludes-mining-revenue-estimate_1340059.html *** Dornier Crash: Body of Woman Officer Traced Off Goa Coast, Says Official - NDTV HocVF2Pfjb5kkGYAclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778783909404ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAg http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNH27R-zrdbyc5P1CRrsjQSS0PYMqQclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778783909404ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/dornier-crash-body-of-woman-officer-traced-off-goa-coast-says-official-749898 *** Fuselage of Indian Navy's Dornier Aircraft Salvaged Off Goa Coast - NDTV est off Goa coast on Tuesday with the three officers on board. Commander Nikhil Kuldip Joshi, who was flying the aircraft and has 4,000 flying hours to his credit, was rescued about an hour after ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNH6VuiHBW5191pTNYHeO6KNVSD4lQclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778786530723ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/fuselage-of-indian-navys-dornier-aircraft-salvaged-off-the-goa-coast-750444 *** Indian village in tourist destination of Goa bans kissing in public - The Guardian e-Mundo, eight miles north of Goa's capital Panaji, unanimously passed a resolution this week warning holidaymakers against engaging in public displays of affection. We have adopted this resolution following ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNGA7F7Jnu9xmyLZHkLVVSxkXIDkqwclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778785546308ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/indian-village-in-tourist-destination-of-goa-bans-kissing-in-public *** Sporting Clube de Goa 1-1 Shillong Lajong: Red cards for both sides in ... - Goal.com -league-shillong-lajong-fc-rally-to-hold-sporting-clube-de-goaI-League: Shillong Lajong FC Rally to Hold Sporting Clube de Goa http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNE0S1TCc46ogR9AviIHpMgB4kYJIQclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778786607544ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/sporting-goa-vs-shillong-lajong/1981028/report *** Tributes to son who died in Goa after scattering mother's ashes - Evening Standard est India, in February the three friends travelled 230 miles to Goa where they became separated. Mr Durkin's family lost contact with him a few days later and launched an online campaign to find down. His ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNG_qkQXpfYKSnu3xfNMZ3eT_ovcDAclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/tributes-to-son-who-died-in-goa-after-scattering-mothers-ashes-10138157.html *** Will Goa 'miss' its double decker train to Mumbai? - Times of India mes of IndiaWhile the CR claims it has received the sanction from the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) for running the double decker as a regular train from Mumbai to Goa, CRS maintained that it is yet to receive any application from the CR with regards to ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNFmYphafpK-2XteiAx5F7GsA-ISKAclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778786221665ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Will-Goa-miss-its-double-decker-train-to-Mumbai/articleshow/46708626.cms *** Delhi imbroglio upsets AAP's Goa unit - Times of India u in AAP's Goa ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNHkpqYF_p6Ao1P97V7vTrI6CMYYKQclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778784610841ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Delhi-imbroglio-upsets-AAPs-Goa-unit/articleshow/46730902.cms *** Shoppers, passersby at Panaji market awed by Goa's first busking event - Times of India mes of IndiaBrought to Goa by an initiative named national streets for performing arts (NSPA), who have been successfully conducting acoustic music performances in the public spaces in Mumbai, the event at Panaji featured 'buskers' Sampan Sail and Arnie Rego ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rct2=ususg=AFQjCNHFkQKvL06hVqc3syQAUJWlscX5lwclid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331cid=52778788602508ei=_IoYVdDHF8Ly3QHQoYTgAgurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Shoppers-passersby-at-Panaji-market-awed-by-Goas-first-busking-event/articleshow/46730818.cms *** Local IT professionals opt to 'make in Goa' - Times of India mes of IndiaPanaji: Tired of making money for others and seeking a better quality of life, Goans who had left the state to pursue careers in the IT sector are steadily making their
[Goanet] Consumers Protest Rise in Tariff, Inflated Bills, Sub-Standard Supply at JERC Public Hearing in Goa
- Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help other CONSUMERS to be better informed. --- - Locals blow a fuse over power dept’s ‘inefficiency’, - At a final public hearing called by the joint electricity regulatory commission on the electricity department's petition to enhance the electricity tariff for 2015-16, consumers and consumer activists protested the department's proposal to raise power tariffs, stating that it had a lot of work to do to curb distribution, manpower and other losses to bring down expenditure. Consumers took advantage of the public hearing to vent out their ire against inflated bills, delayed billing, substandard electricity supply, callous linesmen, office staff and inefficient and lackadaisical service. Why doesn't the department catch those who are stealing electricity instead of hiking prices? asked activist Lorna Fernandes. The public hearing, which was held at EDC House, Panaji, witnessed strong protests as leaders of consumer forums demanded that the department reduce manpower costs and improve power supply quality. I would like to know whether an FIR has been registered by the electricity department against the PWD for digging up and damaging wires because of which we did not have power on March 25, said convener of the consumer action network Roland Martins. The electricity department, represented by two consultants, bore the brunt even as they presented the department's business. The proposal identified the departments shortcomings as well as tariff disparity between states. The consultants pointed out that the department had not hiked power tariffs by a large margin for the last 15 years and had been accumulating losses even as tariff in other states stood nearly four times higher than Goa. They also said that 14% of the department's expenditure goes on manpower. Other states may be getting better facilities for the higher price, said activist Martin Rodrigues. Martins argued for transparency and proper performance evaluation process, along with a stop on the subsidy bill being dumped on the common man. The criticism and protests caught the attention of the joint electricity regulatory commission chairman, Sudhir K Chaturvedi. Goa is better than other states but more progress is desirable, Chaturvedi said. I suggest the department should hold a public grievance redressal meeting every four to six months with either the power secretary or with an officer who can take decisions. Acknowledging the concerns voiced before him, Chaturvedi said that the department had to improve tremendously in order to turn into an efficient and professional utility service provider. Chaturvedi is expected to pass his order by March-end or in the first week of April. Offering a rebuttal to those asking for better services before hiking prices, power secretary Prashant Goyal termed it a chicken and the egg situation. There is an urgent need to improve our power infrastructure. If we don't do it, the quality of power supply will continue to fall, he said. Even though the public hearing was called specifically to deliberate on the issue of tariff hikes, the objections and concerns raised were often unrelated, much to the amusement of Chaturvedi. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Locals-blow-a-fuse-over-power-depts-inefficiency/articleshow/46708602.cms Times of India 27/3/15 --
[Goanet] THE INQUISITION LORE
The Inquisition Lore in today's Navhind Times' Panorama written by the great writer, journalist and book publisher Mr. Frederick Noronha is an excellent article. It is an appropriate commentary to various writings on Inquisition and touches on contentious statements and nails the terrible lies that have been spread on the subject. I wish it is read by all including one netizen who uses rabid language out of context. Dr. Francisco Colaco
[Goanet] The Inquisition Lore
By Frederick Noronha It's 2012 and Vincent and Martha are falling instantly in love with Goa. Four sentences into Ashwin Sanghi's The Rozabal Line (Westland, 2008), we encounter the Inquisition. Predictable? Like few others, the Inquisition motif is one which comes up repeatedly in writing on Goa. It does so once more in India's bestselling theological thriller. This has happened with so much regularity, that we just seem to take it as a given now. From novels to works in Konkani, translated texts, video CDs and even official accounts of Goa's history, this story is writ large. But how much of this is really true? You get a hint of something not quite being right if search up for information on the Black Legend. Put briefly, the Black Legend is a style of writing - or propaganda - that demonises the Spanish Empire, its people and its culture. As if to suggest that the blackest were the Spaniards, while other colonial empires were rather pleasantly-run enterprises. For understandable reasons, this at times extends to the Portuguese too. Spanish history gets projected in a deeply negative light; the reasons why this happens is interesting in itself but beyond the scope of this discussion. Suffice to note that depicting exaggerated versions of the Spanish Inquisition form a key part of this. Ever since Priolkar's book on the subject (The Goa Inquisition: The Terrible Tribunal for the East), published thrice by a State university, a Hindutva publishing house, and locally, the first time being just before Liberation, this motif is taken for granted in Goa too. Expectedly, over time, it gets new life of its own. Scratch a bit below the surface, and it becomes obvious that there's a whole different reality out there. Globally too, questions are being asked. One place to start unwrapping the knotted ball of thread and mythification is perhaps a 1994 BBC documentary on the myths of the Spanish Inquisition. See it online at http://bit.ly/BBCSpIn. Turns out from a detailed and closer look that not only were accounts of the Inquisition grossly exaggerated, but there was in fact also a whole industry of creating these myths that survived centuries. It was promoted by various quarters, from manifold reasons. What one learn in the above documentary would go so much against what one is used to believing, that it takes quite some time for the reality to soak it in. In Goa itself, the accounts of the Inquisition depend largely on the versions of Buchanan (1766-1815) and Dellon (1650-1710). The first was a Scottish theologian, whose biases about faiths other than his own have been documented elsewhere. David Higgs (in The Inquisition in Late Eighteenth-Century Goa, in Goa; Continuity and Change, edited by Narendra K Wagle and George Coelho, University of Toronto 1995) gives us another perspective when he acknowledges the role Priolkar's 1961 study played in shaping the debate. Higgs writes: Priolkar drew heavily on secondary sources in his sketch on the Goan Inquisition, especially on a late seventeenth-century Frenchman, Gabriel Dellon, arrested in Goa, whose case was made famous by the denunciatory account of his experiences published after his return from France. He calls Dellon's version an exuberant account of his misfortunes. Likewise, Higgs points out, Priolkar also used the over-imaginative account of a British clergyman, C Buchanan, who wanted to think that what he was not allowed to see in Old Goa in 1808 was what Dellon inveighed at more than a century earlier. From the time these accounts first came about, they were taken to by a number of diverse quarters. For different reasons. Jansenists, Gallicians, pro-Protestants and anti-Spanish Frenchmen highlighted such writing. Dellon has himself been identified with pro-Calvanism and the Gallician policy of Louis XIV, to whose court Dellon had been admitted. Since then, the mythification of the Inquisition has been used to push 21st century communal battles. Perspectives from Judaism and Hindutva also take the debate along a road of its own. But it is not only the world of fiction that is shaped by the assiduously created Inquisition lore. When former top cop Julio Ribeiro voices alarm over the communalisation of Indian public life, someone in cyberspace thinks it fit to remind him: We, perforce, have to talk about the utterly violent and murderous record of Christianity in India, with specific reference to the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa. In a recent online thread, the noted Indo-Portuguese historian Teotonio R de Souza spoke out publicly about how his writing on the Inquisition had been mauled and manipulated, to project a certain vision. He complained of his writing being hijacked, and text which he never wrote added under his name. Commented Souza: One first paragraph is drawn from an article of mine in a book edited by M D David, and the rest is all added from elsewhere and with orthographic and syntax mistakes galore. That article is cited
[Goanet] A pill to induce us to be compassionate???
http://time.com/3753383/compassion-brain-chemistry/?xid=newsletter-brief --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com
[Goanet] [Photo Blog by Rajan Parrikar] Stranded in Strandir
Photo Blog by Rajan Parrikar has posted a new item, 'Stranded in Strandir' A taste of the Icelandic winter. Heavy snow and high winds have shut down the only route in and out of the Strandir coast in the Westfjords area of Iceland. Hopefully the weather tomorrow will permit the once-a-week flight from Reykjavík to the nearby airstrip in Gjögur. If not I get to enjoy the blowing snow [...] You may view the latest post at http://blog.parrikar.com/2015/03/29/stranded-in-strandir/ Warm regards, Rajan Parrikar ra...@parrikar.com
[Goanet] Mumbai/Goa: Hunt for dad with posters, hope ....TOI 29 Mar pg 11
From: bcsabha.kal...@gmail.com To: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Hunt-for-dad-with-posters-hope/articleshow/46731774.cms Hunt for dad with posters, hope VijayV Singh Mumbai: 65-Year-Old Had Gone Missing From Goa Three Months Ago KNOW YOUR RIGHTS A telecom engineer, along with her two sisters, are going from station to station in Mumbai suburbs with a picture of their cancer-survivor father who had gone missing from Goa three months ago. During inquiry , the sisters learnt that their father was seen in the city so they decided to take the help of good samaritans to trace him. The women said their father, Joseph Lopes (65), can't speak after the can cer operation. He stepped out of the vicinity alone after 10 years and the sisters suspect that he may be finding it difficult remembering his address. When the family approached the Mumbai police for help, they were told that the police cannot help as Joseph went missing from Goa. “We don't know what to do and are trying everything. We know he cannot reach us, so we are try ing hard to reach him with the help of people,“ said one of the sisters, Cinthiya. Joseph was staying with his wife, a retired teacher, in Vasai. The couple have three daughters, all of whom are married. Joseph had been operated on for throat cancer. He went to Goa along with a group in December and went missing from a market. The sisters started the search for him in Goa, where a bus driver told them he had seen their father boarding a Mumbai-bound bus. The driver told them it was difficult to understand Joseph but he understood from his distorted voice he wanted to go `Vasai'. The sisters started to inquire about Joseph in the city and Navi Mumbai. They also visited old-age homes. After inquiring with people between Borivli and Virar, the family learnt that he had been spotted in the extended western suburbs. Since last month, they have been standing outside railway stations with a poster of Joseph. Their expectations rose when a woman told them that she had seen their father at Mira Road.But it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity . One can approach the local police along with a photo of the missing person. The police circulate the photo among police stations through the missing person's bureau
[Goanet] Fr. Roger Lesser, RIP ( Thanks to Joseph Naik Vaz Institute )
ph Naik Vaz Institutewww.josephnaikvaz.orgBerkeley, California
March 26, 2015
A Tribute for the Memorial of Rev. Fr. Roger Lesser, 1928 – 2015
The Joseph Naik Vaz Institute was formed by a small lay group in Berkeley,
California in 1978. Its purpose was to preserve his memory and to work for the
Beatification and Canonization of the recently canonized St. Joseph Vaz. He is
the newest Saint made for India and the first Saint of the state of Goa and of
Sri Lanka.
I encountered Fr. Roger Lesser because of this. His book Sages and Saints of
India was recommended to us around 1997 because of the wonderful chapter on
St. Joseph Vaz in it. It described the heroic missionary work of the Apostle
of Kanara and Sri Lanka. Fr. Lesser who was a critical thinker and writer on
many spiritual topics drew a striking comparison between St. Francis Xavier and
St. Joseph Vaz.
Generally, St. Francis Xavier has been held up as the missionary model in Asia.
But Fr. Lesser showed how St. Joseph Vaz was the more relevant model for post
colonial and present day India and the new nations of the world. He painted two
pictures of the two missionary saints in that chapter. On one hand, there was
the Spanish nobleman, a member of a powerful new religious Order, funded by the
Queen of Spain, a missionary who came to India with the Portuguese fleet and
worked with the protection of the Portuguese forces sent to found the
Portuguese Empire in Asia. On the other hand was the Indian priest, who
founded the small Oratorian Congregation of native priests, and went alone to
Sri Lanka without colonial arms and resources, to face persecution by yet
another colonial power, the Dutch, to make conversions without any material
enticements of any sort.
We began an enthusiastic correspondence about this topic and exchanged ideas
and articles. I began to receive Fr. Lesser’s Christmas letters and poems and
came to hear about his work with the poor in Rajasthan. In June 2000, we took
a Petition to Pope St. John Paul II asking that St. Joseph Vaz be classified a
Martyr for having worked and died under persecution and asking for him to be
canonized without the final miracle together with the many other Martyrs for
the Grand Jubilee. We found out that Fr. Lesser was in England at the time.
So we contacted him and asked him to join us to present the Petition. We flew
him to Rome. He was at the Mass organized by us at Chiesa Nuova, the famous
Oratorian church in Rome, and at which the late Cardinal Simon Pimenta
presided. He was with us when we presented the Petition to the Prefect of the
Sacred Congregation for the Saints, Cardinal Saraiva Martins. That was a very
dramatic and exciting encounter that we shared with Fr. Lesser and a group of
Indian and Sri Lankan priests and lay people in Rome.
Throughout the next few years, Fr. Lesser continued to encourage us and to say
special prayers and Masses for the Canonization of St. Joseph Vaz. He wrote to
some Indian Cardinals and Archbishops to have half Indian Jesuit, St. Garcia
Gonzales, and Blessed Joseph Vaz declared Patron Saints of India. I visited
him in Udaipur in 2006 when I went to incredible Rajasthan and some other parts
of north India for the first time. I was recovering from cancer and had come
to Jaipur to do Panchakarma. We prayed and talked together at length.
We informed Fr. Lesser about our Petitions to Pope Benedict in 2012 and to Pope
Francis in 2014 for the Canonization of St. Joseph Vaz. We are happy that he
lived to hear that three of our Petitions were printed in the final Positio
submitted to Pope Francis and to the consistory of Cardinals before they voted
to approve the canonization. And to know that he lived to see that
canonization on television as it actually took place this year on January 14th
in Sri Lanka. Our bond with Fr. Lesser has been a deep and meaningful one for
the last 15 plus years. He has enriched our thinking and spiritual awareness
through his life of sacrifice and inter religious works. All of us will surely
miss his warm and thoughtful spirit.
We are sure that he is smiling down on us today in the company of St. Joseph
Vaz!
Filomena Saraswati Giese, President
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[Goanet] Attackers of Christians are not real Hindus: Cardinal Gracias
From: bcsabha.kal...@gmail.com To: http://www.ndtv.com/mumbai-news/those-attacking-christians-are-not-real-hindus-says-bombay-archbishop-oswald-gracias-749147 Attackers of Christians are not real Hindus: Cardinal Gracias In the last few months, churches, convent schools and Christian buildings have been vandalized in Delhi, Karnataka and other parts of the country. Posted on March 25, 2015, 8:00 AM Cardinal Oswald Gracias Mumbai: Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay has said that those attacking Christians in India are no real Hindus and the government should act swiftly to check the stray elements in the country. The government is not acting swiftly and strongly enough. I don't want to say BJP has an anti-Christian agenda but one cannot close eyes to fact that these attacks have multiplied after they came to power, said the cardinal, part of an eight-member papal advisory team of cardinals. On Saturday, a group of masked men were captured on security cameras throwing stones at a church in Mumbai. Despite the video, nobody has been arrested yet. If Prime Minister Modi wants to be an effective leader then he should take his assurances to minorities to their logical consequences, Cardinal Gracias added. This is happening far too often and we would be blind not to see the systematic attacks against Christians. I do not believe the BJP government wants this, but I fault them for acts of omission. In the last few months, churches, convent schools and Christian buildings have been vandalized in Delhi, Karnataka and other parts of the country. Earlier this month, a 71-year-old nun was raped at a convent in Bengal. This is not India. These are stray elements. These are not real Indians and certainly not the real Hindus. Vast majority of Hindus are tolerant, understanding and friendly, Cardinal Gracias said. The Cardinal, who is scheduled to travel to Rome later this month, said the spate of attacks on Christians in India is being discussed worldwide. I am very embarrassed by what is going on in India. The image of India across the world is getting damaged. Source: NDTV
[Goanet] LIMERICK 4
On some issues, Modi cannot afford to be phlegmatic, In politics, you succeed only if you are pragmatic; Attacks on nuns must be stemmed, And more roundly condemned – It’s time he more firmly reined in the fanatic. - Shanti Dhoot
[Goanet] FR Killian lopes passed away
SAD NEWS, BUT UNBELIEVABLE TRUE FR KILLIAN LOPES, BARODA(DANDEAVADO CHINCHINIM) HAS RETURNED INTO THE ARMS OF THE LORD. HE BREATHED HIS LAST ON 30/3/215 EARLY MORNING. OPERATED FOR HEART PROBLEMS, HE CAME OUT SUCCESSFULLY, BUT SUCCUMBED TO LUNG INFECTIONS. HIS MORTAL REMAINS WILL BE TAKEN TO BARODA FOR FINAL RITES IT MAY BE NOTED THAT FR KILLIAN HAS BUILT AN SPRAWLING ASHRAM AT BARODA., A FITTING MONUMENT TO HIS UNTIRING , DEDICATED, SELFLESS EFFORT OF HARD WORK FOR THE WELFARE OF HUMANITY IN THE MOULD OF TRUE FOLLOWER OF CHRIST HE WAS VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT A MONUMENTAL DREAM ACCOMPLISHED.,HE WAS CONDUCTING RETREATS FOR THE RELIGIOUS AND LAY PEOPLE ALL OVER..PRESENTLY THE ASHRAM AT AMODAR IN BARODA WAS A RETREAT CENTRE FAREWELL FATHER, MAY GOD GRANT YOU ETERNAL REST, WE WILL FOREVER MISS. YOU OUR PRAYERS AND CONDOLENCES TO THE BEREAVED FAMILY NELSON LOPES AND FAMILY
[Goanet] DHARNA TO BE HELD BEFORE HIGH COURT TO DEMAND SUSPENSION OF JUDGE DVIJPLE PATKAR
A protest dharna will be held on April 13th from 10 am before the Bombay High Court at Panaji to demand the suspension of charge sheeted Judge Ms Dvijple Patkar. The dharna would also be to protest against Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni whose official office is in the High Court building for trying to shield the beleaguered Judge Dvijple Patkar. Their nexus is a high stake case Special Civil Suit No. 31/2013 being heard by Judge Dvijple Patkar in which Atmaram Nadkarni is defending Liquor Baron Vijay Mallya from his Kingfisher Villa at Candolim being taken over by the banks as part-payment of outstanding debts. It is highly improper for a charge sheeted person to continue discharging duties as a Judge and exert political pressure through Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni to try and hang on to office. Margao Police on 5th March 2015 filed a charge sheet against Judge Dvijple Patkar and two others under Sections 498-A (b), 323, read with Section 34 of Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The charge sheet was filed after a police investigation consequent to a First Information Report No 502/2014 dated 3rd November 2014 registered against Judge Dvijple Patkar and others. Judge Dvijple Patkar who is currently Civil Judge Senior Division and Judicial Magistrate First Class at Mapusa has now been summoned by Margao Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Reina Fernandes to appear as accused before her on April 7th at 2.30 pm to face trial Judge Patkar is also facing proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act registered as DVA/28/2014 before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class at Vasco ‘C’ Court. The proceedings are currently before the South Goa District Judge. This unbecoming conduct of Judge Patkar has compromised the Independence of the Judiciary. Judge Patkar should have herself stepped down and faced the wheels of Justice to avoid this darkest ever and very sordid shameful chapter for Goa’s Judiciary from unfolding. Judge Patkar’s innocence or guilt will be decided only by the Court. It is however very anguishing that in a glaring impropriety a charge sheeted Judge continues to preside over the Temple of Justice being able to manage and manipulate to derail the wheels of Justice. The trust of the people would only be further shaken if a charge sheeted and now tainted person continues as a Judge. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires
