Re: [GRN] Pamphlets

[John de Figueiredo]

Good points, Frederick. The geographical argument does not count either. Monaco is of the size of 314 acres, with a population a little over 36,000, speaking French, and surrounded all 3 sides by France. The third side is along the sea just as Goa. But Monaco is an independent nation. Bruto da Costa wanted a plebiscite for the Goans to decide on the future of Goa. This plebiscite never took place. At any rate, if flowers became concrete, this conversation is irrelevant because the Goa we are discussing is no more.  John Sent from my iPhone On Dec 12, 2023, at 4:02 PM, fredericknoronha <fredericknoro...@gmail.com> wrote: Something makes me want to disagree with quite a few of the comments made, and conclusions drawn, below: (1) My reading is that Portugal dealt with East Timor in the way it did more due to the turmoil at that time in Portugal itself, the Carnation Revolution, abrupt change in political direction, etc. Open to correction here. (2) About Goa being a "rich basket", economic studies and other accepted analyses suggest otherwise. Salazar could have (rightly) seen a "domino effect" starting in Goa. Something that undercut the plank on which his ideology was based. Plus, in the Portuguese imagination over centuries, Goa meant something rather different. Call this emotional reasons, or whatever you wish. (3) "Indian patience ran out" is a shorthand argument which has, unfortunately, been widely accepted in our perspective on the issue. If you read the trajectory of events as outlined in Valmiki Faleiro's recent book, you might conclude otherwise. (4) 1961 in Goa has to be also viewed in the context of the Cold War. Some studies here have begun looking in that direction. This issue is not only about India and Portugal, let alone Goa. (5) This "France was wise" or "Portugal could have followed France" logic has been put forth repeatedly, and seldom challenged. It is based on an acute misunderstanding of what happened in Pondicherry. For instance, a perusal of the recently-published The Portuguese Presence in India (Notion Press, 2020)  by João A de Menezes, p.198-212, could easily make one rethink this argument. This argument has come up a few times in this forum too, and then we end up taking it as accurate.  FN On Wednesday 13 December 2023 at 01:58:43 UTC+5:30 eugene.correia wrote: Well, Portugal withdrew from East Timor, as the independence movement was fierce. I don't think Portugal keeping East Timor as one of its colonies would be a financial benefit. Seemingly, East Timor was a "basket case' for Portugal while Goa was a "rich basket". Colonial politics in those times rested on "gains and loses" and Portugal let go off of East Timor but reluctantly held on to Goa. As events proved later on, Indian patience ran out. Knowing well that Salszar would find it difficult to keep Goa in its embrace by engaging India in a war, it was a walk-over as we know it. Goa's freedom did ring a bell in African countries and the Non-Alignment Movement gained momentum and slowly but surely the continent of Africa was free of colonial rule. No self-respecting people like subjugation by a foreign power when the people's consciousness and national pride comes to the fore. What would happen to Goa if it continued to be under Portuguese rule is nobody's guess. France was wise, as it earned respect. Portugal was humbled and disgraced. History is dotted with such examples. Eugene Correia  -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/ae318b18-d024-4e3a-b903-fc3924830319n%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/A3D036AD-7F50-4D20-9DDA-33D3A37D5228%40sbcglobal.net.