Orlando da Costa, father of the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa was a
communist. But his son Antonio joined the Socialist Party because he did not
agree with dictatorships, whether fascist or communist. There was no logic in a
country that experienced one dictatorship (Salazar's fascist) to embrace
another dictatorship (communist). The fall of the Soviet Union demonstrated its
huge failure.
On Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at 09:25:23 AM GMT, Frederick Noronha
<[email protected]> wrote:
This thread prompts me to argue that the history of the Left in Goan politics
had hardly been adequately noticed, commented upon or researched. From the
under-the-radar Communist cells in Salazar-ruled Goa (I believe there were some
who were active in the Escola Médico Cirúrgica de Goa, is that right?) to the
post-1961 trade unionists and campaigners. Or, those among the diaspora and a
section of freedom fighters too, and even among some student activists of the
1970s and 1980s....
Then, there was the influence of the Socialist parties as well, which at one
time were big players in pan-Indian politics, especially in North India. This
region is a terrain which has been largely occupied by the religious hard
Right and Hindutva politics in recent times.
Such groups might not have been dominant players in Goa's politics (unlike in
other ex-Portuguese colonies), but they certainly did make their impact felt.
Read recently some references to the Praja Socialist Party having helped the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party in their campaign for the first elections
(1963). This was, incidentally, at a time when hardly any politicians in Goa
were aware of how an Indian-style election campaign was run and contested. The
MGP stayed on in power till 1979.
The article above refers to a time when the parliamentary Left was the main
Opposition in quite a few parts of India. While Goa's politics of the 1960s has
been characterised as "India's first democratic revolution", the Communists in
Kerala shocked the world by coming to power through the ballot-box. That too,
at a time when Nehru and the Congress was unquestionably holding sway over
almost the entire country. (The Goa election results of 1963 were a shocker for
the Congress, but that is another issue.)
Quite a few expat Goans -- including those coming from prominent, landed and
affluent ("landlord") families -- were at one time attracted to Leftwing
politics. A few of them went on to play a significant role in global politics
too, such as Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Pio Gama Pinto, Sita Valles, Aquino de
Bragança, and those mentioned on this list just a few days ago. It was once
said that after the Whites left Africa, the Browns would take over. This seems
to be happening in a small way (having influence far beyond their numbers)
though only for a short while.
The run-up to Goa's anti-colonial struggle could also be interpreted as a
combination/clash between campaigners of the Left and the Right. Since the
Right was not much involved in India's campaign against the British, it was an
opportunity to catch-up on lost time for them too. This strange alliance also
influenced the soft Hindutva politics of the MGP, though over time the
influence of the Left waned here. Not very surprising as Goa's first generation
of post-1961 top political leaders traced their roots to the capitalist or
mercantile class themselves.
In the 1970s, there was a growth of environmental activism -- which, in a way,
might be seen as a continuation of this trajectory. Of course, then young
leaders like Matanhy Saldanha made it clear that they did not see their
politics as Left-oriented, though others like Christopher Fonseca very much
did.... and still does.
The influence of Liberation Theology on Goa is also poorly understood. So is
the influence of trends from within progressive Ecumenical groups, on a
religion which had been long known for its Conservatism in Goa. For instance,
some of the tourism critiques, which came to Goa early, were shaped by the
thinking of global Protestant-led tourism critique groups... Even though the
State chose to misinterpret this as attempts by rival tourist destinations (Sri
Lanka or Thailand) to disrupt Goa's tourism sector, which was indeed far from
the truth.
Like in the rest of India, the parliamentary Left got incorporated within
mainstream or ruling parties. They would find their (mostly honest) leaders in
demand for forming and leading trade unions, but very few citizens would vote
for the same when they contested elections. The Press, which was mostly
connected to mining firms then, was understandably not sympathetic too.
Still, this doesn't mean their influence was not without impact.
FN
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