2024)

'Pedro Mascarenhas' via Goa-Research-Net Thu, 05 Dec 2024 11:52:11 -0800

The errorsof Christianity in Goa cannot be attributed to Jesus Christ. He did
not ask forthe creation of the Inquisition. He was killed by the
"Judeo-RomanInquisition". He was not a warlord and did not attack any city
(Mecca).

Henry VIII,known for his six marriages, appointed himself Supreme Head of the
Church ofEngland and dissolved convents and monasteries, inaugurating the
theory of the"divine right of kings!".

Christnever deified monarchs.

Mozambique?The Inquisition was not there.
Slavery?President Joe Biden on Tuesday, during his diplomatic trip to
Angola,acknowledged America's "original sin" of slavery and the slave tradethat
once connected the United States and the African nation. "I'velearned that
while history can be hidden, it cannot and should not beerased," Biden said.

On Mon, Dec 2, 2024 at 3:12 PM <[email protected]> wrote:

The Portuguese intolerance in Goa until 1961 and in Mozambique until 1974 had
nothing to do with religion. It was hunger and greed in Portugal that led many
people to colonize and commit crimes in the colonies. The slave trade is an
example of this. They were not enslaved in the name of religion. These
arguments aim to whitewash Portuguese colonial history.
Missionary schools opened the eyes of colonized peoples in Africa.

Alberto
Sat, 30 Nov, 2024, 5:52 pm 'Nuno Cardoso da Silva' via Goa-Research-Net,
<[email protected]> wrote:

Unfortunate as it may be, the fact is that religion has more often been a tool
for violence and intolerance, than a tool for peace, love of one another and
tolerance. Much of what we Portuguese did wrong in our colonial past was due to
our fierce attachment to a particular religion. Just like much of what is being
done wrong today in India has to do with a fanatical approach to religion by
far too many people from all religious backgrounds.
The Portuguese of the 21st century are not psychologically very different from
the 16th century Portuguese. The difference is that we were then fiercely
religious and care today very little about religion. As a result we find no
difficulty in fully embracing in our community Hindus from India and Nepal,
Muslims from Pakistan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, Shiites from the Ismaelite
community, Orthodox Christians from Romania, the Ukraine and Russia. Most of us
demand only two things to accept people as co-citizens: that they truly want to
be part of our community and that they speak Portuguese. We are in no way
superior to the people of India, and I have no doubt India would be as peaceful
and tolerant a nation as we now are, once you stop being intolerant about
people's religious beliefs. One may believe in God, but maybe one should stop
thinking that God has any preference for any religion. It's what we do which
matters, not what we believe in. Simple, but clearly so difficult to achieve,
in Europe as well as in Asia...
Nuno Cardoso da Silva
Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 6:23 AM
From: "V M" <[email protected]>
To: "V M" <[email protected]>
Subject: [GRN] Manu Pillai: "There are No Heroes or Villains in History" (O
Heraldo, 30/11/2024)
https://www.heraldgoa.in/cafe/manu-pillai-there-are-no-heroes-or-villains-in-history/416418

Religion and politics are an especially volatile mix in South Asia, cleaved
apart so painfully on the basis of religion in 1947, and roiled on the same
lines again in the 21st century, as majoritarianism surges on all sides of the
post-Partition borders. Here in India, the main divide remains Hindu-Muslim,
with painful consequences – from casual intimidation to ethnic cleansing –
playing out in different locations However, in recent years, Sikhs and Sikhism
have also been targeted as “anti-national”, and Goa has experienced many silly
and childish provocations about Catholics and Catholicism, including recurring
absurdities about who can and can’t be considered Goencho Saib.

These slurs haven’t yet added up to much, and it would be unwise to overreact.
However, the increasing conflation of myth and history by the state is an
unhealthy trend. As the distinguished political scientist Niraja Gopal Jayal
reminds us: “In effect, it is an attempt to construe Indian citizenship as
faith-based, in consonance with the idea of a Hindu majoritarian nation, of
which Hindus are natural citizens while Muslims, in this view, properly belong
to Pakistan or Bangladesh. Perfecting this congruence is the object of the new
project of citizenship.”

Catholics in Goa – and Christians in India – have not been primary targets in
this scenario, and in fact Joseph Francis Pereira – a Pakistani of Goan origin
– was one of the first beneficiaries of the new Citizenship Amendment Act,
which allows Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists (but not
Muslims) from the neighboring countries to become Indian citizens if they
entered before 2014.

Yet, there are warning signs, as the senior academic Peter Ronald de Souza
shared in a recent column in Indian Express: “A few days ago, during an
argument (in a WhatsApp group), I was told to "go back to Portugal". Not one to
take such abuse without a fight, I responded and asked my adversary to “go back
to Afghanistan”. He was outraged. "I’m not from Afghanistan," he roared. "Well,
I’m not from Portugal," I said. Two things come together in this brief exchange
that are worth thinking about. My name and his outrage. For him I was obviously
the outsider and, equally obviously, he was the insider. Both for him were
self-evidently true. In this exchange, my argumentativeness faced his righteous
anger. He said he was confronting me because I was evil. That we went to school
together more than half a century ago did not matter.”

Palpably upset, de Souza writes “I must honestly admit I was surprised at the
vitriol. What began as a discussion on an Indian festival, soon descended into
a toxic spat watched by others who, in their silence, appeared to endorse his
views that it was inadmissible for me to talk about things Indian, especially
Indian culture. What did I know? And who was I anyway? An Indian on probation!
Now I know what Draupadi must have felt in the assembly when she asked the
custodians of dharma her question. They did not answer. They remained silent.”

“Who belongs? Who does not belong? What kind of state is being re-engineered by
Hindu nationalism, and where did the historical impetus come from?” Precisely
when it is needed most to help address these questions, Manu Pillai’s lucid,
brilliant new Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu
Identity is an invaluable primer on India’s encounter with Western colonialism,
and “the context in which Hindu nationalism – Hindutva, so dominant now in
India – found its raison d'être. [It is] a survey of 400 years at most – a span
that supplies the historical setting and much of the emotional stimulus
empowering present-day Hinduism.”

All serious students of Goan history are strongly urged to read Gods, Guns and
Missionaries for the way it begins alone, a deft and masterly treatment of
colonialism and conversion in the Estado da Índia. This brave young author – he
was born in 1990 – pulls no punches, but also refrains from cheap shots. This
clear-eyed, sure-footed approach is both refreshing and absolutely required,
because the subject is such a potent mix of history, religion and politics.
Here is just one passage, for flavour: “the Portuguese came into everyday
contact with Hindus, armed with scarce knowledge but copious pre-judgement. The
encounter took barely a generation to turn violent. One factor was that the
colonizer’s rigid religiosity had grown stiffer still in reaction to the
anti-Catholic Reformation occurring in Europe. That is, with the emerging
Protestant movement accusing the Catholic church of perverting the faith,
Catholic powers had a special necessity to demonstrate unequivocal Christian
credentials. And here, their newly acquired Indian enclaves offered a parade
ground, packed as they were with devil-worshipping pagans.”

To be sure, all this is familiar ground to historians, but serious scholarship
about these episodes is almost never knitted together, understood or presented
with as much panache and storytelling flair as Gods, Guns and Missionaries. Via
email, Pillai told me that “history in our country--and perhaps elsewhere
too--is not merely a rational, academic inquiry into the past. It is an
emotional, political affair. My very first book invited a Rs 5 crore defamation
notice, so I know the risks and perils involved in presenting complexities from
the past. In this context, historicising religious identities can provoke all
kinds of responses. "The truth" pales here in comparison with how people
interpret history to create "their truth" in the present or as groups; to find
meaning by reading history a certain way. This is true of all communities and
identities everywhere in the world. But today we are also seeing an active
cultivation of animosity by exacerbating elements of divergence in these
narratives. So, when writing a book on modern religious identity formation, yes
there is a fear that some of its contents can be hijacked. Similarly, one can
also be "cancelled" by different sides for not reinforcing their respective
ideological positions. One chapter in the book might annoy the Left and please
the Right. Another might achieve the reverse. But this is the risk of doing
what I do today. One can't do history if worried about reactions. Even when one
is aware of the risks involved in these reactions.”

As the topic is especially relevant in this Exposition year, I asked Pillai
what to make of the paradox of “Saint” Francis Xavier – an unstinting zealot
who believed in the superiority of his faith – becoming converted after death
into an all-inclusive Indian holy man, who is addressed by pilgrims from every
religion to answer their prayers. He responded thoughtfully: "We must always
view historical figures in their time and context. Xavier and his proselytising
work stemmed from a vision of the world that emerged from his cultural
background, the history of his part of the world, his education etc. The
responses of his brown interlocutors were also similarly influenced. There is
also in this equation the political power of the Portuguese and their own
imperial goals, which skewed the field in favour of one side over another. We
should be able to speak of this transparently while also recognising that
historical dynamics also evolve and change. The same Portuguese state's
attitudes shifted over time; the memory of Xavier and his work also changed.
These too are real historical processes. History is full of contradictions. In
the battle between "sides" today we can lose sight of this. There are no heroes
and villains in history. Often the same characters in different contexts can
look heroic or villainous, depending on the prism, the location of the viewer,
and so on.”

Pillai acknowledges that it is difficult to have honest and open discussions
about historical-religious-political issues in India at the moment, but they
must occur nonetheless: “I think conversations help. Remember that outside of
certain political constituencies, most human beings can take a sensible view of
things. It is this mature, reasonable tendency that must be cultivated. By
reacting to others, and their setting of the terms, we play into their game.
Instead, we must engage in dialogue, speak of Xavier the complex, sometimes
"negative" figure while also recognising the equally historical phenomenon of
Xavier as he came to be recognised and reinterpreted in these same communities,
not just by Catholics but also Hindus. I always say that most things in history
are not a case of "either/or". The word we must embrace is "and". But this is
admittedly easier said than done. I don't know if I have a solution other than
dialogue, and engagement in good faith.”

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Re: [GRN] Manu Pillai: "There are No Heroes or Villains in History" (O Heraldo, 30/11/2024)

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