Communal harmony, system of jurisprudence do make a difference Visitacao B. Monteiro vmonteiro0...@gmail.com WhatsApp +91-9604201168
The thirty-fifth anniversary of Goa Statehood Day was recently celebrated, on May 30. During a function held to mark it, Goa Governor. P.S. Sreedharan Pillai appealed to all present, and to Goans in general, to study, in depth, the communal harmony and the system of jurisprudence that existed in Goa till 1961 and even for some while later. There has been no comment on this appeal till now. As far as one is aware, nobody from the Government nor among the politicians has bothered to give a serious look to what the Governor has said. Possibly, they might not even have understood what his suggestion was since, most of them were born after 1961 and are unaware about how peaceful the Goa of that time was. Governor Sreedharan Pillai deserves our thanks and praise for having opened eyes to the reality of Goa before 1961. Although the role of the Governor is limited, with regard to the Administration of the State, yet his words are an eye-opener. I hope Goans will take his words seriously and try their best to study their past, because from the past we can draw lessons for the future. In this article, I will try to delve on these two concepts: communal harmony and the system of jurisprudence which prevailed in Goa before 1961. Communal harmony constitutes the hallmark of Goa. In this land, people of various religious denominations and even atheists, have lived in peace and harmony. History tells us that during the Ashoka Empire, Buddhism prevailed in Goa for around six centuries. The caves at Arvalem and a statue of the Buddha, which was found in Colvale and is presently at the Heras Institute, Mumbai, is proof enough. There is a huge Jain tank with niches at Naroa. An Armenian Cross was found in the ruins of Velha Goa port area, thus signalling the existence of St. Thomas’ Christians at Goa Velha and we also find the claimed ruins of a Jewish Synagogue at Curca. All this shows that our communal harmony is multi-secular and even multi-millennial. Goa being a trade zone even before the arrival of the Portuguese, temples, mosques and synagogues were co-existing in Old-Goa. There is no record that there was any communal trouble among any religious denominations. After the arrival of the Portuguese, although they demolished all the mosques from the city of Old Goa early on, and later many temples in the Portuguese-ruled areas of Goa of that time, communal harmony continued to prevail in Goa till date and constitutes the hallmark of the State. It is very unfortunate that, of late, the same is being sought to be disturbed by various statements. This should not be allowed to happen at any cost, but on the contrary, all should be proud of it and promote it. We need to show the other States that various linguistic, religious and cultural denominations indeed can live in peace and harmony with each other in this State. From where did that communal harmony come to be recognized as one of the constituent elements of Goan identity? This question will lead us to the second part of the Governor's appeal -- the system of jurisprudence which prevailed in Goa pre-1961 and a little later. Goans are unique and continue to be known the world over as among the most peaceful people without exaggeration. For millennia, they have lived a community life in their village communities, Ganvkaris or Comunidades (in Portuguese) and it is this 'community spirit' that makes them 'different'. The system of the Village Communities, Ganvkaris/Comunidades has been based right from its beginning on a concept of jurisprudence which was similar to the concept of Roman Jurisprudence, where decisions were arrived at democratically during the village community meetings. When the Portuguese arrived in Goa in 1510, the system of Roman Jurisprudence was formally adopted in Goa and was part of it till 1961. David Sinclair in 'History of India' (Madras 1896) and G. Duncan M. Derret in his chapter on Hindu law in Goa: A contact between Natural, Roman and Hindu laws, speak of this kind of jurisprudence. In the Roman concept of Jurisprudence, the people have a say in the governance and laws, while in the British concept of Jurisprudence which was followed in India during British domination, people have no say because the Queen/State is supreme. In Portuguese Goa the opinion of the people mattered. The British Jurisprudence has been followed in India even after 1947 and in Goa after 1961. The basic difference between the earlier Jurisprudence and the present one lies in the State imposing its decisions on the people, without taking them into confidence. This has made Goans suffer a lot and is also responsible for many Goans leaving Goa and settling abroad. In post-1961 Goa, till date, the laws passed and enforced in Goa under the British concept of Jurisprudence, without taking into account the people, have taken a toll of the peaceful Goan identity, especially its land. Only now are past land scams surfacing at an alarming pace, which were in quite a few cases carried out with the active connivance of many authorities. Goans should seriously study these these issues, if they want to see better times. ### Another version of this article was first published in the Herald. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Join a discussion on Goa-related issues by posting your comments on this or other issues via email to goa...@goanet.org See archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-