Re: [Goanet]Beating a Dead Horse!

[Rui Collaco]

I totally agree with you on this point. But if you care to analyse how the 
debates begin, you will find a trend: the "Portuguese camp" (I call it this 
way on ly for convenience's sake), or rather, most people in this camp only 
react to jaundiced anti-portuguese diatribes that are a common feature on 
this net. I don's see prejudice on this side, only a growing saturation with 
falsehoods stated by known Portugal-bashers, who are the ones really full of 
prejudice. Of course there are some "compagnons de route" who attack India 
sistematically, but you should not take the tree for the forest.

I am not aware of comparisons between East and West or Christianity vs 
Hinduism. That is futile and leads nowhere. But I have seen a Catholic 
downgrading himself and his fellow Catholics. I believe religion belongs to 
the private sphere of an individual. It is a pity most Indians don't think 
this way. Just too many of them seem ready to fight religious wars, instead 
of fighting their grinding poverty.

Of course colonialism is a bad thing, and no one in his right mind is 
defending it. Almost as bad is Indian expansionism and imperialism (bullying 
neighbours like Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, maintaining the illegal 
occupation of Kashmir with great use of violence, strong-arm tactics in 
absorbing Sikkim into the Union or the very invasion and annexation of Goa 
without ever consulting its people).

Rui Manuel Colla�o

Lisbon




From: "Santosh Helekar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Goanet]Beating a Dead Horse!
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 19:56:42 -0000
As I have said many times before, honest and sincere criticism is a
good thing, as long as basic decency is maintained. Even flogging a
dead horse is good, once in a while, if it helps us vent our feelings.
The trouble is that one often gets the feeling that at the root of
most pro-Portugal/anti-Portugal and pro-India/anti-India debates there
exist those bad old prejudices, namely that Western people are better
than Indians or vice versa, Christianity is better than Hinduism or
vice versa, Goans are better than people of other Indian states, etc.
I hope at the very least all debaters of the issue in question agree
that forceful colonialization of the people of another land was and
still is a bad thing.
Cheers,

Santosh

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