Dear Mr Gilbert Lawrence, 1} Portugal had an Anglo-Portuguese Friendship Treaty signed somewhere in 1955-56. Also Portugal was a member of NATO. Both these facts strongly dissuaded Nehru from leaning too hard on Salazar. Also Soviet approval for an Indian military adventure in Goa was not certain. Hence Salazar could take it easy on the military front. In fact India's military action on18th & 19th Dec. 1961, very much took Salazar by surprise.The decision to go in for the military route was taken more by V.K. Krishna Menon (India's then Defence Minister) who was a leftist and did not much respect the American restraint on Nehru in the matter of Goa. Secondly, the decision itself was in the face of overt & covert opposition from very influential sections of India's businessmen and bureaucrats who had developed a powerful vested interest in keeping Goa as a "free port" for smuggling foreign goods into India. Though the official Portuguese revenues of the "Estado do India" were meagre, the unofficial revenues of both Portuguese civil servants in Goa ( and may be in Portugal itself ) as also of business-houses in Goa , from this Smuggling trade were enormous. So Goa indeed was Goa Dourada, till VKK upset the apple cart with his "Operation Vijay ".
2} The analytical writings about pre-Liberation Goa's economy by Dr. T.B.Cunha , Gerald Pereira and others will be of immense help to you in your research. 3} Goa's Freedom Fighters were definitely considered to be a nuisance by the Right-wing leaders of the Congress Party in Bombay Province who were running the Provincial Govt. there and did everything possible to hinder the activities of the Goan Freedom-Fighters. The leftist-oriented V.K.Krishna Menon was got elected to the Lok Sabha from a constituency in Bombay city ( with very active support by Goan Freedom Fighters based in Bombay ) , in the teeth of fierce opposition to his very candidature by his own Congress Party's Rightist leaders like Morarji Dessai, S.K.Patil etc. Perhaps "Operation Vijay" was conceived and executed by VKK, both to acknowledge the Goan Freedom-Fighters' contribution to his own election as well as to settle his scores with the Right-wing in his own Party. Consider : Indian Army actions in Hyderabad & Junagadh were co-ordinated by India's Home Ministry (Sardar Patel) while the same Indian Army's action in Goa was co-ordinated by the Defence Ministry (V.K.Krishna Menon) at immense international risk of UN Intervention. Needless to infer that it was perhaps VKK himself who must have spoken to the Soviets about a veto in the Security Council at the time of planning the action itself. 4} From 15-8-1947 till the imposition of the economic blockade by the Govt.of India in 1956, Goa was practically a free port for Indian business-houses to get goods whose direct import was banned but the border trade in which was not banned. The Economic Blockade imposed by India totally put a stop to this entire Border Trade. Consequently, the common citizens of Goa suffered for want of of their daily necessities. The Trade in Foreign Imported goods needed by wealthy Indians , however , did not stop but got converted into a Smuggling Trade. This created a powerful and influential section of Indian citizens who were opposed to Goa's freedom from Portuguese Colonial Rule and were accordingly influencing Indian Policy towards Goa. 5} The Portuguese Govt. had appointed somewhere in the late 50's ,an Agricultural Commission to revamp Goa's entire agrarian economy ( of which Dr. J. C Almeida was a member). The Port & Railway Junta was appointed to revamp the infrastructure for the mining export trade. Another External Commerce Junta was appointed to develop the general foreign trade. There were also negotiations in progress to give the US Navy permanent facilities at Mormugao Port. (This one fact made Nehru go along with VKKrishna Menon's military solution.). So it is perhaps not correct to say that Goa had no economic potential of its own or that Salazar did not recognise it. Regards, Thalmann Pradeep Pereira Vasco-da-Gama, Goa. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gilbert Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 7:58 AM Subject: [Goanet]Colonial Goa and Portugal > Colonial Goa and Portugal > > Colonial Goa and Portugal specially the period 1950-61 can "generate a > lot of heat ani fogoti" among Goenkars. Of course ... naturally! This > has been observed in the past on all the Goan cyberspace chat channels, > networks ani don't forget the web pages. > > However my last week's posting regarding the specific economic relations > between Goa and Portugal in the period 1950 to 1961 generated only few > general ani scholarly replies. So to request the specific economic facts > which is often the crux of international relations, I am posting my post > again, aniek time. > > Those in the know please respond. Senhor (s) ani Senhora (s), Shri and > Smt. Kelekar, Keni, Kakodkar (ani other KKK:=)); Albuquerque, Braganza, > Colaco, DaCosta (ABCD:=)); ani dusrem Patraum, Bosteaum ani Pedru, > Gabru, Forcu etc.- =))) are you reading, poita, dakotai ani > boroita....? Portuguese historians and those in the know are welcome to > respond too - Muitissimo obrigado to all ani sogleank! > > Specific economic ties between colonial Goa and Portugal. > 1. How much economic benefit did Goa provide Portugal in the period of > 1940-61? Positive and negative balance. > 2. Was Goa cost-effective for Portugal ani how? > 3. If Goa was worth much to Portugal how come there were only 5,500 > troops and one frigate (Albuquerque) defending Goa at the time of > "Operation Vijay" (to liberate Goa)? Ani naething for Dadra ani > Nagarhaveli. > 6. Were the Goa's freedom-fighters a real force in Portugal's > calculations or were they more of a "nuisance factor"? > 7. How much was Portugal hemorrhaging financially defending Goa from > 50-61? > 8. Was Portugal feeling any heat from the International community (USA, > UK > and France) to move into the 20th century and shed it colonies? > > Goans now residing or past residents of Portugal, who may be more > familiar with the period of 1950-61 please help document the hard facts. > This would be a good research project for "young" and "not so young" > (retired) Goans in Portugal. Goan associations in Portugal may want to > guide this project. The Salazar gorrment's archives should be > accessible. This is your chance ani opportunity to make yourself famas > ani important ani impress your xapaia anim xamai. :=)) Regards, GL > > > ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
