-------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Frederick Noronha (FN) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: goanet@goanet.org Subject: Re: Re: Fred's bluff Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 02:28:43 +0530 Gabriel de Figueiredo gdefigueiredo at yahoo.com.au wrote:
> I am indeed guilty of changing the suject line (and > that too inappropriately), but that was because I was > addressing your PS. If that caused grief to you by any > unintended insinuations, I truly apologise. I neither Not at all, Gabriel. I just commented on that to draw attention to some who have made a fine art out of midway switching subjectlines. I do appreciate your sincere debate and genuine way of putting across issues you honestly believe in, while we all go about debating our differing perspectives. > simply draw your attention that there are more than just the Indian > Supreme Court who do recognise that Goa was indeed invaded. What you say is true. I was taking up one, very narrow issue, mainly to challenge the trend of debating complex issues by raising an emotive misleading shorthand-argument. For instance, Goans-were-never-consulted-in-1961 or you-know-who-brought-corruption-into-Goa or, in this case, it-was-the-Supreme-Court-of-India-that-said-India-was-invaded. My submission is that such emotive arguments try to push the argument to one side, without even giving the chance to appreciate the subtle nuances and complexities involved. > Although we cannot [do] much about the invasion (as it is a > fait acompli), one has to call a spade a spade. The This isn't true or logical. If the situation is indeed atrocious, then we *have* to do something about it. Nothing is a fait accompli. My point is that the end of European colonialism in Asia and Africa in the 20th century was a development that actually benefitted far more people than the few it adversely affected. Those who take recourse to the "we cannot do much about it" argument are simply hiding from the view that they have very little support for their point of view which, in effect, is one about protecting priviledges of a few. While saying this, let me also concede that Asian and African post-colonial societies are still very complex places, with a number of unsorted problems. Relations between different sections of the population can sometimes be tough. Corruption (as the critics of our afflicted societies never cease to point out, even if they got a hugely subsidised education at the cost of this country ... and corruption comes in different forms like Swiss bank accounts, or the colonial appropriation of Third World resources) is a big concern here. Illiteracy and poverty among large sections of the population are still unvanquished enemies. Giving different regions, classes, and other groupings a fair share of the benefits of 'development' is an issue still to be sorted out.... All this, of course, doesn't mean that Portuguese colonialism was a preferrable option, or even that Goa would have done better if it had to be an independent country. Presumably lead by its own corrupt, very local, authentic son-of-the-soil politicians (whose character flaws ranging from an acute lack of vision to unimaginable selfishness are more than visible, regardless of which party they are affiliated to). To shift to a personal note: on December 19, 1961 my mother was a patient at a maternity ward in Brazil. "Your home is free," an Italian doctor told her, in a part of the world where it was still December 18. My parents later came back to Goa of the 'sixties, kerosene lamps, underdevelopment and limited opportunities ... with a lot of optimism. They obviously had a tough time adjusting. (Their idea of "Goa" were 20 years old, and had changed substantially meanwhile.) But like many the vast majority of the migrants out of Bardez, they were part of a Catholic non-elite that had to scour the world for jobs ... even if they didn't quite "eat grass" in Goa. Today, many of my contemporaries (specially, though not only, kids who returned from Africa in the 'seventies) prefer to migrate overseas. The recently-discovered love for the Portuguese passport has more to do with the entry of Lisbon into the EU, and the sudden decline of the rupee which makes it even more luring to migrate. But they do it with a choice. They now too don't have to "eat grass" -- a query that has come up repeatedly on Goanet. They're in Goa which is transforming fast; but given our blinkered perspectives and negative approaches, we can see only the negatives here. What's worse, our negativism disallows us from spending time to see how our societies can better cope with the future, and not miss the train yet again. Goanetters like Miguel Braganza, Soter D'Souza and myself have opted to stay on in Goa, and have no regrets for that. There are many more; even though Goa's Catholic society at the early 21st century is once again showing signs of getting seized by a we-are-getting-finished paranoia which took so many abroad in the 'sixties. (Nobody got finished. The community flourished in ways which were clearly unanticipated just a couple of decades earlier. They've moved out from their traditional dependence on safe nine-to-five office jobs, to becoming entrepreneurs, professionals and self-employed. With a made-in-Goa education, many have gone ahead to do well for themselves across the globe. And you thought that Ashank Desai didn't study at the GEC-Farmagudi or that Romulus Pereira had no connection with Loyola's Margao? While we cannot afford to get complacent, surely let's not get obsessed with the negativism and we're-under-seige mentality that can lead to a self-fulfilling kind of societal paralysis.) Some of us opt to work here. Maybe the satisfaction of contributing to a society that needs every individual who can help it, more than compensates for the fact that one earns a tenth or less of the salary a colleague earns in the West. As the Father of independent Tanzania, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere will be remembered by his famous saying: "It can be done; play your part". http://www.apnic.net/mailing-lists/s-asia-it/archive/2004/12/msg00000.html > results of that invasion we see today in the form of > the large army presence in Goa and the Dabolim airport > issues. In the 'sixties, the business community of Vasco da Gama came out with a petition against the Navy taking up too much land in the area. My own view is that in today's world the enemies of any country are its own dissatisfied population and a malfunctioning economy, not threats from beyond borders. In this context, my view too is that India, like a lot of other 'developing' and 'developed' countries, spends too much money on its military. But is is wholly misleading to suggest that the "large army presence" and the Dabolim airport issue is an argument favouring continued Portuguese rule. Or the promise of elusive-automy for Goa (from a Portugal which actually only used this as a last minute gambit, when it belatedly realised how far things had gone). If what a tiny section of expat Goans dreams of in cyberspace is true, then this state should have been in a perennial state of violence. It is not. When the violence does occur, it is Goan fighting Goan (mostly on some unsorted conflict, whether related to language or religion or caste or land-ownership or political control). Sometimes the "non-Goan" is conveniently made the scrapegoat, even though we know that exploitation is fact with no ethnicity-based preserve. As far as the Dabolim airport goes, the Navy -- like any landlord -- is sitting pretty on an asset that few realised the value of till the charter logjam just a few years ago. It's not going to give up its asset and its infrastructure easily, and the deep contradictions within Goan society (take a look at Mopa versus Dabolim) are probably going to just make it easier for them to do so. So, why blame the Portuguese if you have a Timoja, eh? A section of expat Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and others have been responsible for fuelling intolerance and hate back in South Asia. Hopefully, a section of Christian expats will not similarly try to stir up trouble. We have enough of real-world problems to tackle, and more productive issues to sort out here! The bottomline is simply this: a tiny elite is fighting a loss of priviledge with the Goa-was-invaded logic. Portuguese rule's benefits resulted in such a narrow pyramid at the top, that when it was time to go, it found itself lacking any significant supporters. India's form of egalitarianism -- however faulty may be its conception and implementation -- was certainly a breath of fresh air to a far wider section of Goans than those who wept at the demise of the Portuguese regime. (The claim of autonomy is a mere juggling with issues, by those who know that justifying moribund European colonialism in this day and age is a sheer no-no.) Tell me, why must the voices of those who had it good (or thought they had it good) during colonial times be heard above all else? Maybe they make for the most eloquent of writers, and have a bigger stake in making their point. But I'm sure many Goanetters would have very interesting, unromanticised stories of what pre-1961 Goa meant to themselves or their families. Domnic's antique stories are a very interesting case in point. Telling us of life as it was! While saying this, I'm not for a moment minimising the problems created by the post-1961 form of 'development', or only highlighting the opening up of avenues that came to a broad section of the population since then (though at a price). All I'm saying is, let's give up this obsession with 1961. Goa's problems are largely generated and aggravated by tensions *within* Goan society. At one level, it's the BJP or the Congress ruling Goa. At another, it's sections of the local population who have learnt to use these 'national' cloaks to further their own interests (just as Goans did in the pre-1961 era). Analyse the actors, and you'll know what I mean. We can have another discussion on this later. Of course, while feathering their own nests, they're careful enough to keep placating their "principals" in New Delhi or Lisbon or wherever. In that sense, the battle against forms of colonialism is never over; and, for villagers in Saleli, even the power of Panjim could be seen as a colonial power! The issue is simply this: does a system benefit a larger or smaller section of the population? How does the current system benefit the people of the region? system The red-herring of "non-Goans" completely overlooks the fact that post-1961 growth (whatever its pitfalls) has made a positive difference to many more than the narrow elitist approach of moribund Portuguese colonialism.] The questions we need to ask is: Is this sustainable over time? Are new injustices being built within the system? How are old injustices being addressed? Is our environment paying a heavy price? What is our vision for the future? Does our society have checks and balances against politicians or industry running amok and bartering the future for short-term selfish gain? ... Just a few thoughts... FN -- ---------------------------------------------------------- Frederick 'FN' Noronha | Yahoomessenger: fredericknoronha http://fn.goa-india.org | [EMAIL PROTECTED] Independent Journalist | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9822122436 ---------------------------------------------------------- Pics from Goa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/popular-views/ _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: %(user_optionsurl)s This email sent to %(user_address)s