Is it Elisabeth's point that an "India for Indians" policy is okay *merely* because nobody, in her view, wants to migrate to India? [Incidentally, her view is wrong. There are a few million Bangladeshis who would love to migrate to India. Nepalis also choose to come in, though their numbers are smaller, under the deal that both countries don't need passports or visas to swap places of residence.]
But the issue is not whether or not anyone wants to migrate to India. The issue *is* whether all countries (and regions or states) ought to be reserved for their "own" people or not. Or whether only Goa should be given such a distinction. Incidentally, when campaigners from the villages where industrial estates have been set up in Goa complain about "outsiders", they mean people from outside their village. And, we need to recognise that our definition of 'The Other' has changed repeatedly in the past generation itself. When I was four years old, 'The Other' was a Goan in Goa who thought I was funny because we spoke differently, didn't understand Konkani then and wore "outrageous" clothes. By the time I reached my teens, my elders would subtly suggest that people from another caste grouping was The Other. A few years later, waking up to the demographic shift, The Other became a person from another religion and another taluka, who had migrated to Bardez. Along the way, The Other was defined on class lines. By the 1980s -- and the Vasco anti-Kannadiga poor riots of 1983, in particular -- The "dangerous" Other became a became a poverty-striken migrant who shifted home due to an economic need both on his side and on the side of the host society. So, can we say the danger lies primarily in our head... and depending on how we define things? FN * * * * * From: "Eddie Fernandes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Dear Elizabeth, Thank you for conceding, albeit grudgingly, that it is India for the Indians. On that note, I rest my case. Best wishes Eddie Fernandes ===================================== -----Original Message----- From: Elisabeth Carvalho .... As for, India for Indians? How many people do you know who want to migrate to India? Anyone you know making counterfeit documents and passports to sneak into India? Elisabeth -- ---------------------------------------------------------- Frederick 'FN' Noronha | Yahoomessenger: fredericknoronha http://fn.goa-india.org | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9822122436 ---------------------------------------------------------- 2248 copylefted photos from Goa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/ _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
