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Goanetters visiting Viva Goa 2006 in Toronto, Canada on July 29, can use
the BMX booth as a meeting point. Please list your name on the message
board that will be provided, courtesy of BMX.
http://bmxgoa.com
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As one of the many silent Goanetters, I am increasingly disturbed by the
casteist and religious undertones in the posts of several fellow goanetters.
Elisabeth Caravalho in her latest post regarding caste and the contribution of
the Gulf Diaspora, launches a tirade against Bammons that is totally
unwarranted and borders on xenophobia. In one of her previous post she even
goes to the extent of saying she is happy she was born and brought up in the
gulf and that she experienced some sort of caste discrimination in Goa. Mrs
Carvlho, I am hoping that you meant the Gulf as opposed to Africa because, if
one was not following the thread for a long time, it clearly implies that you
would prefer being born and brought up in the Gulf instead of Goa. Statements
like these is one of the reason for the hostility between Goans living in Goa
and others pontificating from overseas. And this hostilityis reflected in many
posts. I am afraid I have to agree with Mr. Goveia when he once told you never
be ashamed to be Goan, for whatever reason.
Also by your logic it seems the best way to oppose caste discrimination in Goa
is for a person to go to the Gulf and then to the US, UK, Canada so that he/she
can then send their foreign born, brought up, educated, non Konkani(?) speaking
children to mingle with the so called elite children of the higher castes. This
logic seems completely warped. You want to fight elitism by pretending to be
elite yourself? I would think the best way to fight this discrimination in
today's day and age would be to empower yourself first economically( in India
or abroad) and then politically (like many members of today's BJP in Goa). In
the case of Gulf Goans that would mean returning to Goa after making their
money and involving themselves in entrepreneural and social initiatives, not
making a beeline for the West thus leaving Taxi drivers and STD booth owners as
their representatives here in Goa.( With all due respect to all to the many
Gulf Goans who have come back and are contributing grea
tly to t
he betterment of Goa.)
As most Goan Catholics living in Goa will tell you, caste based discrimination
has long been replaced by a new form of economic discrimination that is present
in most societies all over the world. The caste issue is simply not one of the
major issues affecting Goan society today.
The religion debate has also caused anguish to many members of this list. Is it
so hard for extremists on both sides of the debate to recognise the fact that
faith/religion is something very personal. Does Mr. Lawrence have to keep
passing snide remarks against other beliefs and does Mr. Helekar have to
respond in similar vein. Mr. Helekar, your past views on this forum(and through
some debates on this list a long time ago when I was a teenager) have
influenced me greatly and I count you as one of the most balanced and
intelligent individuals I have ever come across, but you have to stop
denigrating organised religion and its followers( whatever way you look at it
word like mob/herd mentality even if true are hurtful). For the record I am an
atheist myself.
My views on the above topics I believe represent the young educated goan who is
a successful member of the second fastest growing economy in the world(thanks
to Shri Singh, Sinha and Chidambaram). I would love to give my views on the
land, labour and capital issue but they are very similar to Mr. Krishnayya, so
I will allow him to take the personal abuse all contributorsare subject to.
I just have one question for Mr. Mario Goveia(in particular) and other netters
too. As the Indian economy progresses at this overheated pace, what should we
do to ensure that the rural-urban divide does not cause this country to erupt
in chaos. The previous economic models we followedwere no good for economic
progress but went a long way to maintaining social order in a democratic setup.
Swaminathan wrote in the TOI a few weeks ago that 1 in 3 districts in India is
affected by Naxal violence. I myself was laghing at his article at first and
then I remembered the Saleli incident.....
Regards
Sunith Velho
Panjim-Goa
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