On 19 January 2014 17:11, Dan Driscoll <[email protected]> wrote:
"My understanding has been that Krishna Menon was Nehru's Defence Minister, and that he more or less unilaterally took the initiative of launching a military campaign (by land and sea) to end the Colonial Regime in Goa; Nehru is claimed by some commentators to have read of the 'Goan Invasion' in the newspapers, and that he was deeply troubled." Comment: ( Do not know which commentators made that claim nor have I read that 'claim ) There are three possible categories that the above falls under: (a) TRUE: Nehru preached peace. Menon was a firebrand. There were open fronts along China and a wide-open front along China and Pakistan. (b) REVISION: The unprovoked military action hurt Nehru's reputation as a Man of Peace (permanently). (c) INVENTION: After all, commentators are commentators. It is impossible to truly judge some issues so many years in retrospect without studying all the documents which are usually sealed for umpteen years - for obvious reasons. But, if one, even cursorily, looks at the following, it is possible that one will come to the conclusion that 'Commentators' Claim" (quoted above) is Gas: Let us imagine that we are in Dec 1961: 1: There is an embargo in place 2: The Indian consular representative has been withdrawn 3: Cardinal Valerian Gracias continues to be canvassed 4: Photos of 'satyagrahis' injured (some staged at the Poona railway station) appear in the Indian press 5: The Congress party is unpopular and likely to lose the next General election 6: The Kawar fisherman story is splashed on the front pages of English newspapers AND all kinds of cables are flying indicating that the Portuguese were not involved. AND on Dec 3, 1961 (a full two weeks before the invasion and assault) 7: Convoys of troops are moving through Poona heading south. I'd submit that unless someone was asleep during all this, it is impossible that that person read about the Invasion in the newspapers. On the other hand, I have heard similar statements on many occasions from politicians around the globe. In Goa, there is a famous denial: "Aum kaim nokko re baba" (I do not know anything) And sure, I believe that (;-) jc
