From: Roland Francis While some of us find it easy to yearn for an independent Goa ruled by a Goan elite handed power by the departing Portuguese, what?s to say It would not have fallen the unfortunate way of Timor L?Este. Instead of rampant poverty and hopelessness like in that Pacific country, the seizure by India ensured that Goa would become as prosperous as its 1961 invader.
No, looking at the ruffians and crooks governing Goa today, one should be shitless thinking of their rule in Goa without the administrative iron hand of India keeping the peace. -----GL responds: Those in the know (Goans and Portuguese and others ) were fully aware that pre-1961 Goa was not economically viable per se and there was an annual budget deficit that Portugal had to make up. Goa's drain on Portugal's economy left little room for any government investment in Goa's infrastructure be it roads, electricity, water supply, education, sewer and garbage disposal, etc. Besides the political and psychological benefit, from an economic perspective, Portugal gained from Goa's foreign currency earnings due to the large number of remittances from Goans working outside Goa. In 1961, Portugal publicly showed their bravado and covered the humiliation of Salazar and his military junta loosing their first colony. Yet privately, they must have been delighted and laughing that India relieved Portugal of a drain on their already teetering treasury and economy. Regards, GL
