Epifanio Valadares sent in the following post: https: // www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg138603.html
His essential plea is: "My request through this mail, is that if possible, please push this websiteto the concern authorities and our Goa state leaders (as I do not have their emails). The writer of this website should be liable for the authenticity of their articles. He can't just portray articles in the name of history to fuel up religious conflicts." I had a hearty laugh. What Senhor Valledares wants to say is that 'the concern (sic) authorities' should ban a website which is intimately connected to the blood stream of 'the concern (sic)' Which means it is highly unlikely that any action, even a mild admonishment, will be highly unlikely unless the 'the concern (sic)' can be pushed to the wall. (Highly unlikely, given the brute majority of the 'the concern (sic)' in the Goa Assembly and 6Lok Sabha. Besides even if 'the concern...' were somehow willing, banning anything is among the worst possible responses to such provocations. And will soon prove counter-productive, with massive protests from the Hindutva trolls. The best way, although it may still be ineffective, given the brute majority of 'the concern...' is to counter untruth with truth. But unfortunately our so-called 'intellectuals' don't have the guts or the sense to handle such delicate issues. Some time ago I pointed out the issue-skirting questions of Frederick Noronha and the pusillanimous responses of Fr. Dr. Anthony da Silva, Director of the Xavier Centre for Historical Research, when they had a golden opportunity to publicly enunciate a response to such propoganda but instead preferred to skirt around the issues like cowards. Of course Fred and Tony da had a great opportunity to consolidate a wonderful 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' relationship' which they milked to the maximum. It was pathetic, even painful to watch. I'll repost the relevant part of that message of mine: https://youtu.be/KH58CynbH3Q "Google threw this video at me... Given that both the parties involved are known to me, one the younger bother of my classmate Ricky, and the other a fellow Moidekar, a Jesuit priest who I (know) I watched the video with interest. FN asked two questions which should have elicited interesting answers. One was about the history of the Jesuits;... I was amazed by the responses of Tony da (that's what FN familiarly calls the reverend) and Goa's "greatest" journalist's probing supplementaries. On the origins of the Jesuits in Goa there was little about St Francis Xavier and certainly no question was asked about his letter calling for the Inquisition. I don't think I heard much about why the Marquis de Pombal kicked the Jesuits out of Goa. This is all widely known to those who know, but should have been known to a larger audience. It was a great opportunity for Tony da to give the Jesuits' viewpoint because on social media the Hindutva trolls regularly come out with the taunt, "But what about Francis Xavier? Usually the St. is carefully omitted. Tony da fluffed it..." ............................................................... Incidentally the Inquisition is trending on Goa's Facebook accounts: on the one side you find Fr. Victor Ferrao and on the other my good friend Shrikant Barve. Augusto
