*This isn’t about Shivaji (or historical facts)* By Gerard de Souza https://gerardsgazette.substack.com/p/this-isnt-about-shivaji-or-historical?r=5a7yg
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on the occasion of Shivaji Jayanti at Sakhali in February. Pic: Directorate of Information and Publicity. Much has been said, and much has been written, and as such, you might wonder why I’ve decided to talk about events that first sparked off three weeks ago. But first, a bit of background for those who may not be aware. On the occasion of Shivaji Jayanti (celebrated on February 19th, the birth anniversary of the founder of the Maratha empire), Goa Chief Minister claimed that it was thanks to Shivaji that most of Goa (parts that were then not under Portuguese rule) were spared Christianisation. He also claimed that a wrong history is being taught in school, that the whole of Goa was ruled by the Portuguese for 450 years, when in fact, only the talukas of Bardez, Tiswadi [Ilhas de Tiçuari (sometimes spelt Tissuary) to the Portuguese], and Salcete (which then included Mormugao) were ruled for 450 years. Now, unless you were dozing off during history class (or eating raw mangoes under the desk) in primary school no less (when these lessons was taught), you would know that Goa is divided into old conquests and new conquests -- the difference being that the ‘core’ of Goa was ruled for 450 years while the rest was ‘acquired’ later via battles, negotiations and treaties with local chieftains or vassals. In fact, if you want to be a stickler for history, the only part of Goa that was ruled for the full 451 years was the port city of Goa, now called Old Goa, and some surrounding villages that today make up the taluka of Tiswadi. Bardez and Salcete were conquered some 30 years later in 1543 or thereabouts with the sole purpose of having them act as ‘buffer zones’ to protect the Portuguese hold on the city. But frankly, none of that matters. At least not in this context. One way to react to the Chief Minister and his dubious claims is to try and do what former MLA Uday Bhembro via his YouTube channel (as well as several others on social media) was attempting to do—i.e., attempt to fact-check the chief minister on his claims by citing historical sources, documents, books, etc detailing the relationship between Shivaji, the Marathas, and the Portuguese, etc. Now Bhembro is no historian (he says so himself), and neither am I, but irrespective of that, there’s an inherent problem with that approach. A problem that goes beyond inviting the hoodlums to your doorstep. You see, you cannot fact-check your way out of a dictatorship—or even a populist government. The Chief Minister, in the speech he delivered on the occasion, wasn’t attempting to give a history lesson (though he did make it seem that that’s what he was doing). He was making a political speech targeted at his political constituency (the caste constituency, rather than the geographic one he represents). And in doing so, he was making it clear who his target was. This isn’t the first time he was doing it either. >From asking to wipe the signs of the Portuguese to taunting those who still shout “Viva Portugal,” there’s a clear pattern of sly dog whistling disguised as anti-colonial nationalism. This can’t be countered through fact-checking or academic discussions on the ‘real history’ and Shivaji’s legacy. You need to fight a political speech with a political speech (or action). The problem with the fact-checking approach is that you are always playing catch-up whilst handing over the initiative (and the power to set the narrative) to the offending party. It’s not without reason that one of the biggest losers of Trump’s recent return to the White House has been the fact-checking industry—an industry that he quite literally created on account of his speeches riddled with downright lies and half-truths during the run-up to his first victory in 2016. That he was able to do it the second time, with an even greater quantum of disinformation, tells you all you need to know of the effectiveness of fact-checking.
