Dear Vivian, Hello. The last time I ran into you at Mapusa, you were hunting for a matching toilet commode for replacement. Hope your efforts have been successful.
The reason I chose to reply to your post is because you have found it fit to say "We Goans were either too susegad or too inebriated to fight for our freedom" Sucegad we Goans have always been. That culture was instilled in us by the Portuguese so that we could not grow up to give them problems other than the teething ones. But inebriated we were, certainly, enough to want to pack off Goa ... lock stock and barrel into Maharashtra. How can anyone blame the good Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for going against his promises, I fail to understand. Some day you must ask this question of Lambert Mascarenhas and Flavian Dias, our illustrious freedom fighters who are still breathing the now polluted Goan air. If we Goans tolerated the MGP rule for 17 years after 'Liberation' or 'Conquest' of Goa (whichever term you may prefer to use) which was bent on landing Goa in the lap of Maharashtra (and still probably hopes it will happen despite it having been 99.9999 per cent swallowed by the communal BJP), then I don't believe it is right to blame Nehru for reneging on his promises. In democracy, which Nehru probably believed in, it is the people who decide what is good for them. Can we now fall back on blaming blessed Nehru for our own weaknesses? Where were we Goans all this while?? Inebriated..... I suppose???? What I am going to say hereon has no relation to the above sentiments. But they are related, somewhat. There has been a 3 day retreat at our Moira Church given by non-Goan priests (Kerala), and today was the concluding day. A good friend of mine ( a Mapxekar) has been in the thick of organising it, to the extent that he ordered me to host the lunch for these priests at my place, this afternoon, as it was their last day. "Fine", I said. " I can do that... WELCOME'. But the complicated part was when he said. "And I hope that you will at least attend today's service ... as I have not seen you around so far". "If that is the condition", I said to my good friend, "then the lunch is off. You decide" I have given up attending these 'SHOWS' a long time ago, having grown out of these when we (as kids) were not allowedl to even talk (silence) for a couple of days. The people who attend these shows do become very 'holy' and full of neighbourly love and compassion, with their hearts having melted away. But as they walk home from the show, the deep-freezing takes over and by the time they land home, the minus 30 degrees centigrade has been inevitably achieved. We have seen a lot of TIATRS, haven't we?? Have we changed? So, my only friendly advice to you, dear Vivian. Do not blame the long departed Nehru for our collective Goan ills. Let him rest where he is. If we Goans wanted (nay... knew ) what we wanted, then we would have achieved it a long time ago, perhaps immediately after the so called Liberation or, if you prefer, after the Indian Conquest of Goa. Afterall, Nehru did not impose a Portuguese style hard core dictatorship on Goa in 1961, did he now !!. WE CHOSE. And we are enjoying the fruits of that choice. So why complain? If, on the other hand, we Goans have come out of the post Liberation 'inebriated' state of mind, we can file out infront of the polling booths and effect the change anytime we want. Are there any takers?? 35 % voting is nothing. Wait for a while. It will be less than 10 per cent. And the Guiness book of world records will record that Goa is indeed unique. It gets the government it does not deserve. Or should we say ' MLAs that people do not deserve?? With kind regards floriano goasuraj ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vivian A. DSouza" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 2:42 PM Subject: [Goanet] Goa - Liberated or Conquered ? > In December 1961, Goa was liberated from the Portuguese through the Conquest of Goa by India. We were conquered. Liberated from the Portuguese but Conguered by India. We Goans were eiither too susegard or too inebriated to fight for our freedom. Promises by Nehru to maintain the unique identity of Goa a la Kashmir, were not kept > .Non-Kashmiri Indians cannot acquire land in Kashmir but anyone can buy land in Goa. Slowly but surely the Goan identity is being diluted, and the sons of Goa are largely to be blamed for selling their ancestral homes to Delhiites and other foreigners. Our elected officials are also to be blamed for facilitating the process of selling off Goa to enrich themselves. Communidade lands have been usurped by the Government and sold off to Industrialists enriching primarily the elected officials who arrange these deals. > Sadly this is the state of affairs in Goa today.
