Hi Roland
With the greatest respect to Gilbert, I must ask what rubbish he writes from
a feudal mind-set whilst living (presumably), in a modern life style? For
crying out loud, many people in the Goan Diaspora haven't got a clue about
caste among so called Catholic Goans. A majority arrived here from East
Africa, and again, significant numbers were never introduced to the notion of
caste in Goa. That was the priority of a minority who wanted to propagate it
with mother's milk! I am led to understand from a reliable recent source in Goa
that, this minority is some 1.5% of the 'Catholic' Goan population in Goa.
In my Goan High School, Mombasa, Kenya, the word caste was definitely never
ever uttered in the Goan Community context and in our Goan club it simply did
not feature. I personally had no clue about caste among the Christian Goans,
until I became an activist against racism, as a university student and later as
a college and university lecturer in London. I was shocked to discover how much
caste racism there was among 'Christian' Goans in Goa and even in Nairobi,
Kenya and Kampala, Uganda when I read two PhD theses that amazingly got
accepted in the 1970s. I supervise and assess doctoral theses and I would, re
one of them, from the Nairobi University, reject the theses as a straight fail
for being so theoretically lightweight.
So many Goanetters have informed me that they had had no clue earlier about
this evil called caste among Catholic Goans and, with respect, for Gilbert to
want to casteicise such people (as village Goa does ever so well) through a
perverse sense of inherent casteism, illustrates most clearly I would suggest,
how deeply this nonsense of caste adherence is for some people.
Instead of berating the anti-casteist wouldn't it be wonderful to stop
hearing so much that, is defensive against the anti-casteists, and instead,
hear a rigorously articulated arguement for the retention of caste and why it
should not be eradicated as soon as possible? How long do we have to wait on
Goanet for such an intelligent offering to surface? Will it ever?
Cornel DaCosta, London, UK.
Gilbert Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Roland,
I am not trying to pick an argument with you. But it appears you have given a
thought to the evolution of Goan society. So I am trying to advance this
dialogue.
I ask you and others with out pre-judgement to whatever your answer is:
Is it better that your and other "cousins are completely caste-less, liberal
and forward looking," and marry non-Goans (since their parents make no effort
to marry them within the community? OR
Is it better that "my ex-Indian cousins are the opposite. They still feel that
their children should marry within the same caste and have turned all stones to
make this possible."?
