To be fair, it's not Bamons alone who have a monopoly over casteism. While they may have got the ball rolling, today this ideology is more widespread. It appears to the so-called 'upper' caste. (Feeling 'superior' to someone else is always flattering!)
Chardo and Kshatriya casteism is palpable in some areas, and for the 20th century, much of Goan history is a battle for hegemony between Catholic Bamon and Catholic Chardo (and post-1961, between the conveniently-defined 'Bahujan Samaj' among the Hindus and the earlier elites among the Hindus, such as the Saraswats). It is also a game which trickles down to others, though with varying potency and implications. My Dalit campaigner friend Dadu Mandrekar points out that the traditional cobbler caste feels itself superior to the Mahar (leather workers) caste. Still, I would not consider this form of casteism to be as potent as the ideology defined at the "very top". Sometimes, I've seen Chardos in Salcete build electoral alliances with Gawadas there. In other parts of India, there are reports of sections of the OBCs (other backward classes) forming oppressive landlords. Of course, all these realities doesn't minimise the responsibility of those who have been propagating and building the ideological justifications for this system of time-tested racism. FN On 12/04/2008, CORNEL DACOSTA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Chris > I'll be brief: I have never said that most or all > Goans are casteist. Indeed, in one of my posts, I had > indicated that an estimate of about 5% of the > population were deemed to be Brahmin let alone the > Chardos, and of these, many would NOT be casteist... I lived for almost six years in Goa initially and > then spent two six month periods in Goa in young > adulthood. In this period, I saw exactly what Brahmin > hegemony meant to poorer people including their > manifest fear of any interpreted transgressions by the > Bamon landlords. A beating from the Bamon's 'hoods' > was not a rare occurrence and I witnessed some of this > myself. Indeed, I often debated with myself, who were > worse---the big Bamon landlords or the Portuguese in > keeping ordinary Goans subdued. It is a real pity that > this aspect was not part of your learning experience!
