Portugal fest in Goa amid controversy Panaji: `Semana de cultura Portuguesa,' a cultural festival aiming to cement bonds between Goa and Portugal, was kicked off amid controversy with the Goa Freedom Fighters' Association protesting against it.
The association has expressed anguish, saying that it will mean the glorification of 450-year-long Portuguese rule in the state. "If they want to have bonds with two nations it should be between India and Portugal. Why they always talk of Goa and Portugal? Have they forgotten that Goa is liberated from Portuguese rule way back and is now a state of India?" asked Naguesh Karmali, senior executive member, Goa Freedom Fighters Association. The freedom fighters, who fought the Portuguese regime before Goa was liberated by the Indian Army, staged a march in Panaji on Friday hours before the festival was inaugurated. The seven day festival is organised by the Consulate General of Portugal and other organisations. "The Portuguese rule here was marked with suppression. Goa has changed a lot post-liberation. We are now part of India and if at all they want any ties, it should be between India and Portugal," Karmali added. The organisers, however, said that the Portuguese cultural week is a display of Indo-Portuguese culture. "I inherited this culture. It's not a Portuguese culture. It's Goan. We Goans have inherited it and absorbed it," Zelman Coelho Pereira, Goa's former advocate General, said. Pereira, who is part of the organisers, said that India has a culture of Aryans, Dravidians and also colonial rule. "We have inherited the good aspects of colonial rule," he said. Reacting to protests by Freedom fighters, Pereira said that that objection to the festival means opposition to culture. "I am sorry to say that people are opposed to culture. Britain has cultural ties with India. There is nothing wrong if Goa has it with Portugal," he added. According to Dr Paulo Neves Pochino, consul General of Portugal in Goa, the festival is a part of inter cultural events which portray the cultural ties between Goa and Portugal. He said hat next year the festival would be simultaneously held at two places - Goa and Portugal - where the culture of both would be exhibited. http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1692366 ~(^^)~ Avelino
