Dear Sapna, You make a very good point. I agree with you absolutely.
In fact, I believe that very few people know about the Gory past of our entire subcontinent. I suggest that we all should contribute to this exercise. Some of our contributions may include: a: The Most Unholy Inquisition - wsr to the targeting of the Jews b: The atrocities of Sati. As a woman, I suggest you research and write about this crime which killed (God alone knows how many) millions of mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters and cousins; many of these burnt-alive widows .....were still young children when married to these old chaps. c: The Caste system and the systematic (life and generation to generation) enslavement of the Sudras and lower castes. d: The brutal killing of female foetuses e: Dowry burnings (I believe my learned friend Valmiki Faleiro is writing about How the Aryans came and swiped land from the natives of the subcontinent). Like you Sapna, I too believe that visitors to India must know the truth, the ENTIRE TRUTH and nothing but the Truth about the place and people we often describe as 'peace-loving and peaceful'. BTW: as one who believes that he is a Harijan, I have done my bit by writing about the horribly discriminating Apartheid Caste System of India which, quite ironically, surprised the firangi Portuguese who by the way abolished (by decree) the Sati burnings in Goa and (what is now) Mumbai. There is another female oriented topic which might interest you, and that is the devadasi system of enslavement. In closing, please do not take the above to be my routine response to the the saffron haters of the Catholic church - who pose these topics on different discussion lists AND get very offended when Sati, Caste and devadasi topics are raised. I do not believe that you are one of them. You apear to be a genuine person. So I say to you: If today is the day to wash clothes, and the washing machines are not being used, Let us wash ALL the dirty laundry - in public. good wishes jc 2009/6/12 Sapna Shahani <[email protected]> As a non-Goan who's lived here on and off for 20 years, I'm very curious about Goa's history with the Inquisition. How is it that the gory history of Goa's past remains virtually unknown by outsiders or tourists? The Basilica of Bom Jesus is a beautiful building but I find it odd that visitors don't know what cruelties once took place in the vicinity of the Basilica. Would love to hear the thoughts of people on this list...
