Dear Fred, Bravo! What a wonderful spirited response to my provocation. Thank you, your response does me honour.
To address your questions though, let me begin my indicating that I am not suggesting that the Portuguese Republic is without its problems. The Portuguese Republic was full of problems, though not necessarily the problems you indicate. The Republic was in fact, more 'colonial' than the monarchy ever was. The Republicans responding to 'European' threats to their 'colonial possessions'. The Republic, and its current celebrations are not without its own nationalist element, which is quite frankly distasteful. Having said this however, which event, person in history is not? The Indian Republic is full of problems, even a personage as hallowed as Gandhi is not without serious problems, that might even render him untouchable at some levels. Thus clearly, merely because the event is problematic on some levels, does not make it something we must ignore. I will grant you this much though, that my language ought to have been tempered. The word we are looking for is commemorate, with its implications of solemn and critical review, rather than celebrate, which suggest uncritical embrace. When we ask whether the Republic intended the benefits to the colonies or not, I think we are playing an old, tired, nationalist card, which is the one card I am clearly trying to avoid in my column. Despite your good intentions, you very often tend to play this card. Unwittingly perhaps, but it shows us the power of (anti-colonial) nationalism as an ideology. You also ignore the fact that I am trying to point out, that the politics of Republics was exactly the politics of claims and what they allowed us to do with it. Were it not for such politics, we would not have any of the emancipatory politics we have today. None of them! The Age of the Republics was entirely about claims that were made for bourgeois interests, rather than man-kind. But we can still turn it and use it against oppression. Thus, if a Bahujan activist can use it even today, I say we should strengthen her arm, rather than shoot her down. We should see what we can do to create a different history from the one we have inherited, and the one that we are presented. I will reiterate that this assertion that was made, fundamentally changed the way I looked at things. And for this point alone, it should be commemorated. Finally, to commemorate it allows us to recognise that the elite Goan Hindu, who is today the one crying hoarse about the trials of colonialism, in fact had it quite well. They were able to benefit from the Republic, only because they were already in a dominant position. They DID benefit from the Republic, and we should not allow this fact to be erased. To do so, allows the bad eggs among them, to play this ridiculous card they have been playing where the colonial period was one long dark holocaust for them. No sir, I will not allow them to play this card. will end on this note, hoping I have made my point.... > ------------------------------ > > Message: 9 > Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:47:48 +0530 > From: Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> > To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" > <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Goanet] The Portuguese Republic and Goa... > Message-ID: > <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Jason, I think the jury is still out in Portugal itself on the > benefits and role of the First Portuguese Republic. Was the 1910-1926 > phase really progressive and democratic? Was it a continuation of the > earlier elitist and liberal regimes? Or was it revolutionary and > dictatorial at the same time? > > While there were obvious impact in the colonies (including Goa), how > much of this was incidental and how much of it due to the very nature > of this regime, which saw a total of eight Presidents, one Provisional > Government, 38 Prime Ministers and 1 Constitutional Junta? > > Incidentally, it will remain one of the ironies of colonial politics > (and the responses to the metropole) that a conservative President > elected in August 1919 has his name accepted and continued as the name > of a prominent school in Ponda, Goa. > > What was the nature of the Portuguese Republican Party (PRP) -- > republican or, in actuality, a dictatorship? What about politicians > like Sid?nio Pais, and the politics of Sidonismo or Dezembrismo? Not > excluding "traditional values" and P?tria? Why the need to clamp down > on working-class movements and leftist republicans? > > It would be interesting to see which side diverse sections of Goans > decide to dwell on, as the season for anniversaries approaches -- 2010 > (500 years of Vasco and a century of the Portuguese First Republic) or > 2011 (50 years of the end of Portuguese rule, and the many loaded > terms used to describe this... ranging from "invasion" to "Liberation" > and "India's use of force"... the last being part of the name of > Rubinoff's book). > > I would not jump in to celebrate 1910, though undeniably, these are > events which affected us sharply, 5000 kms away, one way or another! > FN > > PS: Useful background material: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_First_Republic > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid?nio_Pais > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant?nio_Jos?_de_Almeida > > PPS: Is there any truth in this statement about Sid?nio Pais: "He > escaped a first assassination attempt, but was shot on December 14, > 1918 by Jos? J?lio da Costa (great-grandfather of the present Mayor of > Lisbon Ant?nio Costa[citation needed]), at Rossio railway station, in > Lisbon, when he was preparing to board a train to Porto, to hold > discussions with the monarchist leaders of the Northern Military > Juntas." (From the second-last link above.) > > > ------------------------------ > ----------------------------------------------------- Read my thoughts at www.dervishnotes.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights. (B R Ambedkar)
