I would request Sam Furtado to retract the statements he has made against me
below. I have never made the assertion that he has falsely quoted as my own. My
position on Dr. Jose Pereira's paintings is exactly what it has been all along
with other artistic and academic freedom issues such as those related to
Hussain, Dan Brown and Da Vinci code movie, Salman Rushdie and Subodh Kerkar. I
am unconditionally in favor of artistic and academic freedom, and am opposed to
anybody who uses violence and intimidation to stifle it. Groups such as Hindu
Janajagruti Samiti, inappropriately named Catholic Secular Forum, Islamic
Defense Council, etc stand for everything that I am against. But I have no
problem as long as they express their protests in a peaceful manner, as the
lady in the video was doing.
Cheers,
Santosh
--- On Mon, 8/2/10, Sam Furtado <sfrainbo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The Biggest misnomer of the day about the Goans is by Dr.
> Santosh Helekar's, email, which relates to the brewed
> contraversy on Dr. Jose Pereira's Paintings', and which I
> quote below:
>
> Quote:
>
> "The biggest danger to communal peace in Goa is this breed
> of dregs, not the Sanatan Saunstha. ?You can take this
> to the bank".
>
> Unquote:
>
> It is people like Dr. Santosh Helekar who are communal
> biased and cannot mesticate the facts of life or reality.
>
> Every person in his own right have freedom of
> expression; Be it in writing, painting or voicing,
> irrespective of the nature of the subject. Everthing likes
> in the Eyes of the Beholder. So what despicability or
> deplorability or disgraceful is there in Dr. Jose's
> Paintings? I think he needs to visit a Shrink.
>
> To sum up in short it is people like Dr. Santosh Helekar,
> who are communal frenzy and these are the people need to be
> watched closely or else they will be detrimental to the
> society and the peace loving Goans.
>
> Sam
* * *
In every way, the Goans of Bombay were part of the great melee that was this
metropolis, distinct perhaps in the way communities often are, holding on to
their own traditions but merging slowly nonetheless and forming the thin thread
of nationhood that would eventually become India. -- Selma Carvalho, in *Into
the Goan Diaspora Wilderness*. Available at Broadways Book Centre, Panjim [Ph
+91-9822488564] Price (in Goa only) Rs 295.
http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
* * *
