Dear Paulo, I do not know how much you really know about India pre-1961, or about conditions in Goa during that period. I was born in Goa in 1925, and grew up in Goa, leaving for Goa in mid-1939. Goa was not the paradise some people claim it was. I was a student at Mater Dei at the time and I remember that one young man, a friend of my brother's, foolishly shouted "Viva Goa" in Mapusa. For that he was arrested, beaten, and had his head shaved. Punished for shouting Viva Goa in Goa itself? I lived in Bombay from 1939 to mid-1956 and never felt that India was not a democracy. For several of those years I was with the newspapers, holding key positions with what became the Indian Express, and the Times of India, and the Illustrated Weekly, and never once felt that I had to be careful about what I wrote. We were not censored in India, but the press was certainly pre-censored in Goa. So when you feel like sneering at people who claim that India got democracy much before Goa, and that it was good, think twice before you say, "Yeah. Right! All in paper, of course." India tasted democracy before Portugal did, and Portugal tasted democracy much after Goa did. That's a historical fact. Very best regards, Victor
________________________________ From: Paulo Colaco Dias <[email protected]> To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, December 9, 2010 9:20:32 AM Subject: Re: [Goanet] I Am Questioned By The Dreaded Agente Monteiro Thank you Gabriel, those are excellent points for discussion. It would be really nice if we could get the entire episodes regarding Roldao and the difficulties of the Goans in Bombay who were even forced to change their names to succeed in life and to erase their similarities with Portuguese names. It shows what kind of Democratic country the Indian Union was in the post 1947 - 1970 years... And then some of us claim that India got democracy much before Goa, that it was good, that there was freedom of speech, etc, etc. Yeah. Right! All in paper, of course. There is no full freedom of speech in India even today. There are publications and books that are still banned in India today and you can get arrested if caught with a banned book. There are politicians in Goa being arrested and people prevented from exercising their rights to do public demonstrations, etc. That is the democracy in India today. And it is much better today. In the first few years after 1961, it was exactly the same as during Portuguese times, or worse. Goa even had a one entire year of Martial Law post 1961. What an excellent way of welcoming Goa into the motherland. Best regards Paulo. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gabriel de Figueiredo Sent: 09 December 2010 07:03 To: Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994! Subject: Re: [Goanet] I Am Questioned By The Dreaded Agente Monteiro I hope you can also give a blow-by-blow account of how Roldao was beaten up by the Bombay police and the method of his escape from Bombay to Goa, with his family. Perhaps you could also read about how Goans in Bombay, who resisted the Indian moves to change their attitude towards the Portuguese, were treated, e.g. editors of some prominent Goan publications.
