On 3 July 2011 07:53, SOTER <[email protected]> wrote: > Floriano wrote: > "Communalism was in the blood of Goan Hindus, for I have witnessed it in the > raw. I could write a whole book on the subject. > The only factor that kept it subdued was the unmitigating 'disciplined' rule > of the Portuguese. > That gone, communalism got to budding afresh."
Both Catholics and Hindus (and not to forget atheists, agnostics and, to a lesser degree perhaps because of their smaller numbers here, Muslims too) have suffered from the raging fever of communalism at different points of time in Goa's history. It is impossible to blame one side alone. If you ask me, the Catholics held the arrogance of we-share-the-rulers'-religion biases and more till 1961. (Though it's more complex than that, are there were intense caste including Bamon-versus-Chardo battles within Catholicism too for much of the 20th century, for instance.) Strangely, Catholics in Goa are perhaps a rare minority that have the arrogance of a majority. To fill in the other end of the pool. Hindus in Goa are one majority which sometimes think like a minority -- see the our-language-under-seige mentality in force currently. By repeatedly playing up on stereotypes of the past, such fears are kept alive and are quick to surface when needed. Post-1961, there has been an undeniable spurt in Hindu communalism (due to electoral politics too), though it is definitely unreal to pretend that communalism came to Goa only in 1961. Even if we didn't feel or see the impact of it earlier. Undeniably, the politicians and the media play a big role in stoking communalism for their own goals. While someone like Floriano might vent his thoughts without thinking twice, the more influential parties (Congress, BJP definitely, Goa Congress, UGDP... and other have beens) are certainly more sophisticated in playing this 'game'. Zero-sum-games do dominate Goa. We believe that if The Other wins, then "we" have to lose. However we define The Other and "we" (and the boundaries keep shifting). This is all the more sad because, if people had played as a team, and understood each other better, I'm sure Goa could be a fairly high-ranked top-grade team! FN
