It is not clear what Admin Noronha is saying here, and what his definition of even-handedness is. As far as I am concerned, if one is looking for an even-handed treatment of a contentious issue such as communalism, scholarly articles are the best place to find it because they try to meet the requirement to provide a dispassionate account of all events and circumstances. Good scholarly articles make a great deal of effort to consider all available facts and opinions on any issue. They do not cherry pick cases and incidents. They look at evidence, including sociological evidence and subjective testimony with a critical eye. They do not jump to conclusions or pass judgments. The authors of these articles factor in the role of observer bias, and take into account and make explicit ideological and cultural influences, while trying to minimize the influence of their own mindset. They refrain from engaging in generalization based on individual cases. Above all, they avoid rhetorical flourish, and shun conspiratorial and magical thinking.
Cheers, Santosh --- On Thu, 7/7/11, Frederick FN Noronha फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या *فريدريك نورونيا <[email protected]> wrote: > > This is precisely my point! We are > such a divided lot -- with a very > different sense of history and politics -- that by > 'framing' the debate in > selective terms the focus goes on just one side of the > problem. > > Is the case being made out that post-1961 Goa does not have > problems of > communalism, and I mean created by all religions? I'm > definitely not one who > subscribes to the communalism-started-in-1961 thesis, and > this period does > need to be still better understood. But do we have to > understand the > post-1961 situation only in terms of "scholarly articles"? > Assuming there is > a lack of scholarly articles, would it imply that the > problem doesn't exist? > > As I would say again: this is not very even-handed. FN > > PS: I recall the way in which the report on Curchorem was > laughed away by > some sections in cyberspace, even before attempts were made > to read or > understand it. Probably a case of hearing only what we want > to hear. The > flip side is those who would like to believe that Goa was > an oasis of > communal harmony till 1961. Both perspectives are > short-sighted, in my view. > > FN +91-832-2409490 or +91-9822122436 > > On 6 July 2011 19:50, Santosh Helekar <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > I would request Admin Noronha to read all my posts in > this thread to > > understand the context of this discussion, and read > the following quote from > > my last post to understand the meaning of > even-handedness. > > > > "But if someone wants to read about communal policies > of the Portuguese > > government, and communalism among the Hindus and > Catholics during the 451 > > years of Portuguese rule, and in the early sixties, > then here are some > > references that I have read on this subject:" > > ......Santosh Helekar > > > > Please note the reference to both Hindus and Catholics > above, and to > > communalism in the 1960s. > > > > As far as even-handedness in communalism post-1961 is > concerned, I would > > request Admin Noronha to refer me to any scholarly > articles that he has > > written and read on this issue. > > >
