INVASION, LIBERATION, ANNEXATION
[Mob mentality cannot write or rewrite history]
By: Dr. Jaime Rangel - Gomantak Times [GT]
As we are approaching the completion of the fifty-first year after the
momentous events that led to December 19, 1961, passion can, very often,
rule the mind. However, in these circumstances, it is also important to take
a dispassionate view of events.
When one looks back at the series of events that unfolded during the days
and nights of December17, to December 19, 1961, there will be different
interpretations of what transpired in bringing to an end the last vestiges
of colonialism in India. To some it will be an invasion, to others a
liberation, yet to some others an annexation.
What we have to express in a critical analysis is an unbiased approach to
the writing of history. I look at the events around and after December 19,
1961 as a combination of all the three interpretations mentioned above. This
is how I would describe it. An invasion necessitated to achieve a liberation
followed by policies leading to an annexation. Thus, the title of the
article.
Let us now meander through the happenings that led to the joining of Goa
with the Indian Union. Following the independence of India from the British
Empire in 1947, an enormous amount of pressure mounted on the Indian
government to oust the colonial of both the French and the Portuguese. The
Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, having been nurtured from the
fountain of non-violence of his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi, pursued the path of
negotiations. The negotiations with the French proceeded smoothly. The
French handed over possession of Pondichery and the other enclaves, on both
eastern and western coasts of the country, to the Indian Union in 1955.
The response of the Portuguese government led by the dictator, Dr. Antonio
de Oliveira Salazar, was different. Already fighting native resistance
against it, the dictatorship produced a sleight of hand in the Portuguese
constitution. It insisted that Goa was firmly Portuguese by changing its
legal status from Colony to Overseas Province. The persistent refusal of the
Portuguese government to come to the negotiating table piled on pressure and
counter-pressure both within the country and internationally. The freeing of
the colonies of Dadra and Nagar Haveli had no impact on the scene in Goa. It
was this scenario of stalemate that prevailed in Goa during the nineteen
fifties. On the one hand, there were the hawks within the Indian
establishment who were itching for a violent confrontation with the
Portuguese and on the other, Dr. Salazar's government was willing to
sacrifice the lives of its young, poorly trained and poorly-equipped
soldiers against a highly professional army. It was only the pacifist Pandit
Nehru's patience that save Goa from a violent confrontation.
The Indian army was ordered to prepare for an entry into Goa on December 17,
1961 in a ground offensive supported by its Air Force. That it met a totally
demoralized ragtag band of Portuguese soldiers came as a surprise to them
and the aims of the invasion were accomplished. Thus, two days later, a
liberation was achieved. It was during this time of fast-paced changes that
Goa found another friend in its time of dire need. Despite Dr. Salazar's
order to raze Goa to the ground if required in its defense, the
Governor-General Vassalo e Silva refused to follow the dictator's orders and
instead surrendered without much of a fight.
The process of annexation started thereafter. Though personally I believe
that we are better off being a part of India, the fact remains that Goa and
Goans were not given a choice of the various options available. Again, I
have no doubt that were a referendum to be conducted laying the various
options available, the Goans would have joined the Indian Union with the
additional possibility of various safeguards that were at that time, being
discussed in the media. But the fact remains that Goans were not given that
choice. That this did not happen, lead to the unseemly sight of a government
of Maharashtrawadis asking for the merger of Goa with Maharashtra when they
were elected to govern the state and not to preside over its demise as a
separate entity. The Opinion Poll may have laid a little balm for the relief
of Goans by saving them from extinction but it did nothing to stop this
sliver of land being engulfed by a mass of humanity from the rest of India.
This has resulted in a counterforce that is pushing Goans out of Goa. And
half a century later, we are begging for a special status that could have
been ours for the taking had our leaders insisted on a set of choices. This
thorny path is the one that is leading us to a total annexation.
In the context of December 19,1961 and in the scenario that is existing
today, I am, very often, asked a question as to the origins of the freedom
movement in Goa. My very firm answer to this question, without a shadow
doubt, is that the concept of freedom from colonial rule as introduced in
Goa by Dr. Tristao de Braganca Cunha who sowed the seeds of this struggle.
Dr. T B Cunha had imbibed these ideas from the liberal traditions of France
and wrote extensively on the same after his escape from Portugal to France
and on his return to India. Thus, rightfully, he is called the Father of
Goan Nationalism.
There have been struggles against the Portuguese in the distant past, But
these have all been uprisings of the privileged class to either preserve
their privileges or to recover those they were deprived of by the rulers of
the day. The marauding of the Ranes of Sattari, the manoeuvres of the
priests in the uprising of the Cuncolim chieftains are all such events tat
fall into this category. Trying to label these as freedom movements would
not only be erroneous but a total distortion of history. Surely, these are
important events in the political, social and cultural evolution of Goa. But
introducing these into the history books as part of the freedom struggle
and thrusting down bizarre interpretations down the throats of innocent
children is unacceptable.
We have had, in our country, mobs of hooligans vandalizing research
institutes, art galleries, media offices and public libraries in retaliation
to what they perceive as insults to whichever icon they treasure as theirs.
Surely, they forget that these icons are also human beings like any of us
and besides their great achievements have also had their failings which,
along with their greatness, can also be a topic for research. Is it a
civilized nation that threatens life and limb every time there is a
disagreement? History should not and cannot be written and rewritten by
mobs.
So where does that leave Goa and Goans? New Delhi looks at Goa for its
potential as a huge earner of tax revenue in tourism and mining and a place
where all its celebrities can come down for a holiday, more often than not,
through the public treasury. Goa, with just three members in Parliament,
two in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha, dies not provide any
nuisance-value to the Central government. Although with shaky coalition
governments at the Centre since the turn of the century, each Goan seat
has gained in importance just a little, but not enough to shake up New
Delhi. It is a pacifist state New Delhi takes for granted,
At just over fifty percent of the total population and dwindling further,
the prospects for the native Goan do not seem bright. With a political class
that only sees sporadic bright sparks and a bureaucracy where mediocrity
reigns, a herculean effort will be required to clean Goa of the garbage
that has accumulated in all spheres of life.
COMMENTS:
I opened up the morning papers, GT among them to be the first. Having
leafed thro' to the editorial page, the moment I saw the 'title' a sense
of gloom descended on me urging me to turn the page to skip another
possible 'sycophantic' tirade on how Invasion, liberation and annexation of
GOA has helped Goa to be the number one state in India. But then I willed
myself to go through the entire article in order to punch holes into it as a
corrective.
But LO! Dr. Jaime Rangel, you have truly made my day. I shall treasure this
article as one of my most prized possessions.
I have high-lighted the core message(s) that Dr. Jaime Rangel is giving to
Goans in this brilliant analysis of the past 50 years of Goa that has been.
And, the last paragraph, I believe, is a direct appeal to GOA SU-RAJ
PARTY - GSRP, the one and only Political Party of Goa that can and that will
achieve for Goa and Goans what has not been achieved for the past 50 years
of so called 'LIBERATION'.
And for this reason, I have sat down to type this article and paste it
across the entire globe, despite my busy schedule for the day, so that
Goans may not miss this treasure, to read and to be sensitized, may it be
thro' all forums and distribution lists, social networks like FB and
Twitter, the Party's websites and many a Blogs run by sensitive Goans.
A Thank You to Dr. Jaime Rangel from the deep bottom of my heart for this
balm for the agitated heart.
Cheers
floriano
goasuraj
www.goasu-raj.org
9890470896
PS: I shall personally call Dr. Jaime Rangel over the phone if I can get his
telephone number from the GT office. However, if anyone has his telephone
number, pls pass it on to me at [email protected]. Tks.
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Goa Su-Raj Party strongly believes that Parliamentary Elections must be
contested by National Parties only AND/OR by a Federation of State
Regional Parties.
with a reciprocating understanding by the National Parties that the 'State
Elections' shall be the prerogative of State Registered Political Parties
only. Even then, and in the absence of such a ruling by the Election
Commission of India, GSRP would want GOANS who are ERUDITE,
knowledgeable about India and its problems, as well as World affairs,
'STATESMEN/WOMEN' , to contest on it's 'TICKET' in the coming 2014
Parliamentary Elections. Let GOA endeavour to send two real Parliamentarians
to the House of the People in New Delhi for once.
