India Abroad, March 1991. A Search for Identity by Goans Gathering Takes Up Issues of Christianity and West
By AJIT JAIN TORONTO - Goans never had a strong identity of their own, Prof. Rashesh Thakkar of Toronto's York University said last week. Thakkar was one of many speakers from North America, Britain and India who participated in a three-day conference here that concluded March 17. Called "Coa: Continuity and Change," it raised many questions about the community in India and abroad, its identity and the relationship between Goans and non-Goans. Goa was a Portuguese colony for more than 250 years, and was freed by the Indian Army in the early 1960s. The conference was organized by the South Asian studies department of the University of Toronto and the International Goan Association. The answer of a Goan to the question, whether he is a Goan or an Indian first, "will depend on who you are talking to," Ronald D'Costa, a professor at the University of Ottawa, said. "A Goan who settled in East Africa will say he is an Indian," he said. "A Coan from Incia will say he's a Goan." Portuguese Heritage Cliff Meneses, a student at York University, spcke about the Portuguese rule in Goa, and asked: "Why do we Goans not want to be called Indians? Why do we want to retain Portuguese names and cling to Christianity?" Nearly 40 percent of Goa's population is Roman Catholic. He added: "Goans consider themselves unique. Christianity and Western influences bring them closer to mainstream communities, and as immigrants we are less of a target as visible minorities. We fit in with Western culture." At Ease in the West Dr. George Coelho, a senior administrator at the National Mental Health Institute in Maryland, said, "Goans always feel more comfortable, more at ease in the West than in the East. They are more Westernized among the visible minorities in North America." And yet, he added, Goans are not accepted as part of the mainstream and continue to be a part of minorities. Narendra Wagle, a professor at the University of Toronto and the convenor of the conference, said it had become evident from the gathering's deliberations that Goans would like to go back to Indian ways. "But at the same time Christianity and Portuguese connections would keep them distinct, apart," he noted. Aware of Identiry John Manoel de Figiredo of Yale University said that Goan academics and community leaders repeatedly call themselves Goans, "as they are conscious of the Goan identity even though they come from different parts of the world." The conference also addressed some of the problems in the Catholic Church in Coa. Janet Rubinoff of York University presented a paper on casteism of Catholics. The church in Goa chose to accept rather than condemn "caste affiliations among its new converts," she said. ----------------- The above text is from a scanned newspaper clipping. Prof. Thakkar was professor of politics at York University before retiring. Ronald D'Costa was professor of sociology at Ottawa University and before that he taught in Congo and he died at age 66 in 2003. Narendra Wagle (retired) was professor of history at Toronto University and headed the South Asian Studies Dept. Dr. George Coelho died a few years ago. He and Wagle put together the papers from the conference into a book, Goa: Continuity and Change. John Manoel de Figuredo, a Portuguese. Janet Rubinoff, then a ph.d student, is now a professor of anthropology at York University. She is wife of Prof. Arthur Rubinoff who wrote, Use of Force in Goa, who taught political science at University of Toronto. I attended the conference. I have provided this report because of the debate on Goan identity since yesterday on the occasion of the anniversary of Opinion Poll. Eugene
