>From The Goan Review (Sept-Oct issue) A Viewpoint
Rise of pervasive class of Goans Eugene Correia I've never really understood the term, Niz Goenkar, and its significance and appropriateness in general discourse. I have suddenly seen an explosion on its use and by a new breed of Goans who seem to have made themselves distinguishable from the rest of Goans. It's hard to know what criteria these Goans apply to themselves to call themselves "niz", which translates as "real" or "true." Is it just an expression or is it just an exclamation of the uniqueness of Goans, just as the Maharashtrians have their slogan, "Marathi Manus"? But Maharashtrians don't differentiate between the "niz" ones and the "rest" but use it homogenously for all. So what sets these Niz Goenkars apart from the rest of us who are Goans by birth or family origin? Oscar Carmino Lobo, who holds the distinction of being an elected municipal councillor in an Australian city, dismissed my Goan origin as not being of any merit because I was born in Mumbai. In his words, I am a "non-Goan" whereas he is a Niz Goenkar because of his birth and education in Goa during the Portuguese rule. He's proudly pro-Portuguese and ruggedly anti-Indian. I found out that he passed out from St. Britto High School in 1967 when Goa was under Indian rule. He also said that most Goans born in Mumbai don't know much about Goa's history and that whatever they have learnt is through visits to Goa on holidays or through their parents and grandparents. When challenged that I know much more history than he knows, he still persisted in saying that my knowledge is no good as I have no "lived experience" in Goa. Such persons with anti-Indian bias try to beat those on the other side with any stick, even if they are wrong in their assessment. In a recent post on a Goan perfunctory mailing list (not Goanet), he says, "I would now like to hear from Eugene Correia (made in Mumbai, India) what he has to say about the so-called 'liberation'." His knowledge of Goan history is zilch and he seeks opinions from others in the cosy cyber club of pro-Portuguese Goans. Another diehard pro-Portuguese Goan, Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão, based in Goa, hasn't lost any chance to hit out at me on the same mailing list, a collection of email ids snatched from the Internet forums without even asking for permission, and run by one Joseph Rebello, based in UK. In one of his newest posts, he says, "It all basically comes down to civility. Indians have NOT been civilised except some of those who have seen civility in European countries. There are others who even after being in other countries continue being uncivilised animals abroad as well as on their return to India. These are blind animals who are incapable of being civilised. We see many such in Goa descended from Bombay who want to be called Goan, but do not fit in the society. And then get frustrated and behave like rabid animals. It is not in their Gene to be rationale. They are a waste of two billion years of evolution." What can be more insensitive and outrageous than calling Indians "animals"? Goans born of Goan parents and if the father is Goan in a mixed-marriage, then they are Indians genetically. I thought the good doctor would know this but then he's blinded by prejudice. Some Goans maintain they are not Indians but "Goans" per se. For them, Goa is an "imaginary homeland", a country of their own. In reality, they are Alices in Wonderland. By capitalizing the word Gene, Dr. Falcão has pig-headedly made an implicit reference to me. My name is obviously anathema to him and those of his ilk. To given another example of Dr. Falcão's pig-headedness, I recollect his reaction to a quote I posted on the list. The quote says, "The smallest dog can still piss on the biggest tree." The doctor shot back saying, that the quote was grammatically wrong and went to explain that a dog or man could piss only at the root of the tree. When I replied giving the name of the book, A Bushie's Guide to Life!, from which I quoted, and mentioned it was published in America, the doctor dismissed by contention with his unflinching arrogance. Doesn't his behaviour hinge on hypocritical tendency The Bahamas-based paediatrician, Dr. Jose Colaco, keeps unhesitantly and unequivocally harping on Portuguese benevolence during the colonial subjugation of the land. Portuguese contribution to the making of the Goan identity cannot be forgotten nor can it be erased. However, a post-Portuguese generation of Goans has now come of age, and they are the ones who are the masters of the destiny of the state. These GenX Goans haven't had the benefit of witnessing Portuguese colonialisation and, hence, the Portuguese influences on them is practically non-existent, except for those few brought up in the home environment where Portuguese lifestyle prevailed for a couple of post-Liberation decades or, in very rare cases, still prevails. A master of labeling those who he hates and those he wants to browbeat on Internet debates on a range of subjects but particularly on Portuguese-India issues, Dr. Colaco is considered by his comrades-in-arms as a valiant frontman of the band of crusaders for Portuguese causes. He's tough critic of India's as well as Goa's current status. His pet peeve is Goa's Liberation, and his slugfest with his opponents over the subject is one for the books. His forte lies in recycling old issues, and he often acts as both judge and jury. An unabashed cyber-warrior, Dr. Colaco has scant regard for historians and journalists who have excelled in their line of work, and he has tagged them with spurious nicknames and, in one case, a play on the first name of a reputed Goan scholar. If some from this kind of "educated class" take utmost joy in deriding Goans born outside Goa, it isn't surprising at the contempt and hatred they have for Indians, more so for those who have adopted Goa as they new home and have either given or giving their best to the development of the state in their field of expertise. I'm talking here of the "educated" and "civilised" Indians, and not the migrant class who, in their own way, grease the wheels of Goa's development, as many GenX Goans have not followed the traditional occupations or want to be engaged in menial jobs. That Goa still has people with colonial hang-ups and who show they haven't changed with the times is a tragedy. These Goans consider themselves as the guardians of the past, besides projecting as the new experts on Goan history, encompassing political, social, cultural and economic spheres. They are quislings themselves but make vituperative statements against freedom-fighters and freedom-loving Goans. As I have found out, it's an exasperating experience butting my head against these nutheads. Some of them are just goofballs and not worth wasting my time and patience. I doubt if any of these Goans will be able to answer to the satisfaction of others who, like me, are suspect of the concept of Niz Goenkar. In these times when Goa is seeing an upheaval regarding the influx of migrants, called "baille", "bigtam" and "ghantis", the latter two words used derogatorily, by those who abhor them, it's pertinent to ask if those of us who grew in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkatta, etc. would have been offended if called by such disparaging terms. We are aware of our regional identities, be it Goan, Punjabi, Maharashtrian, etc. , but we are proudly Indians. I still remember the riots against the South Indians in Mumbai when the Shiv Sena hordes went after the South Indian hawkers, particularly in the Flora Fountain area. The late Balasaheb Thackeray fanned the fires of hatred against the people from the Southern parts of India, particular those from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, just to gain political advantage and increase the party's image and reach among the locals. It set a dangerous precedent in the cosmopolitan city. One of the reasons the Shiv Sena targetted the people from the Southern region was because many South Indians held office jobs and the party felt that Maharashtrians were losing out on job opportunities. To give my own personal experience, I was selected for a job in a bank but was denied at the last minute. When I enquired through my sources in the bank, I was told that the Shiv Sena had pressurised the bank management into giving jobs to Maharashtrians only. A Maharashtrian classmate of mine got through. The sons-of-the-soil theory was unashamedly put into practice in some states, with Maharashtra paving the way. It continues to simmer on the surface. Goa has seen its subtle use but, fortunately, it hasn't reached flagrant proportion. One can debate on the merits and demerits of this issue but it's unlikely to end in a consensus. When political parties engage in communal or identity politics or what is known as regional or ethnic nationalism, India suffers. In some ways, India's division into linguistic states has lessened inter-regional conflicts. Separating Daman and Diu from Goa was a good move in preventing possible communal tensions. The promise to create Telengana has spurred longstanding demands for separate states by other regional groups. For the first 40 years, Goa's integration into the national mainstream was slow. Today, Goa looks like the rest of India, though retaining many of its salient socio-cultural features. Goa has seen flare-ups of communal violence but these haven't been threatening enough nor frequent enough to destroy the overall communal harmony witnessed in the state. Now and then the bogey of Goan nationalism is being raised by vested interests and Goa-specific political parties. True, Goa is getting swamped by outsiders and there's genuine fear that Goans would one day end up as a minority community. The "vote-bank" politics practiced by individual politicians and parties in general creates communal disharmony and class- and ethnicity-based imbalances. Xenophobia is bad for the health of the nation as well as for any state. Dividing Goans and "outsiders" is one thing, but dividing Goans between ordinary Goans and Niz Goenkars is detrimental to the health and safeguard of the state. It's a mischievous ploy that some political parties are guilty of playing. I understand the problems created in the socio-economic landscape of Goa by large-scale outside population. In the given circumstances where the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of mobility, there's nothing the government can do to stop the in-migration. Goans would have to wait for the day when the Special Status would be granted, but it won't be any day sooner. As matters stand today, it's not a cinch. Some Goans engage in selective reasoning in the sense they don't mind the rich and the famous coming and settling down in Goa but they are up in arms against the poor. With out-migration of Goans, particularly to the UK on acquiring Portuguese passports, the resident population of Goans, especially Catholic Goans is shrinking. There vacant spaces are filled with outsiders, many of them in low-paying or menial jobs. Shortage of local manual labour, for example, on fishing trawlers or even farming is a fact. Punjab's Green Revolution was brought about by the migrant farmhands from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. One particular aspect I find very depressing is the rise of a pervasive class of "Internet Goans", akin to the "Internet Hindus", a term applied to the vast army of people who inhabit the social media world and carry on tirade against those who they think are anti-BJP, anti-RSS and anti-Modi. These Goans rail against anything Indian, from Liberation to the presence of outsiders in Goa. Most of these "Internet Goans" are based in foreign countries. The loudest noises come from those who have acquired Portuguese passports and are settled in the UK. Though one cannot use the same broad brush to paint all UK Goans, there's a group of hardcore, bigoted Goans who spit venom on Indians in general. Even those Goans who profess to be Indians first and Goans second are not spared. Goan mailing lists also feature these Goans who go whole hog in denouncing Goa's Liberation and those who are supportive of it. The website, Niz Goenkar, is an unsavoury and vehemently anti-India website, while showing its affiliation to things Portuguese. There's a bunch of anonymous writers/commentators who use filthy, abusive and virulent language against Goan politicians of some political parties but spare those of one particular party, Goa Su-Raaj Party, with which the website's owner/editor, Menino (Babush) Fernandes, an ex-cop in Goa has an understanding or a pact. The venom-spitting commentators are no less severe on independent writers/journalists who contribute to mainstream print media and also write on mailing lists and hold contrarian views to those propagated by the website and its core group of writers/commentators. As a cautionary tale to these practitioners of rabid, often libelous, writing, let me inform that there's a cyber-libel suit going on in Canada against anonymous writers who are alleged to have defamed former General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs ice-hockey team. As The Toronto Star warns, "What is written online, even anonymously, can come back to bite the authors." These anonymous writers must check http://goo.gl/8HpEot. Beware, all you pesky as well as nasty anonymous commentators for your turn may come one day to stand in court. Disclaimer: I provided Niz Goenkar some articles of mine that were earlier published in the print media. After some vulgar comments, including name-calling, against me I requested the editor to delete or remove the offending words. Since he failed to act, I stopped sending articles. A lie was spread that I was banned from writing on NG. ---- Note: Some minor corrections carried out from the print copy. Eugene
