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WAS INQUISITION A PART OF GOA'S LIBERATION STRUGGLE?
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The subject of the documentary is Goa�s freedom struggle and not the history of Goa. Conversion and inquisition are a part of Goa�s history and are not relevant as regards the history of freedom struggle. The struggle for freedom was intended to end the rule of an alien nation (Portugal) wherein Hindus and Christians fought hand in hand. It was not a struggle for or against any religion. BY UDAY BHEMBRE. |
WE HAVE VIEWED the VCD �Goa Freedom Struggle� produced by the Directorate of Education of Government of Goa, several times with a critical eye. We have cross-checked the scenes and the narration in the VCD with the historical records. Upon studying the VCD from various angles like script, depiction of events, production values, research and overall impact, we have reached the following findings, reasons for which also follow.
FINDINGS
The documentary �Goa Freedom Struggle� is a deliberate and malicious attempt to pursue the communal agenda of the Sangh Parivar and to inject communal poison in the society under the pretext of presenting the history of Goa�s freedom struggle.
The documentary, instead of becoming educative, has become repulsive as it leaves a bad taste due to exaggerated and violent as well as gory depiction of events, which are extraneous to and irrelevant in the context of the freedom struggle, the underlying motive being to arouse communal passions.
The documentary is full of distortions of historical events and is replete with figments of imagination, which are contrary to the recorded history. Those responsible for the research of the documentary have utterly failed in their duty and have dealt with most events casually without putting in any study and relying purely on imagination.
The script committee has miserably failed in vetting the script, which appears to have been written by someone who is not familiar with Goa�s history, geography and culture.
The committee appointed by the Government of Goa to oversee the project of producing the documentary has acted irresponsibly in as much as it has allowed distortions of history, unwarranted emphasis on religion and religious symbols, major as well as minor blunders and a presentation of the freedom struggle as a play staged by school children.
The documentary is full of erroneous scenes and statements, which are bound to misinform and mislead the viewers.
As extraneous and unwarranted episodes are brought in with a sinister motive, the actual struggle for freedom had to be compressed within about 40 minutes. Consequently it has become sketchy, ineffective and has left out important information and significant developments. The documentary, which is a bundle of distortions, imaginations and errors, does not do justice either to the freedom struggle or to the freedom fighters.
The documentary is not fit even for adult viewing. It is bound to misinform and mislead the students and arouse communal passions.
The documentary, which is produced with a sinister motive and which is full of defects of all kinds, deserves to be destroyed lest it is believed in future to be an authentic presentation of Goa�s freedom struggle.
COMMUNAL AGENDA
The subject of the documentary is Goa�s freedom struggle and not the history of Goa. Conversion and inquisition are a part of Goa�s history; but are certainly not relevant as regards the history of freedom struggle. The struggle for freedom was intended to end the rule of an alien nation (Portugal) in this part of the country. In this struggle Hindus and Christians fought hand in hand against the Portuguese. It was not a struggle for or against any religion. The struggle was essentially political and had no religious overtones at all. The history of conversion and religious persecution is irrelevant as far as the struggle for freedom is concerned. Yet, it was brought in and emphasized to inject communal poison on the minds of the viewers, to arouse communal passions and to divide the society.
One third part of the footage is used to depict the period of conversion and inquisition. In doing so history is distorted, relevant facts are suppressed and events have been shown in an exaggerated and crude manner. Only communal minds can connect those events of the 16th and 17th century to the freedom struggle that essentially took place in the 20th century.
The fact that conversion and inquisition affected only four talukas of Tiswadi, Salcete, Mormugao and Bardez is suppressed and an impression is given that the religious persecution took place all over Goa.
The fact that inquisition punished the converts (Jews who had come from Portugal had become �New Christians� and the local converts) and it is they who bore the brunt of the religious frenzy has been suppressed. Hindus were affected marginally and mostly by the dictats of the inquisition regarding socio-cultural customs. However, an impression is given that all Goans are affected.
Two scenes illustrate this point vivdly: One scene is regarding the cremation on a raft in the river and the other scene is when a couple is brought before the tribunal of the inquisition. In the first scene it is suppressed that the rule regarding cremation was applicable to the converts and not to those who were Hindus. Secondly, the man who is caught in that scene is a Hindu by his attire. Is this not a deliberate distortion to create a false impression that Hindus were prohibited from cremating the dead bodies? Is it not an attempt to provoke those Hindus who have a communal bent of mind? In the other scene the woman who is brought before the tribunal of inquisition wears a nine-yard sari. A convert could not do so, because along with the religion the dress code was also changed. As a Christian she could not wear a nine-yard sari. It is less a lapse and a more sinister attempt to show that Hindus were punished. The purpose is the same: to arouse communal passions.
The other instance is the excessive and unwarranted use of religious symbols like the cross, crucifix, images of saints and the photographs of Hindu deities. Are these symbols of any significance in Goa�s freedom struggle? Only a communally perverse mind can introduce them in a so-called documentary of a struggle for freedom.
After Sambhaji returns without attacking Goa, as per the scriptwriter of the documentary, the Governor gives an order to continue with the campaign of religious conversion. This is contrary to history and appears to be an obsession with religion and conversion. The campaign of conversion, which started in 1540-41, continued up to 1580 with a militant spirit. Thereafter, it lost the edge; but continued up to 1610. Inquisition too, lost its fervor by 1650. Shivaji died in 1680 and Sambhaji took over after Shivaji�s death. He prepared to attack Goa between 1680 and 1685. Therefore, it is historically wrong to show that that the Portuguese Governor ordered the continuation of the campaign for conversion as shown in the documentary.
DISTORTION OF HISTORY
The documentary begins by distorting history. The narrator describes Goa as a holy place having the �innocence of a child�, whatever that means! And then the Portuguese attack. The Script Committee or the scriptwriter has not taken even the slightest trouble to check history. Yusuf Adil Shah was the ruler. Local population, largely Hindus, was dissatisfied due to heavy taxes and other kinds of persecution. They wanted to end the Adil Shahi rule. They, led by Mhal Pai of Verna, a Hindu Brahmin, co-operated with Timoja and Afonso de Albuquerque in the attack against the Adil Shah rule. Is the history distorted because the Hindus co-operated with Timoja and Albuquerque or is it distorted because Mhal Pai was a Hindu Brahmin?
The other and bigger distortion immediately follows the opening distortion. The narrator and the moving images tell the viewer that the Portuguese soldiers, immediately after setting foot on the soil of Goa, started religious conversion, demolition of temples and the inquisition! This is contrary to recorded history. Hindus led by Mhal Pai co-operated with Albuquerque on the understanding that he would not persecute the Hindus. Albuquerque honoured the commitment, decreased taxes and did not interfere with the religion or culture of the locals. The conversions that took place during his rule were those of Muslim women who were married to Portuguese soldiers.
The policy of conversion, demolition of temples etc. was initiated in 1540-41, a full 30 years after the conquest of the city of Goa. Initially it was pursued only in Tiswadi as the Portuguese acquired Salcete and Bardez later, that is, in 1543.
The inquisition was established in 1560, that is, 50 years after the conquest of the city of Goa. The Script Committee as well as the committee appointed to oversee the project appears to have been blissfully ignorant about the sequence of events after the conquest.
The narrator and the images make the viewer believe that the Portuguese soldiers tortured the Hindu women and children. This is not borne out by history and is a figment of imagination of the documentary makers. After the conquest, those who suffered were Muslim men and women. Is it ignorance of the committee that there is no mention of it and that there is no trace of any Muslim anywhere in the documentary or was it a communal mind at work?
LACK OF RESEARCH
Research assumes much importance when one deals with history; but as regards this documentary there has not been any research worth the name and consequently the documentary has become a child�s play. Some of the instances of lack of research, which stare at the viewer, are:
(i) The Committee is ignorant of the date or even of the year of the conquest of the city of Goa. The words used are �Hundreds of years ago� as if the narrator is narrating a folktale; or �five hundred years ago� Is this the way to present history?
(ii) The Committee also appears to be ignorant of the history of Goa preceding the Portuguese invasion. If earlier history of Goa was to precede the history of the freedom struggle, should it start from the Portuguese? Does Goa not have a history prior to 1510?
(iii) To show the invasion of Old Goa by the Portuguese foot marks are shown in the sand as if they had come to the IFFI tamasha on the Miramar beach. The scriptwriter does not know that the attack was at Old Goa through the Mandovi river as Old Goa was the capital of Yusuf Adil Shah. The scriptwriter also does not know that there is no beach at Old Goa! Does the Government of Goa and especially the Directorate of Education expect the students to ask questions about these blunders so that the Committee, headed by Mr. Flaviano Dias, hang their heads in shame?
(iv) There is a similar blunder about the dress worn by the locals in the 16th and 17th centuries. There are descriptions and sketches as well as paintings depicting the dress of that period. But in the absence of research, men and women have been made to wear 19th century dress.
(v) No attention has been paid to the dress of the freedom fighters in spite of the fact that photographic evidence is available. One glaring instance is of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. he is made to wear a black coat! The photographs of Dr. Lohia published in the books brought out by the Government of Goa show his dress to be white. The garment is probably a kurta.
(vi) Photographs of almost all the freedom fighters are published in the �Who�s Who of Freedom Fighters� published by the Government of Goa. But in the absence of any research, not even an attempt is made to bring at least some semblance in the appearance of those freedom fighters that are seen in the documentary.
(vii) There are hundreds of Goans who speak Portuguese well. But in the documentary those who are shown as speaking in Portuguese, speak a strange language, which is beyond comprehension. One glaring instance is about the famous words uttered by Dr. Pundalik Gaitonde. The person playing the role of Dr. Gaitonde pronounces �Eu Protesto� with �to� as pronounced in �Tato�!
(viii) No research has been conducted to ascertain the objects, the jurisdiction and the working of the Inquisition. The big table that was used by the tribunal and the crucifix that was in the Hall of Inquisition can still be seen in Goa. But nobody has taken the trouble to see them. Consequently the Hall of Inquisition in the documentary appears to be a warehouse!
(ix) The script committee has failed to ascertain where Dr. Lohia was before he was taken out of Goa and how and where he was taken to. The scene in the documentary shows him looking at the sea through a window with grills and a steamer is shown far away in the sea. The impression that a viewer gets in that is Dr. Lohia was deported to Africa or Portugal like many Goan freedom fighters.
BLUNDERS
The major blunder that the producers of the documentary have committed is to waste more than one third of the footage on distorted events, which are unconnected with and irrelevant to the freedom struggle. As a consequence less than 40 minutes were available for presenting the actual freedom struggle. This has led to several defects, namely, a wrong impression is created that the struggle was continuous; several developments are omitted; stages of the movement are not correctly depicted, reference to many freedom fighters is omitted; international developments are given a go-by and no reference has been made to those freedom fighters who came from such fields as literature, art, journalism etc.
The scriptwriter is obviously a Goan who has scant knowledge of Goa. Two glaring instances of his ignorance will show how the viewers will be misinformed:
(a) Take the scene where Peter Alvares plans for three morchas. As per the script one morcha led by Anthony D�Souza is to proceed from Polem to Goa and the other, under the leadership of Mark Fernandes is to proceed from Patradevi to Goa. Goa!? Where exactly? The scriptwriter is ignorant about Goa. He takes it to be a city and does not know that Panaji is the capital.
(b) There is a statement, which precedes the narration about revolts by the Ranes of Sattari. The statement is that most people of Sattari belong to the race of Ranes! The scriptwriter misinforms the viewers. The members of the Committee are guilty of allowing such blunders and misinformation.
In documentaries where personalities are involved, a strictly followed norm is that one person does not play the role of two different personalities. This norm is violated again and again leading to confusion among those viewers who may not understand Hindi too well. One glaring example of this confusion is that the person who is shown as Purshottam Kakodkar in the scene following his trial is later shown as Vishwanath Lawande announcing the formation of the Azad Gomantak Dal. The Committee has failed to get such confusion eliminated.
RSS is prominently mentioned at two places when the fact is that RSS as an organization was never a part of Goa�s freedom struggle as it was never a part of the movement for India�s independence.
CONCLUSION
The motive of the Government of Goa behind the production of the documentary is neither honest nor sincere. Under the pretext of presenting the freedom struggle, the Government has indulged in pursuing the agenda of the Sangh Parivar. Otherwise, by using the initial seven minutes for narrating the preceding history (not from the advent of the Portuguese but the earliest available records) a full hour could have been used for presenting the actual freedom struggle.
Events like conversion and inquisition have been brought in unnecessarily. If any member of the committee opines that conversion and inquisition form part of the freedom struggle, he/she deserves to be sent to a psychiatrist for treatment.
The documentary distorts several historical events, misinforms the viewers and presents the freedom struggle in a sketchy, immature way.
The quality of the documentary is sub-standard. Some scenes appear to have been shot with an ordinary VHS camera. In many instances, actual sites have been avoided and wrong places chosen, which render the documentary a fraud.
The documentary, which is objectionable and defective for many reasons, as shown hereinabove, is not fit for showing even to adults. It will cause more damage if young students of tender minds view it as a true presentation of history. The documentary, therefore, needs to be destroyed to avoid its misuse now or in future.
Uday Bhembre is the Chairman of Vichar Vibhag.
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