Re: [Goanet] Why Paolo is Nostalgic About Portugues Tempar, in these days of India Shining !
WWW.GOANET.ORG ** C O M M U N I T Y ** A N N O U N C E M E N T Save Goa Campaign / Goa Bachao Abhiyan Report all violations of Hill-cutting, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and other Land Use violations to: Nodal Officer & District Collector (Goa) Mr. Nikhil Kumar Office: 2223612; Residence (after 8PM): 2420710; mobile 9822123071 During the Salazar regime (established in 1926) and particularly after World War II, Portugal tried to hold on to the fragments of her Indian empire by belatedly encouraging some development projects and by turning Goa into a duty-free port. It had long been known that Goa was extremely rich in iron-ore deposits, and in 1947 the Portuguese began issuing leases for developing them. The leases were taken up mainly by local Hindu merchants, who paid as little as Rs 300 for the priviledge of becoming mine owners. With the infusion of foreign capital from India and elsewhere (specifically, Japan and West Germany), the Goan mines developed rapidly in the last decade of colonial rule. There were also attempts to expand the road network, electricity supply, and school system, all of which had been neglected up to then. "Only in the last two years ... were textbooks for Marathi ... primary schools prepared under government supervision and published in Goa." The number of scholarships for study in Portugal was increased, and many Hindus were given the opportunity to attend the metropolitan universities -- an opportunity rarely available until this period. After 1947, Portuguese salaries were very high compared to those paid in India; and retirement pensions were equal to the salaries. Cheap luxury goods and the availability of imported staples made Portuguese rule palatable to many; even today, older Goans yearn for the days of cheap whisky, cheese, olives, and Japanese textiles. In general, the prices of many consumer goods were about 50 to 70 per cent below Indian levels, while incomes were nearly double -- a situation which encouraged large-scale smuggling of goods into India. The Portuguese succeeded in creating an artificial prosperity based on iron-ore exports, high salaries, and low prices for duty-free goods. Aimed at the politically-aware middle class and the intellectuals, however, the system offered little if anything to the vast majority of people -- those engaged in agriculture and fishing. In fact, farmers and fishermen were reduced to subsistence levels, since their products could not compete with the cheap imported foods. There is good evidence that Portuguese efforts to mollify anticolonial feelings were superficial at best. The only bank in Goa until 1961 was the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, which gave no interest on deposits. There were no separate departments or sections of government for various aspects of economic affairs (industry, agriculture, fisheries, forests, mining, land survey, statistics, price control, etc). Rather, all activities were lumped together under a Directorate of Economic Services. Portugal, a poor country itself, had neither the capital to invest in Goa nor the industrial output to supply Goa's needs -- not even the ships to bring goods and take away iron ore. The Goan economy was doubly colonial; subject to a do-nothing Portuguese administration, it was also exploited by Japanese, European, and American interests who bought the iron ore and invested in some domestic facilities. Japan and West Germany together took 70 per cent of Goa's iron-ore production in 1960. -- Robert S Newman, 'Goa: The Transformation of an Indian Region' in "Of Umbrellas, Goddesses & Dreams: Essays on Goan Culture and Society" (academic references not included above, available in book, Other India Press, Mapusa 2001, ISBN 81-85569-51-7 On 11/01/07, Gabriel de Figueiredo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Nostalgia... only after a year > > Province to Colony > Friday, Feb. 01, 1963 > > A year after Indian troops ended Portugal's 451-year > rule over its tiny colony of Goa on India's west > coast, native Goans were longing last week for the bad > old days of colonial oppression. > > Under the Portuguese, Goa's virtually duty-free status > had ensured it a higher standard of living than > neighboring India. Teachers and minor government > officials, paid nearly three times as much as their > counterparts across the border, could easily afford > such imported luxuries as Belgian sausage and > $2-a-bottle Scotch whisky. Field laborers carried > transistor radios, and peasant women dabbed their ears > with Chanel No. 5. A steady stream of ships carried > high-grade Goan ore to Europe as well as Japan. "All > you had to do to make money," said one Goan trader, > "was to type a few letters." -- FN
Re: [Goanet] Why Paolo is Nostalgic About Portugues Tempar, in these days of India Shining !
WWW.GOANET.ORG ** C O M M U N I T Y ** A N N O U N C E M E N T Save Goa Campaign / Goa Bachao Abhiyan Report all violations of Hill-cutting, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and other Land Use violations to: Nodal Officer & District Collector (Goa) Mr. Nikhil Kumar Office: 2223612; Residence (after 8PM): 2420710; mobile 9822123071 Nostalgia... only after a year Province to Colony Friday, Feb. 01, 1963 A year after Indian troops ended Portugal's 451-year rule over its tiny colony of Goa on India's west coast, native Goans were longing last week for the bad old days of colonial oppression. Under the Portuguese, Goa's virtually duty-free status had ensured it a higher standard of living than neighboring India. Teachers and minor government officials, paid nearly three times as much as their counterparts across the border, could easily afford such imported luxuries as Belgian sausage and $2-a-bottle Scotch whisky. Field laborers carried transistor radios, and peasant women dabbed their ears with Chanel No. 5. A steady stream of ships carried high-grade Goan ore to Europe as well as Japan. "All you had to do to make money," said one Goan trader, "was to type a few letters." But independence from Portugal brought Goa under the control of India's austerity economy and stifling bureaucracy. About the same time, foreign demand for its iron ore slumped; production dropped from 1,000,000 tons in 1961 to 650,000 tons last year. Wage scales were adjusted downward to an Indian scale, but the cost of living climbed by 3%. Indian import restrictions abruptly cut off the flow of foreign goods, bankrupting many small merchants, and forcing Goans to pay more for Indian merchandise of a lesser quality. Hesitant Indian officials referred even minor bureaucratic decisions to New Delhi, where they became lost in a labyrinth of red tape. It was over a year before local merchants were allowed to pick up goods imported and paid for before liberation, by which time much of the stuff had rotted away on the docks of Mormugão harbor. Though Portugal oppressively banned all political opposition, it did give Goa a considerable amount of local autonomy. Under New Delhi's rule, Goa hoped at least to become a separate state. But the neighboring Indian states of Mysore and Maharashtra, covetous of Goa's economic potential and of Mormugão harbor, which is one of the finest harbors on the subcontinent, have each begun a campaign to annex it. All in all, morale is low. Grumbled one Goan bitterly: "Under the Portuguese we were considered a province. Under India, to our surprise, we find we are treated like a colony." Source: TIME magazine. Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com WWW.GOANET.ORG ** C O M M U N I T Y ** A N N O U N C E M E N T Save Goa Campaign / Goa Bachao Abhiyan Report all violations of Hill-cutting, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and other Land Use violations to 24-hour Helpline +91 9822684372
Re: [Goanet] Why Paolo is Nostalgic About Portugues Tempar, in these days of India Shining !
WWW.GOANET.ORG ** C O M M U N I T Y ** A N N O U N C E M E N T Save Goa Campaign / Goa Bachao Abhiyan Report all violations of Hill-cutting, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and other Land Use violations to: Nodal Officer & District Collector (Goa) Mr. Nikhil Kumar Office: 2223612; Residence (after 8PM): 2420710; mobile 9822123071 On Wed Jan 10 00:44:10 PST 2007, CARMO DCRUZ wrote: > He is one of the few Goanetters left who would rather be dominated by the > Portugues and White Europeans, because only then they could get the jobs > of > cooks and butlers ! RESPONSE: Carmo, please stop deriding cooks and butlers. You keep painting everybody who is not an IIT-alumni as a criminal. > In these days of India shining, there is a high demand for software > engineers, > electrical engineers, engineering managers, engineering professors, > entrepreneurs, > doctors etc. Would you hire Paolo or any of his friends for the highly > skilled > jobs ? RESPONSE: Carmo, I'm see you are ignorant of Paolo's qualifications and abilities. And I have no intention of making you aware of the same. You can continue to wallow in your ignorance. This is not the first time you have gone on to disparage good people whom you know nothing about. And you are not the first. > We need to encourage our Goan Youth to continue their higher studies, > study science and engineering in college, get into the IITs in large > numbers, RESPONSE: For starters be a good role model for Goan Youth - indulge in respectable discussion of ideas in a public forum. If you cannot debate an issue, stop acting churlish...and again, you are not the first. - Bosco T-dot, CA WWW.GOANET.ORG ** C O M M U N I T Y ** A N N O U N C E M E N T Save Goa Campaign / Goa Bachao Abhiyan Report all violations of Hill-cutting, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and other Land Use violations to 24-hour Helpline +91 9822684372
Re: [Goanet] Why Paolo is Nostalgic About Portugues Tempar, in these days of India Shining !
WWW.GOANET.ORG ** C O M M U N I T Y ** A N N O U N C E M E N T Save Goa Campaign / Goa Bachao Abhiyan Report all violations of Hill-cutting, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and other Land Use violations to: Nodal Officer & District Collector (Goa) Mr. Nikhil Kumar Office: 2223612; Residence (after 8PM): 2420710; mobile 9822123071 Carmo, This has nothing to do with nostalgia about Portugal or the days of India Shining (a view which I subscribe fully, by the way, India is indeed shining and will be a world power very soon). This has to do with the fact that you and so many others talk about "liberation" when indeed what really happened was a conquest according to the Supreme Court of India. I think that even you will agree that something cannot be liberated and conquered at the same time. Many Indian citizens or ethnical Indians like me do not have a problem in accepting that Goa was conquered on the 19th December 1961. The problem remains with many Goans in particular. They refuse to accept any other term different from "liberation", even though it was clearly documented as an act of conquest by the Supreme Court of India. Something that can never be amended or deleted. It is duly documented and it has the sign of the Supreme Court of India. This is about defending the truth. You are free to continue to think of it as "liberation". That is your prerogative. Just like I am free to defend the truth and to refer to the determinations from the Supreme Court of India. Whatever argument you may bring about to this useless discussion, nothing will be more important that the determinations from the Supreme Court of India which clearly determined that you, I, the rest of our countrymen and our motherland have been conquered, yet again, on the 19th Dec 1961! Best. Paulo. > -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:goanet- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of CARMO DCRUZ > Sent: 10 January 2007 08:44 > To: goanet@goanet.org; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Goanet] Why Paolo is Nostalgic About Portugues Tempar,in these > days of India Shining ! > WWW.GOANET.ORG ** C O M M U N I T Y ** A N N O U N C E M E N T Save Goa Campaign / Goa Bachao Abhiyan Report all violations of Hill-cutting, Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and other Land Use violations to 24-hour Helpline +91 9822684372
