A Gift of Goa's History: Hindu-Christian Partnership
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Damo d ar R S a rD es ai I t is the golden ju bilee of that mo- mentous event in Goa' s history, which replaced an alien colonial rule by self -rule.It is a time of re- flection on the achiev ements of the last ha lf century and thin k of the pos - sibilities for the next 25 or 50 years.One can be sure that ideas will not be want- ing. Already we have the Regional Plan 2021 and before long, we should have a report from the high-pow ered Goa Gold- en Jubilee Development Council (GGJDC) the chief ministe r appointed last year under the chairmanship of Dr Raghunath Mashelkar , former director of the prestigio us Council for Scientif- ic and Industrial Research to "document a vision and a road map for the next 25 years". Here are a fe w thoughts,from an NRI or NRG, who heartily welcomed the liberation of Goa and defended it in 1961on national television channels in the United States. How do the NR G's contemplate Goa's future in the next quarter century? I have met hundreds of NRG's who , are without an ex ception, loyal lovers of Goa, immensely inter- ested in its economic development and greater glory achieved without gross vi- olation of its famed and much cherish ed natural beauty . That is the rub. How does o ne achieve both conservation and devel- opment, two seemingly opposite goals? The environmentalits,notably the Goa Bachao Abhiyan and the Council for Social Justice and Peace,have justifi- ably condemne d the trio of tourism, particularly , the so-called"beach-based" tourism, the mining industry and the real estate developers who have in the last decade moved into Goa's pictur- esque villages to build villas and con- dominiums for enormous profits. These are not some idiosyncratic ac- tivists, but whose voices echo the frus- tration of overwhelming numbers ofGoans, both at home and in the dias- pora.In my view , these concerns must be taken care of in a substantial mea s- ure before expecting enthusiasm and support of the people for new p rojects that the GGJDC might propose. Mining Firstly , the min- ing industry , largely in iron ore to meet the demands from China,which has been importing low grade iron ore from India, 39% from Goa, which brought last ye ar to the Goa government a roy alty income of Rs 800 crore and considerable foreign ex- change to the country . One has to vis- it the four affecte d talukas of Sattari, Quepem,Sanguem and Ponda or at best to see the video presentation by Car- men Miranda (as I did at the Global Goan Convention in London last July) to see the terrible damage caused to the environment and the loss caused to local agriculturists.One cannot dis- miss the phenomenon on grounds ofits being an inevitable consequence ofIndia 's adoption of economic global- ization.There is also the argument that, along with tourism (which brings in another ` 800 to ` 1,200 crore) , mining brings in a huge c hunk of reven ue to the government which uses it for the amelioration of the middle class as well as the less privileged sectors of the so- ciety. And further that tourism and mining are both employment genera- tors.The question is how much of this will fit into the notion of “sustainable develop ment ”? How much of the earth’s degradation is avoida ble and, instead of just wri nging hands, can something be done to restore the beau- ty of Goa’s green be lt and to keep Goa good and green for the future genera- tions.In this regard,I have mad e some suggestions. Tourism As for touri sm, I would sound a very important warning about the so-called “beach-based tourism”, which ac- counts for over 90% of the over 2.3 mil- lion traffic,of which a little over 50% is from overseas.The latter involving a 900 plus chartered fligh ts, mostly from Russia, Germany and Isra el, is marked by drugs,nudity and inter- national mafia, involving numerous cases of rape and murder . They ha ve also highlighted issues of security , both local and national.According to media reports, Morjim has become a Russian village , with road signs in Russian and a Russian beach head from which locals, including members of the pa ncha yat,are barred.This is simply unacceptable.Apart from the risks posed these days by international terrorism and the apprehensio ns that some of the unaccounted R ussian nu- clear warheads may land in wrong hands, it is pertinent to remember that the East India Company began as an innocuous “factory”(misnomer for the factor or agent's off ices and ware- houses) on the waterfront of Surat eventually to become masters of the Indian sub-contine nt. We should be “Once bitte n, twice shy” . The short- term financial gain from such unde- s i ra b le , det est abl e, i n te r n at i onal tourism cannot be an argument for grievously affecting the physical and moral well-be ing of Goa's youth. Worse , it can fatefully affect the na- tion's being itself. There can be no compromise on the proposition that Goa's beaches must be restored to Goan control.They must be cleaned and barricaded promptly with the Rs 200 crore specially granted by the Central Government last year (one- half of the amount is earmar ked fo r the Mopa International Airport) and the Goans must be enabled to have at least as mu ch of a righ t, if not a prior- ity , to enjoy the sun and the sand. Sunken gardens in mining holes As for redressing the damage to the landscape caused by the mining in- dustry I have a partial “solution”, to keep Goa green and which may create a new kin d of touri sm as well. I sug- gest the creation of “sunken gardens”, such as the famed Petersburg Gardens in Florida or in Lincoln,Nebraska but whose best and relevant example for Goa’s mining holes are the Butchart Gardens in British Columbia in Cana- da. While Robe rt Pin Butchart was nearing the exhaustion of his expan- sive limes tone quarry , in the first decade o f the 20th century , his aes- thetically se nsitive w ife, Jennie, was devising an unprecedented plan for cre- ating a beautiful “reverse Taj Mahal” for herself. When we first visited it some four decades ago,the thousands of diverse flower beds, luxuriant tree s and lawns stunned us until at night we were completely overwhelmed by the huge color-changing fountain some- thing we can improve upon in Green Goa with unseasonal rainbows! The sunken gardens , where applica ble, could hav e an arboretum,zoos, boat cruises,and annual flowe r shows and competitions , not to speak of concert stages to entertain the visitors,which now number over one million in Butch art Garde ns. Some of the min- ing holes can be devised, with suitable alterations , for harvesting rain water , to be used for the sunken gardens or agriculture in the vicinity. This idea can be implemented with the private-public partnership model, chief minister Digambar Kamat has included in his current budget for the twin mining corridors-Uguem to Gud- demol and Gudde mol to Capxem. I would suggest that the corridors be lined with tall trees to conceal them from public view like the Ho Chi Minh trails in Vietnam.And, needless to say , the trucks should be well-covered so that the dust does not envelop the green- ery along the mining corridor. The Sunken Garden Project could be funded by individual mine owners, whose families could translate their aesthetic inclinations into a competi- tion for the best sunken garden in the region. In the alternative , a Green Min- ing Project Fund may be created from a small slice of the royalty fee and a grant from the environment ministry. The chief minister has also i ncluded “helicopter tourism”in his budget. It is an idea that could be harnessed for taking tourists to the proposed Sunken Garden Project. The Future Goa has already moved dramatically in the la st half cen- tury from being one of the most backward states in India with very poor infrastructure and lack of higher edu cation to its current a d- vanced status . In 2001,it was ranked the highest among all states and union territories in terms of 12 key indica- tors determini ng the quality of life. The literacy was the third highest and infant mortality the third lowest.And Goa was the only state which had and has 100% reg istration of births and death s. The Confed eratio n of India n Industries (CII) declared that Goa had “enviably attained growth with equi- ty and social justice for nearly all of its citizens ”. Ye s, indeed , in the ey es ofmillions of fellow-In dians, Goa has emerged as an enviable society. Education So, wher e do we go from here? My own thoughts for the future will focus more on education, a field of my lifelon g preoccupa tion and of some modest expertise.To my mind, Goa has an adequate and fi- nancially susta inable structure of ed- ucation-primary , secondary , profes- sional (engineering,medical, dental, pharmacy , architecture , law , business management),and over 40 colleges ofliberal arts, basic sciences and com- merce.It has a good university who se potential inspires me to make some suggestions. Highe r educatio n, notabl y re- search, makes humans truly global in their reach.Goa University and the professional colleges must enhance the academic content beyond the mere accumulation of knowledge , tested by examinations which encourage cramming. The inadequate quan tum of resear ch in the presen t educational set-up in Goa is no different from oth- er states and their universitie s. In the entire country , there are possibly no more than two dozen institutions where truly original high calibre, global level rese arch is conducted. In a survey published last month there was no Indian university or institu- tion among the world's top 200 cen- ters of highe r educatio n.I would mak e a case for the Goa University to de- velop res earch faciliti es of a global level in a limited number of faculties such as pharmaceuticals , certain branc hes of medi cine , mini ng, ma- rine development and marine biolo- gy . We should aim at being among the top 100 in the world in those fields in the next two decades . In this effort, apart from the UGC grants , there should be massi ve infusions of funds from the private sector.The industri- al leadership of the Weste rn world and Japan is primarily based on their R & D (research and development) in both public and private se ctors. Such an institute should either be a stand- alone entity or a fairly autonomous institute within the structure of Goa University . In either case , it should not be subject to the rigid limits set by the UGC's bureaucracy but fostered by persons with extensive research experience under their belt. Goa’s human resource is the most important single resource in which maximum investment should be made by offering to the youth the best edu- cation the world has to offer. For this, Goa University should have a com- mittee in ea ch of its divisions en- trusted wi th the upgrading of cur- riculum to keep up with the advanced institutions in the wor ld. In fact,this is relevant and important for all In- dian universities including the IITs and the IIMs. It should be possible,in the initial stages, either through the India-US Sub-Commission on Educa- tion, Science and Culture or through the Fulbright Program to identify and invite experts in curriculum from the most notable US universities and in- stitutions such as the Caltech and the MIT. Simi- larly , there should be input from renowned universities and institutes from UK,Ger many , Canada as well.There should be an annual in- teraction between the Goa University faculty in each of the major fields ofinstruction and research and the in- vitees. The present procedu res most- ly established during the British regime for adoption of changes in the curriculum should be abandoned in favour of mere departmental a pproval. In September 2001,addressing the 49th meeting of the National De vel- opment Council at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, Goa’s then chief minis- ter proudly stated: “Goa today has reached the take-off stage and is poised to leap into the next phase ofdevelopment. I invite the Planni ng Commission and the government ofIndia to boldly go with us where no state has gone so far...”In the follow- ing decade , India has its elf moved to the take-off stage in dev elopment while at the same time preserving democracy and trying not to destroy the environment. In all this, Goa should march along the bold and cau- tious direction the country is taking. The writer is emeritus professor ofhisto ry, Univer sityof California,Los Angeles (UCLA) GOA: Dreams For The Next C e n t u r y F F u u t u r tu r e should inc e should inc lude lude the p the p ast bu ast bu t not all o t not all o f it f it A Gift of Goa’ s history: The challenge of Hindu-Christian partnership Teot onio d e So uza T he Portuguese arrival in In- dia was motivated by the me ssian is m of Ki ng Manue l of Portuga l who wished to deprive the Turks holding the Holy Land from their financial means of sustaining it with their contro l of Asian trad e. The religious motivation got diluted after his death and was re- placed with Tridentine fanaticism that saw the Estado da Índia in- fected by the sp irit of counter-ref- ormation, implemented with the missionary zeal of the Society ofJesus and the inquisitorial meth- ods of banis hing dharma and christianizing karma. The decli ning fortun es of the Portuguese Asian trade following the entr y of the Dutc h and the English into the Indian Ocean got the Portuguese white settlers in- volved in conflicts with the Goan natives through intrusion into the village communities and the ru- ral economy. The conversion ofsouls was replaced with conver- The Portuguese political lib- eralism after the Napoleonic in- vasion o f Portug al in the fir st decade of the 19th century , and the Portuguese Republican regime in the first decade of the 20th cen tu- ry , made the earlier religious fa- naticism irrelevant. The civic and economic discriminations against the Hindu community were a thing of the past.Many Hind u tax- farmers acquired by auction the lands that had belonged to the sup- pressed religious convents.Many of these land s were ear lier con- fiscated from the Hindu temples and private owners. A near tot ality of about 70 0 mine concessions issued by the Portuguese administration of the Salazar regime favoured the Hin- dus.The problems that Goa is fac- ing today with the mine-ex- traction has little to do with the colonial regime. With the exception ofa Souza family and the Cosme Matias Meneze s group, it was predominantly brand. Their failure was their in- ability to stamp out Konkani lan- guage and its cultural elements. Despite obvious frictions and con- flicts of group intere sts,these cul- tural elements continue to bond the Goan Hindu majority with the self-confident Christian minority into a w orking partnership. The challenge of Goa's Liberation lie s in nurturing and strengthening this unique partnership in India. Herein lies one big challenge, which the Goans have been facing and learning to overcome with rel- ative success. It was jointly that Goan Hindus and Christians struggled against colonialism. The proof of it can b e found in the pro- portionate numbe rs of those who were jailed and exiled by the colo- nial regime, as illustrated in the Who’s Who of Goa 's Free- dom Fighters,a Goa gazetteer de- partment publication that marked the silver jubilee of Goa's Libera- tion. We owe to Valmiki Faleiro a valu- able piece of research pub lished as Patriotism in Action (Goa 1556, 2010) which brought to light the Goan Chris- tian participation in the armed forces of India and thei r commanding rol e in the Operation Vijay that culminated the integrat ion of Goa into the Indi- an Union.The high-po int of the Hin- du-Christian partnership and lead- ership could be seen in the unanimous recognition of TB Cunha b y all free- dom fighters as their representative byplacinghisashesinthemonument at Azad Maidan. My clarion call to all concerned Goans on this auspicious occasion of the go lden j ubil ee of Libe ra- tion,follows: Protect the sourc e ofGoan identity, the very existence of Goa,its soil and greener y , fau- na and flora. Do not leave them at the merc y of unscrupulous and greedy Goan s, be they bhi- torle or bhaile. Let us all rall y to- gether to save Goa as sung by V ict or Ra ngel- R ibeir o L et me make this very clear: When I speak of including the Go a of my past , I am not saying that I want the Portuguese back.Far from it. I was glad w hen they were pushed out in 1961,and I am proud of the progress that Goa has made since then.But the green fields of my chi ldhoo d stretched unbroken from my fa- ther’s house in Porvorim all the way to the f irst row of houses in Mapusa; I long for those fie lds to grow green again,and to be tilled and sowed and harvested again by the sons and daugh ters of our soil. I want the hills to be lush again with trees , wherev er possible. I want the litter to disappear. Cor- ruption as well.Pouff ! The good things that have come with liberation must be improved upon. Take e ducation.I celebrate the fact tha t the mundk ars of my childhood, who were on ce doomed to be forever our mundkars , now not only own their own homes,but their children and grandchildren thers so proudly excelled. To reverse this trend, we need to develop more vocational schools,staf fed by mas- ter craftsmen, so our young men and women will learn once again the joy of being ab le to earn a liv- ing by working with their hands. This will involve a change in at- titude. An even bigger change will be needed for my biggest wish to come tr ue: My Goa of the future will develop in ways that will help us shed,once and for all, the tyran- ny of caste.This is not a ne w dream with me;when I was a child,my parents taught me that we as Catholics hav e no caste. In college in Bombay , my Jesuit professors reinforced that message. So when, late in 1952, I approached my fu- ture father-in-law and asked him for his daughter's hand in mar- riage,imagine my surprise when I heard him say: “Victor, before I say yes or no, do you know we are not of the same caste?” I said,truthfully , “No,I did not know that.But it doesn’t matter one bit; my parents don’t believe in caste, and neither do I.I love your daugh- said,“Is she of your ca ste?” Astonishe d, I blurted out,“No, Father Heras.She isn’t.” That wonderful old man got up and embraced me. Lea and I were married in 1954 and we lived in harmony for 57 won- derful years,until death cruelly took her from me this September . Not once in all that time,not during the years she and I lived in Bombay , and not in the long years we lived in the United State s, did the matter ofcaste intrude into our lives or cre- ate any disharmony . We were ab- solute equals in all things;but I'll be quick to admit she was truly my superior in several ways. I realize that the legacy of caste is deeply ingrained in the ethos ofmany Goans, and it will not be eas- ily gotten rid of. Yet it must be in- creasingly clear to dispassionate ob- servers that, in the modern world, caste is becoming not just irrelevant but also unbecoming of us as edu- cated human beings.I look forward to laws and education and inter- marriage putting an ever bigger dent in it, yet it will not be completely I l l u s t r a t i o n : R a k e s h M u n d y e Qu a r t e r *TOIGOG191211//08/K/1*
A Gift of Goa's History: Hindu-Christian Partnership
