One People?- Herald

Goa is not merely geography.

26 Feb, 2016, 06:54AM IST

The idea of Goa is essentially a society that has emerged in isolation from the rest of the sub-continent under four and a half centuries of Portuguese rule. If you remove the Portuguese influence, Goa is just another extension of the Konkan coast, from Malwan to Karwar.

Liberation was not the end of Goa’s problems. It was the beginning. Immediately, a majority section of Goa’s Hindus, led by late Dayanand Bandodkar disowned Goa and demanded that Goa be merged with Maharashtra. Goa’s Catholic minority with support of about a quarter of Goa’s Hindu population under the undisputed leadership of late Dr. Jack de Sequeira stood firm against the forces out to destroy Goa, and prevailed in the Opinion Poll. Goa’s identity was secured. But only for the moment. 

The Opinion Poll was actually a very limited exercise. It reminds me of our courts of law. After a trial, if an accused is convicted, the magistrate adjourns the case for hearing, on the quantum of sentence. The Opinion Poll was merely a hearing on the quantum of sentence. There was no trial at all! The choice before the voters was capital punishment (that is what merger with Maharashtra would amount to) or life imprisonment. We opted for life imprisonment. 

And when you are undergoing life imprisonment the world looks radically different. A coconut tree appears to be a form of grass or herb. The monkey from which you and I have descended according to Charles Darwin and which rescued Sita from Lanka looks like vermin. And so does the boar which as Varha was the third incarnation of Vishnu. As also the elephant whose head was transplanted (plastic surgery according to PM Modi!) on Lord Ganesha. We all bear witness to this.

The other day, I had been travelling to Cansaulim to look for an old school friend, whose house I did not know. The first inquiry I made on the road, the response was “Malum Nahim”. The second was similar. By the time the car slowed down for the third, my daughter interrupted and said “Papa, he is another “Malum Nahim”. And so he turned out to be. The actual truth is Goa is not merged with Maharashtra but the whole of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and whatsoever is merged with Goa!

We have been living one big lie; since Operation Vijay. It is that all Goans are “one”. Nothing could be further from the truth. If all Goans are one, how is it, a big chunk of people refused to acknowledge Goa and wanted its merger with Maharashtra? How is that a big section of the people, disown the mother tongue Konkani and clamour for Marathi? How can people who are “one” have two mothers?

The illusion of being one has been forced upon us and it is the Catholics who are required to sacrifice all that they value to prove the oneness. The cultural and religious outpourings of the Catholics (mass, tiatro, mando)  have been and continue to be in the Roman script. And it has been denied recognition. On the contrary, the Hindus have got their Marathi. And in addition, they get Konkani in Devnagiri, as a bonus.

The voting pattern at the Opinion Poll is clear indicator that all Goans are not one. The Portuguese “old conquest” predominantly inhabited by Catholics in those days, voted overwhelmingly against merger, while the “new conquests”, largely Hindu voted for merger. The margin of victory for anti merger was only 34,021 votes or about ten percent difference between the two sides. In short, about forty four percent of the people voted for merger. Analysis of the pattern clearly shows that nearly hundred percent of the Catholics and not more than a quarter of the Hindu voters supported non merger. Three quarters of the Hindu voted for annihilation of Goa and its merger with Maharashtra. How could a people who are “one” vote in such a contradictory and mutually destructive manner?

It is a paradox that those who fought to preserve Goa gained nothing for their efforts and those who wanted its destruction get everything. No Catholic has been Chief Minister for more than a year, in these fifty years. Visit any government office and see how many Catholics you can find. The record shows that not less than twenty five Catholics have reached the rank of Major Generals or equivalent in the Indian Armed Forces including a Commander in Chief of the Army, with just one or two Hindus reaching that rank. And yet, when nearly hundred PSIs were recruited to the police force two years back, just two Catholics figured in the list. How have the Catholics suddenly become unfit for government jobs?

Those who actually cast their votes in the Opinion Poll are mostly dead and gone. But their descendants love Goa as much as their parents did. These are the same people who fought for and sacrificed their lives to make Konkani the official language. And these are now made to feel unwanted and forced to migrate. As a result there are three MPs of Goan Catholic origin in the United Kingdoms. And none in Indian Parliament. And there is a Prime Minister in Portugal too. Soon Goa will be devoid of the niz Goemkar who loved the land and toiled hard to retain its identity. The majority of today’s Goans are descendants of those who wanted to destroy Goa by merging it with Maharashtra. The rest are the ‘malum nahim’s’ who are coming here and grabbing the land. The days of Goa are over or nearly so. Soon if you have to find a “niz Goemkar” you may have to travel to London or Swindon, Lisbon or Melbourne, Mississauga or Mississippi!

(Radharao F. Gracias is a Senior Trial Court Advocate.)

 

http://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Opinions/One-People/99352.html