Met Julio Ribeiro one-on-one a couple of times in Bombay in 1995 and I can attest to all the qualities attributed to him.
Roland Francis Toronto. > On Dec 31, 2023, at 12:08 PM, 'Victor Rangel-ribeiro' via Goa-Research-Net > <goa-research-net@googlegroups.com> wrote: > > > Thanks for this detailed report, Vivek! Julio and Edgar have my admiration as > well. Wish I'd been there, to add to the applause! > Victor > > On Sunday, December 31, 2023 at 01:31:33 AM EST, V M <vmin...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > https://www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/Standing-with-Giants/215855 > > Such pleasure and privilege for me earlier this week, to help launch Hope for > Sanity: Selected Writings of Julio Ribeiro 2002-2021 in conversation with the > 94-year-old author (and distinguished police officer and civil servant) in > his ancestral village of Porvorim, along with an intimate audience including > three generations of his family as well as his 92-year-old younger brother > Edgar Ribeiro, the former chief planner of the Government of India. The two > men are personal heroes of mine, and so many others, with their unstinting > and unbroken record of service and commitment to the country and their fellow > citizens. Separately and together, they have represented the finest tradition > of Goan contributions to the making of modern India, and the fact they > continue to do so with undimmed passion is nothing short of awe-inspiring. > > On the evening of the book launch, I asked the brothers how it is that > lightning struck twice in their family, and delivered two towering figures > into one household. They demurred modestly, and made jokes, and Edgar went so > far as to say they were no different from “all the Goan families of the > time”, besides their father too had been extremely diligent in his own career > in the India Postal Service. Yet, we can all see those are not any kind of > sufficient explanation for the sheer bravery and fighting spirit these > otherwise entirely gentle men possess in full measure, nor the indomitable > mettle that has led them to repeatedly stand up and speak where others remain > scared and silent. I liked how Samar Halarnkar put it in his brief Foreword > to the new book: “Nations frequently require citizens who remind them of what > is right and wrong. History tells us this not a popular task, but this is > what Julio Ribeiro has done since he retired as one of India’s finest: he has > become one of our conscience keepers.” > > This refusal to tell anything less than the truth, in as forthright a manner > as possible, was fully apparent during the launch of Hope for Sanity: > Selected Writings of Julio Ribeiro 2002-2021. Like everyone else in our > fraught times, I am fully aware of many truths that are meant to be left > unsaid, of lines that you are not meant to cross in public when referring to > the government, amidst the very close and constant attention of people > constantly monitoring for any signs of dissent, disagreement, or what Orwell > called “thought crimes.” In this increasingly claustrophobic environment, it > takes rare guts to go ahead and speak your mind anyway, and it is especially > because that characteristic is conspicuously lacking in 2023 Goa that it was > so stirring to hear and see the fearless nonagenarian state it exactly like > he believes it in Porvorim earlier this week. > > Halarnkar summarizes this trait nicely: “Ribeiro has – through his popular > newspaper columns and public letters – chided former colleagues on > extrajudicial and illegal approached to their job, criticized the > demonization of minorities, described and offered solutions to the fraught > job of policing the new India and never hesitated to hold a mirror to his > people and his country. It would have been easy for Ribeiro to do none of > this and spend his retirement basking in adulation, which is what most men > and women in uniform favourably regarded by the public when in service tend > to do. But doing the safe and popular thing has never been his approach to > life…as his career indicated, he has always been guided not just by the law > but his conscience, even at the cost of personal safety, as the assassination > attempt on him and his wife in 1991 when he was ambassador to Romania made > clear.” > > Hope for Sanity is an interesting selection of writing that also reminds us > that Ribeiro is almost unique in speaking truth to power in the way he does. > The titles alone tell the tale quite bluntly: Mumbai Police Needs Leadership, > Criminals in Uniform, How Political Masters are Orchestrating the Delhi > Police in Riots Case, The Dangerous ‘Yes Men’: Growing Political Interference > in Appointments Doesn’t Bode Well, Choosing Wrong Men to Lead, As a > Responsible Political Figure, Devendra Fadnavis Ought to Moderate his > Impulses, Rakesh Asthana’s New Job Shows How the Administration is Out to > Destroy Our Institutions. There are excellent pieces on many topics, > including a moving introspection about Indian policing after the death of > George Floyd galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA and > beyond: “Racism in the US and Islamaphobia and casteism in India are on the > same shameful planc. Our leaders should contemplate on the larger picture. It > shows us as narrow-minded bigots, unworthy of sitting at the high table in > the comity of nations unless we decide that hating minority communities > diminishes the human race. Islamophobia and caste prejudice should nudge us > to go down on bended knees to beg forgiveness of those we have wronged. > > In conversation at the book launch in Porvorim, in response to multiple > questions from the audience including the youngest generation of their > family, it became clear the two giants amongst us were still single-mindedly > focused on what used to be referred to as “the weaker sections of society.” > Those sentiments – summarized at one time as ‘Garibi Hatao – have become > passé to our collective detriment, in an era of unbridled kleptocratic > oligarchy. But it didn’t have to be this way, and it still doesn’t, if only > more people would pay attention and follow the lead of Edgar and Julio > Ribeiro. Here’s just one of many telling anecdotes from the latter’s riveting > interview with Meenal Baghel, which is one of the highlights of his new book, > about the events in Bombay after Indira Gandhi was murdered by her own > bodyguards: > > `“I phoned my control room and said, ‘Take down my instructions and read them > back to me’. The instructions were: If there is any attempt by anyone to > assault or harm the life and property of any Sikh in the city, the people > were free to open fire. As I was returning to Bombay, I got a call from > Balasaheb [Thackeray] complaining about the order…I said ‘You have not read > the order closely. The key word in English is IF: If someone indulges in > violence and arson against Sikhs. If they don’t, my people cannot just open > fire’. He was livid…a bit of a bully but if you stood up to him he would > climb down.” > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW4iurQqXDgrf21nrJRsY6QzUmF685LBPxYzs-fMV04LQw%40mail.gmail.com. > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/88984741.7000247.1704042508999%40mail.yahoo.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. 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