Eduardo Faleiro Member of Parliament C-701, Swarna Jayanti Sadan, Dr. Bishamber Das Marg, New Delhi-110001 Tel.: 011-23319395 Fax 011-23752140 E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Raia Salcete Goa 403720 Tel 0832-2777309 Fax 0832-2776868 E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Statement I have requested the Hon Speaker of the Lok Sabha to display the portrait of Dr. Tristao Braganza Cunha in Parliament House. The Speaker is the Chairman of the Committee on Installation of Portraits of National Leaders in the Parliament House complex. I am confident that the portrait of Dr T.B. Cunha will be displayed in Parliament in the course of the next year alongside other stalwarts of the national Freedom Movement such as Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Maulana Azad and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. This will be the first portrait of a Goan leader in the Central Hall of Parliament. Dr. T. B. Cunha founded the Goa Congress Committee in 1928 to strive for the liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu against overwhelming odds.In 1938, T.B. Cunha met Subash Chandra Bose the then President of the Indian National Congress and on his advice, the Goa Congress was affiliated to the Indian National Congress. T. B. Cunha was selected its first president. He gave a clarion call to all Goans to join the Liberation Movement. He was arrested by the Portuguese authorities and tried by a military tribunal (the first civilian to be so tried) and sentenced to eight years imprisonment. After his release he returned to Mumbai in 1953 to take up the chairmanship of the Goa Action Committee and editorship of the fortnightly Free Goa. He died in September 28, 1958. The Indian National Congress in a condolence resolution described him as "The founder of the Goan Liberation Movement". On this occasion, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru remarked "What is worth remembering is that a small territory has produced a relatively large number of men and women who have sacrificed much for the struggle. Among them the name that stands out is that of Dr. T. B. Cunha". The Goan freedom struggle was a secular movement just as the national freedom struggle and indeed all the anti- colonial movements for independence across the world in the Twentieth Century. Whilst the UPA Government at the Center and most of the States are detoxifying our school system from the sectarian educational policy pursued by the previous Union Government, it is regrettable that the Goa Department of Education has produced a CD on the Goan freedom struggle which entirely reflects the ideology of the Sangh Parivar. The CD relies on selected so called historical "facts". Truth cannot be selective. Selective truth is untruth. Educational institutions are trustees for the future citizens of the country. I urge them to reject this CD without any reservations. The challenge before our educational institutions is to develop human resources so that Goa becomes competitive nationally and globally. The ideology of nationalism, secularism and democracy is the only relevant ideology for our nation. Our nationalism rests on the rich diversity of our cultures, languages and religions. Together they represent the multi faceted splendour of India.
