Hi Fred,
I totally agree with you, as I knew Dr. Willie, a little bit, when I lived
in Goa. In fact I was present as a silent person at the very meeting in
Panjim, that was the start of the United Goans Party; I happened to be
there, as I was asked to 'come along' by my then sarpanch. To my surprise I
met and came to know Alemao Churchill, at this meeting. Mr. Churchill became
Dr Willie's main financier! Though Dr Willie had his own clout and political
cunning of sorts; it was Churchill who really knew to play the political
game in Salcete, and elsewhere in South Goa; that too inspite of his
background.
Yes, Dr Willie and Churchill together were able to shoo Sashikala out, and
start the new trend in politics; I could boast that, at the time, whilst I
worked/ campaigned for Churchill to the state assembly seat; I decided that
Eduard Faleiro was the man to work for, for the South Goa Parliament seat;
and that's exactly what I did.
His family name is written as: 'Sousa' the Bamon spelling and not 'Souza'. I
do not think Dr Willfred is 'Casteist' ; it's his being born into an upper
caste and his educated bachground is what makes him. Looking back, I feel he
is 'a failed politician'. He is and has been engaged in disruptive politics;
It's high time the people who support his seat, put pressure on him and
gherao him until he relents, and sits on the back bench without any
ministerial portfolio. That will be the begining of good goverment. Hoorah!
Nasci Caldeira
Melbourne.
From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Goanet]Willie, a casteist? What BULL----!
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 04:09:28 +0530 (IST)
As far as caste goes, I have no grounds to make a comment
on how the doctor perceives it. What I can say is that when
he became chief minister for the first time (around 1993),
some of my Hindu Brahmin journo colleagues half-jokingly commented
that it was the first time that "a Brahmin" had become a
chief minister in post-Liberation Goa (known more, since the
sixties, for its somewhat aggressive and
counter-discriminatory Bahujan Samaj politics).
While this was half in jest, it also underlines the point
that feelings of caste solidarity can and do -- sometimes -- cut
across religious lines.
On the other hand, I would suspect that, like many Catholics of his
generation (and younger ones too!), the surgeon-politician is probably just
oblivious to how caste cuts in current times... and accept all that comes
one's way by way of being born with a golden/silver spoon as a natural
right. No questions asked.
In the political lore of Goa, however, Dr Wilfred de Souza and his then
political close-aide, Govinda Panvelcar, are credited with calculatedly
working towards the downfall of the by-then-disliked Shashikala Kakodkar
government (in 1979). They did it very shrewedly, by studying, almost as a
sociologist would do, the caste and communal equations in each constituency
-- and allocating the seats to the 'right' people of the 'right' background
in each place. They won a thumping victory.
As far as Dr de Souza "opting" for Goa, I think not everyone takes this
decision on the basis of financial returns alone. In addition, he had
already spent some of his years abroad, and could be seen as an early
returnee to Goa. There are many who stay on in Goa, who could have taken
the migration-route, a tradition among the Goan Catholic. Not everyone of
'export quality' is actually exported! If this rule applies for other
fields, why won't it apply for politics too?
Then, there's another issue:
Dr Souza was a dyed-in-the-wool in UGP (United Goans Party) politics of the
'sixties -- an ideology which went down rather well with the Catholic upper
middle class (and other less-affluent co-religionists, through the
extension of the former's hegemony) in Goa. That was till the futility of
religion-based capitalist-controlled and reforming-promising politics
became clear with the arrival of less-"feudal" parties like the Congress
and Janata in the 'seventies or the BJP in the 'eighties. Not that the
latter were necessarily better, but they brought in another dynamics of
building majorities and winning elections.
I may be wrong here, but there was some issue of Dr Souza being unfairly
sidelined.
This could have been a factor in a decision to stay on and
bounce back.
In addition, politics gives its own high. Dr Souza is also addicted to the
game of politics, of which he is a skilled player, even if seen by critics
to have a destructive strategy sometimes.
Dr Wilfred de Souza, unlike say Churchill Alemao (who is a Chardo, but with
a far greater sub-altern image in part explained by a poor education due to
a difficult childhood) is seen as having the old-school Catholic values of
arrogance and assertiveness. It is hard to say if this is because of caste
or simply professional competence -- the doctor was reputed to be the best
surgeon in Goa -- but probably that's how it might be perceived.
As far as Alfred Tavares' comments go, benefitting as he does from
the fact of being the good doctor's cousin, it means he either has a very
close insight into Dr Souza's functioning... or, alternatively, that one
could point to too close a proximity to take a distanced view ;-)
Just a few thoughts... don't how how valid these would be seen as. Your
comments are welcome. FN
