This is good fodder for all our fanatic Hindutva and VHP friends. It should also be clearly understood that accounts on the Inquisition whether in Goa or in Spain are often exaggerated. This is not to deny that there were no excesses. The Goan Catholics should be proud that ther ancestors were converted. As I said earlier there is this category of self-hating individuals who take little pride in their own cultures and what it gave them: many Goan Catholics included who think that the only criterion for being an Indian is to be a Hindu in religion or culture.Then colonialised natives are all too quick to point the finger of blame to the while man. Its called the White Man's burden: The white man is always expected by the brown man to set the highest standards in everything, as something like that cannot be expected from the natives....a lowe standard from natives is acceptible but not the whiet man!!
Lets face this fact: The Portuguese rule in Goa was a historic necessity. It liberated our ancestors from the most horrific form of human exploitation, cruelty and discrimination that exists(still) in Hindu society. There is no more cruel chapter in human history than the discrimination and cruelty of Hindu caste society which has a clear scriptural basis.Slavery, colonislism and inquisitions simply pale in comparisn to the caste system. The lives of hundreds of millions is a living hell of oppression, discrimination and poverty: they have no human dignity or future. One needs to read the Manusmriti to know the kinds of torture that used to be used on the lower castes. Their history has never been written as they were not allowed to write or express themselves. What about the cruel practice of Sati that was abolished by the Portuguese: don't they feel for women who used to or would have ended up roasted alive. So many of us may be descendents of women who must have been saved this horror because of the conversions. All modern day historical criticisms should also consider the fact that egalitarianism, social justice, universal education and human dignity are all alien to Indian culture. They are all western imports, thanks to the colonialists and the Christian missionaries. And these alone got us into the modern age and have caused the country to progress. They gave the Indian culture a conscience it never had nor could develop on its own: to realise that every human is an equal! Neil de Jesus Rangel. Santo Estevam, Ilhas, Goa 403106. --- Frederick Menezes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > from http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/sep/14inter1.htm > > The Rediff Interview/Novelist Richard Zimer > > September 14, 2005 > > Richard Zimler's novel, Guardian of the Dawn, documents the little-known > Portuguese Inquisition in India, in 16th century Goa.
