------------------------------------------------------- CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at: http://www.casadegoa.org -------------------------------------------------------
On Tue, 2007-06-12 at 22:46 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > From: Carvalho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [Goanet] Sentiments expressed against Catholic Goans > > The spate of anti-Catholic sentiments expressed since > the commencement of the elections by Hindu Goans on > this forum are shocking and very disheartening. You forgot a qualifier -- viz., 'some' Hindu Goans. Many others have expressed secular sentiments. Similarly, 'some' (fill in any religion) routinely express anti- (fill in any other religion). Do not pay any attention to such sectarian statements. > > So why do I even bother being Goan, when I am made to > feel ashamed of my identity as a Catholic Goan and > made to feel apologetic about my history, my religion > and my culture. Why should you feel ashamed? Those who denigrate others because of differences of faith and culture are the ones who should feel ashamed. > I thought we were marching ahead in > Goa, together hand in hand towards the promised Land > of Secularism. Instead I find we are happily > retreating into stereotyping, hate-mongering and > living divided lives. During election time, these kind of things get bandied around, not worth paying much attention to. It has been a little worse this time in Goa because it is the clear strategy of certain political forces to divide and polarise people along lines of community and faith. Ignore them, and retain your faith (in secularism and whatever else :-) Incidentally, two days ago Gomantak (Marathi) carried a front-page article stating that BJP has now embarked on 'Mission Catholic'. Apparently having come to realise in a blinding flash of inspiration that the Catholic community is alienated from the BJP, the party is now out to woo them. The first tokenistic measure it is taking is appointing Francis D'Souza (Mapusa MLA) as Deputy Leader of its Legislature Party. See Gomantak for further details. > -- Question everything -- Karl Marx ------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------