On 15/07/07, Gilbert Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Frankly I would encourage the Muslim community to spend a few hundred million dinars of Saudi money (pocket change) in Goa to build a very beautiful mosque, which also serves as a great tourist attraction. Now everybody wins ... through cooperation.
Ha, ha. Would you also encourage the spending of lakhs of Indian rupees by (a) the Hindu community of Goa, which is on a temple-renovation spree, sometimes at the encouagement of politicians who want to be seen to be "doing something" and (b) priests, who are on an extend-the-church campaign, because we all know how contractor-fuelled-kickbacks is a reality in Goa (like in other parts of the world)... and one wonders whether the man-of-god is immune to such pressures too. Maybe we should all spend a collective cyber-minute in silence for all the beautiful temples and churches that have been felled and replaced by gaudy structures and the power of money. We can't blame the Inquisition and theocratic Portugal for all times, I would guess, even as we battle two sets of fundis -- the saffronistas and the Portuguese-rule-wasn't-colonialism types. --FN PS: Groups like the GHAG (Goa Heritage Action Group) have been pointing this out, without getting caught up in taking sides among religions, afaik. Unlike the Bhandares and the Colacos we run into daily.