On the anniversary of the concentration camp of Pondá Carlos Morais in: Expresso, 30 March 2006
19 March was the 44th anniversary of an unforgettable episode that took place in the Prisoners' Camp of Pondá, in Goa, where 1750 Portuguese soldiers were incarcerated, after the Indian Union invasion of that territory [Goa], on the night of 17 December 1961. Three of our soldiers planned to escape, making use of the van that collected garbage daily. Scheming with the team in charge of this service, they decided to lie low in the garbage container of the van. They were intending, once out, to escape. Just as the vehicle stopped at the guarded exit, for no reason, the Portuguese sargeant in charge of the garbage-collection team decided to denounce the escape of three soldiers to the Indian commandant. The three, noticing what was going on, got off the van and tried to escape. One of them still managed to succeed in escaping, mingling with the our soldiers. This resulted in an environment of agitation and nervousness. The field commander, an Indian major, gathered together the Portuguese officials and communicated to them that if cases of this nature were to happen again, he would be obliged to shoot the persons responsible. Commander Pinto da Cruz, the most senior officer, still verbally resisted the threat, but the Indian major was absolute. At around 18h30, there was an unexpected call to fall in order. When the prisoners had fallen in line, brigadier Sagat Singh, general-commander of the Prisoners' Camps of Goa arrived. He declared to us that there had been an act of indiscipline and that he had presented himself there to resolve it. On what occurred later, Fr. Joaquim Ferreira da Silva (SJ), chaplain of the Prisoners' Camp of Pondá, later wrote in an article for the magazine «Magificat»: «The Indian brigadier arrived (...) He ordered the soldiers to fall to order and asked if anyone wanted to punish the informer. Contrary to expectation, the boys answered in chorus: ' All! ’ The man was going towards the wire-fence. The brigadier asked if they had understood well. And the answer was the same: ' All! ’ He then ordered a firing squad to prepare themselves and to load the machine guns. He had bazookas and mortars placed outside, in front and at the rear. An incalculable tension reigned, when the least incident could be enough for everthing to explode. The boys, nervous, could not restrain themselves. A voice is then heard: 'Any one who moves will be shot down’. I was convinced that it was my obligation to intervene, and, in spite of the final threat, I walked with slow but sure steps, with my eyes on the brigadier (...). Having been informed that I was the chaplain, he shouted irritably: ‘Come forward!’ And I went forward. I requested permission to speak and requested him if I could say saying something to the men, as chaplain. But the answer was emotionless: 'No! It is too late! It is necessary to teach all a lesson’. I insisted, requesting him to give to the men an opportunity. He denied again, asking if we had been mistreated at anytime. I answered no, but that we had already suffered enough and we deserved another opportunity. Again he said 'no' without emotion, and turning around he ordered the firing squad forward. I started on a last desperate appeal, convinced this would be useless: 'Sir, gives us an opportunity. This has been the first time. There was no reason, except as a complaint. Please give us an opportunity’. ‘All right then’, he answered, ‘but tell them this would be the last time’. I thanked, saluted and approached the formation, where the men were awaiting for over twenty minutes, and said them: 'Friends and comrades: none of us can stop condemning the action of that comrade who incited us to revolt. We can, however, and should have interpreted well his intention. Justice will be done, but not here nor will it be up to us to do it but for the one who has the right to do it. Remember your parents and mothers who long to hug you from afar. Conserve your courage for a more opportune occasion, where you might be better able to use it in the service of the homeland. Are you willing to do as I ask? The answer was in unison: 'We are’. I then approached the brigadier and told him that the soldiers were willing to do what he asked them. ‘All right then’, he answered, ‘but they have to apologise’. I went again to the formation: 'Boys, the brigadier would like an apology’. After they apologised in chorus, the brigadier was content. I thanked, saluted and went away. The storm had ended. All the officers who met me huggged and congratulated me. But I had been only a happy instrument in the hands of divine providence». This self-sacrificing and courageous attitude of Fr. Joaquim Ferreira da Silva saved us certainly of a disgrace of unpredictable consequences. We all owe him one. It is lamentable, however, that at official level and at the "inquiry" carried out later in Portugal, this act did not merit a word of praise, which should have amounted to a duty of the most elementary justice. Carlos Morais Retired colonel, one of the prisoners of Pondá Translated from http://supergoa.com/pt/read/news_recorte.asp?c_news=543 Make the switch to the world's best email. Get Yahoo!7 Mail! http://au.yahoo.com/y7mail