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A new book club focused entirely on writing about Goa First meeting: November 18, 2010 @ 5pm @ Broadway, 18th June Road, Panaji Details at: http://ttt-goa.notlong.com or SMS 9822122436 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Nascy, You're making broad and sweeping generalisations, to match where your point of view lies. It is definitely a fact that some who claim freedom fighter status are fakes. But to tar and feather the whole lot is hardly convincing. Most of them took their cause ahead in one way or another, in quite a few cases, suffering imprisonment for their political views. Some were pacifist in ideology, so they can't be blamed for not taking to arms. To suggest that they did not fight in "any other way" is simply untrue. I am willing to concede that some might have taken their stand based on which way the wind was blowing (after 1947 this was pretty much clear). But many launched their campaigns in the 1920s and 1930s too. We could ask whether the post-1961 governments did the right thing in mollycoddling the freedom-fighters with all kinds of priviledges, and whether the FFs did the right thing in accepting the same. We could also ask whether tthey did the right thing in mostly discontinuing with their campaigns after 1961 and opting for the spectators' seats (a few fought in labour issues, and were fairly committed.. but others keep on raising emotive concerns) ... But these are different debates, not connected with your agenda of discrediting those who took anti-colonial (read: anti-Portuguese) positions of whatever form. FN Frederick Noronha :: +91-9822122436 :: +91-832-2409490 On 17 November 2010 18:38, Nascy Caldeira <nascy...@yahoo.com.au> wrote: > Only a few of the FFs were genuine; most just got that status with 'false' > representations. > On (i) they did not only 'not fight with arms' but 'neither in any other > way'. > (11) these guys did not really believe in any future but their own 'very > personal' well being! That is what I am saying! without any bias or > prejudice. > Will anyone get the 'profiles' of all these 'declared' FFs thru FOI; then I > am sure U will find, 'most were ordinary criminals' seeking freedom and > benefits, by falsely declaring themselves as FFs. That is the meaning of > freedom for most of these guys. > >