My dear Jose Colaco,
Over the years I have come to regard you as the mini-Socrates of our age,
asking sharp questions in order to finally uncover the truth.
I too seek the truth, in my own way, and am prepared to enter into a
reasonable debate with you. But a respondent made an unsupported statement
about rapes, and I challenged it.
Now you ask me to be ashamed of myself?
I have nothing to be ashamed of in my life, and hope I never will.
Very best regards,
Victor.
-----Original Message-----
From: J. Colaco < jc> <cola...@gmail.com>
To: Santosh Helekar <chimbel...@yahoo.com>; Goa's premiere mailing list, estb.
1994! <goanet@lists.goanet.org>
Sent: Sun, Jan 6, 2013 7:19 pm
Subject: [Goanet] GOA LIBERATION RETROSPECT Adv. Antonio Lobo
On Sunday, 6 January 2013, Santosh Helekar wrote:
Those who were loyal to Portugal and the Portuguese government claimed that
rapes were being committed by Indians even before the invasion of 1961 -
indeed, as early as 1958, according to one loyalist writer. On the other hand,
apologists for the actions of the Indian government and anti-colonialists made
similar claims about brutalities and repressive actions committed by the
Portuguese. If anybody wants evidence for these statements of mine, I would be
happy to provide it to him or her. I would also be happy to provide published
accounts of atrocities committed by Portuguese soldiers as well as by native
African freedom fighters in the anti-colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique. My
interest in this issue is purely academic and historical. But I also think it
is necessary from time to time to explore the biases of contributors to this
forum by contrasting their views against reliable published material.
COMMENT:
1: Santoshbab is right. The biased amongst us will claim that their side was/is
Sadhu Santh while the other side was/is Shaitan. The basic point is that EVERY
individual has a right to self-determination. This ipso facto means that
Colonialism is wrong; So is a militarily imposed solution. That is why, East
Timor had a referendum. Pity that so much blood had to be spilt because of
Indonesia's military aggression. We do not need to scratch our heads too hard
to look for examples of the on going struggle between those who want to impose
military solutions on people who are resisting those solutions. No need to look
for hearsay and anecdotal evidence, this is the Information Age when propaganda
can be checked, in near real time. Eventually, the truth outs.
2: One way to reconcile all the diverse views is to acknowledge that,
propaganda having been noted, (A) chaps with uniforms and banduks are known to
commit atrocities against the weakest among us. The island of GOA, which was
the site of numerous invasions courtesy the various neighbouring kingdoms
before the arrival of the Portuguese, should provide ample genetic evidence of
'genetic input of no choice'
(B) even in 2013, women in India are hesitant to report a rape because of how
Indian society views rape victims. (C) different territories have different
experiences with their colonial violence. As an example, the experiences of
Jamaica and the neighbouring Cayman Islands are vastly different. So, while the
Africa-anecdotal reporting is persuasive, it is Obiter.
3: Those among us who wish to be ostrichesque wrt Rapes, possibly have not
worked with the abused. There is nothing like witnessing the anguish and
despair on the faces of the victims. Indian women have almost become
desensitised to the CTs (cheap thrills ) of the depraved Indian men who
continue to molest women on trains. Seriously sit down and talk to Indian women
and ask them WHY they would try protect their breasts from being man-handled
(no pun) while traveling to work or college. They are known to hold books in
front and 'say' " well, Let me accept the lesser of the evils i.e. If my butt
gets pinched in the bargain, so be it". Ever wonderd by the Female Only
compartments were imtroduced in India?
4: And we have the nerve to ASK for proof 50 years post de alleged facto? Are
we not ashamed of ourselves?
5: Once again, please review this article written by an Indian woman:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20907755
6: It is quite OK to point our Index Finger at others who are wrong. I hope we
will look at the other 4 which are pointing towards us.
7: It is always right and proper to severely criticise and castigate those who
subjugate others by way of Colonialism. In the same
breath, I hope we will acknowledge that our defence and justification of the
NON PROVISION of self-determination is both Wrong
and Hypocritical.
8: It matters little IF anyone amongst us thinks/believes/ considers himself
Bharatiya, Purtuguez or even Konkni....etc. The operative
Question is: What did the majority of people want? and Should we not have asked
them ?
jc
