http://www.GOANET.org
This month's Goanet operations sponsored by Mrs. Daisy Faleiro
If you would like to sponsor Goanet's operations contact:
Herman Carneiro - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Both Paulo Colaco Dias' and Valmiki Faleiro's posts on General Ramalho
Eanes and Dayanand Bandodkar respectively, make for interesting
reading and to fertile minds, interesting speculation.
What if there was no obstinate Salazar at Portugal's helm in the late
50s constantly refusing to let Goa become independent of both Portugal
and India. What if Nehru had stuck to his own own judgment and wisdom
and not succumbed to that of his prodigy Krishna Menon. In other
words, what would be the situation today if Goa were to follow it's
own path from the history of the time, independent of Lisbon and Delhi
instead of being liberated (or annexed, depending on one's view) by
India in 1961.
Imagine a Goan Elite of both Hindus and Christians governing Goa. They
would be primarily a land-owning lot. They would be strong
administrators and thinkers. There would be no law and order problem.
There would be good governance. There might even have been good
economic practice and foresight making Goa financially independent
whether by controlled exploitation of it's natural beauty through
international tourism or by any other means. Education might have been
promoted to an extent never seen during Portuguese rule.
But could such an island of bliss have survived in a sea of Indian
poverty, nationalism, confusion and a type of democracy not seen
anywhere else in the world?
The Goan governing elite would have been out of touch with the
aspirations of the common Goan people. They would have been too bound
by European thinking and way of life that would not be shared by the
vast majority. They would have an army system left over by the
Portuguese that would without Portuguese support, be fit only for
police duties. They would have to run an economy that would be
dependent on one or two resources and therefore be constantly
dependent on Indian or world support. In other words a Goa that would
not be economically viable. The country of Goa would have to depend on
India both morally and economically. It would become literally, the
whipping boy of Maharashtra whenever there was a problem in that
State. That would lead it to the willing support of Pakistan with whom
the Portuguese traditionally had good ties and that would have
exacerbated the existing problems. The United States may have toyed
with it for leverage but if it came to the crunch, would hand it over
to India in a heartbeat.
Can anybody paint a different scenario?
