Re: [Goanet] Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010
Dear Mr. Barve, You are obviously discussing the issue from ill-informed premises. None (repeat, NONE) of the Goan names mentioned in any of my four articles on the subject are of any Goan-origin defence officers in India's defence services who served the Portuguese administration prior to 1961 -- and then were absorbed in Indian services, as you seem to suggest. NONE of the names in the next two articles to follow will similarly be of Goans who served the Portuguese (though it wasn't a crime to serve in the colonial administration!) ALL names are of those brave officer rank men who served India, or call her Bharat or call her Hindustan. Whatever your personal choice. Instead of merely trying to search for cracks in what I wrote (and I can assure you I have taken maximum possible care to avoid errors), why don't you contribute positively -- you may know of some Goan names that I have missed so far. Tell me about them. But do remember that in the defence services, every officer regards himself/herself as Indian first, then Goan/Bengali/Punjabi/etc., then maybe Hindu/Muslim/Christian/Sikh/Parsi/etc. -- and last perhaps as a veg. or non-veg by diet and other predilections. Open your mindset with a wide-angle lens and please talk further. Thanks and regards, v - Original Message - From: SHRIKANT BARVE shri8...@yahoo.com To: goa...@goanet.org; goanet goanet@lists.goanet.org Cc: Valmiki Faleiro valmi...@gmail.com Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 10:35 PM Subject: Re: [Goanet] Of Portuguese Crosses,Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010 I may be totally wrong ...however there is every possibility when exceptional figure are presented. I feel that All the Goan officers serving for Portuguese may have joined the Indian Defense service after liberation (just like civil servant). Shrikant Vinayak Barve --- On Sun, 16/5/10, Valmiki Faleiro valmi...@gmail.com wrote: From: Valmiki Faleiro valmi...@gmail.com Subject: Re: Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010 To: SHRIKANT BARVE shri8...@yahoo.com Date: Sunday, 16 May, 2010, 8:35 PM Dear Mr. Barve, Will you kindly tell me who has given this interesting news -- and again and again -- before? I must be foolish to think I was attempting something like this for the first time... Will you kindly also disclose the rank/name of all other Goans (who you obviously imply I left out -- deliberately or otherwise) who served India as commissioned/ranked defence officers?? Will you also come to terms with the fact that I was on Indian defence officers of Goan origin, who are NOT recruited by way of recruitment drive in Goa -- but by an all-India competitive entrance exam for the NDA/IMA/etc? And finally, will you stop thinking that I am some walking encyclopaedia on defence officers of Goan origin? If you need to know the date of commissioning of any officer, you can jolly well search the official defence website www.bharatrakshak.com Or, if the shoe pinches, face facts, and keep your trap shut. Rgds, v - Original Message - From: SHRIKANT BARVE shri8...@yahoo.com To: goa...@goanet.org; goanet goanet@lists.goanet.org Cc: valmi...@gmail.com Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 3:07 PM Subject: Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010 My far-from-complete lists of Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature 286 names - Army 144, Navy 36 and IAF 106. Of the 286 Goans who helped defend the nation's borders and honour, 263 (or 92%) are the MGP's unpatriotic, anti-national Goan Catholics, who comprise 30% of the population. 65% of Goa's Hindu population, in all, accounts for 23 defence officers. This is an interesting news to be told again and again. In last few Defence recruitment drive in Goa passing percentage is single digit. I am also interested 'and if author could provide us' the date of joining of these 286 Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature. Shrikant Vinayak Barve
[Goanet] Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010
My far-from-complete lists of Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature 286 names - Army 144, Navy 36 and IAF 106. Of the 286 Goans who helped defend the nation's borders and honour, 263 (or 92%) are the MGP's unpatriotic, anti-national Goan Catholics, who comprise 30% of the population. 65% of Goa's Hindu population, in all, accounts for 23 defence officers. This is an interesting news to be told again and again. In last few Defence recruitment drive in Goa passing percentage is single digit. I am also interested 'and if author could provide us' the date of joining of these 286 Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature. Shrikant Vinayak Barve
Re: [Goanet] Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010
Will Mr. Barve kindly tell me who has given this interesting news -- and again and again -- before? I must be foolish to think I was attempting something like this for the first time... Will Mr. Barve kindly also disclose the rank/name of all other Goans (who he obviously implies I left out -- deliberately or otherwise) who served India as commissioned/ranked defence officers?? Will Mr. Barve also come to terms with the fact that I was on Indian defence officers of Goan origin, who are NOT recruited by way of recruitment drive in Goa -- but by an all-India competitive entrance exam for the NDA/IMA/etc? And finally, will Mr. Barve stop thinking that I am some walking encyclopaedia on defence officers of Goan origin? If he needs to know the date of commissioning of any officer, he can jolly well search the official defence website www.bharatrakshak.com Or, if the shoe pinches, face facts, and keep his trap shut. Rgds, v - Original Message - From: SHRIKANT BARVE shri8...@yahoo.com To: goa...@goanet.org; goanet goanet@lists.goanet.org Cc: valmi...@gmail.com Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 3:07 PM Subject: [Goanet] Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa),May 16, 2010 My far-from-complete lists of Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature 286 names - Army 144, Navy 36 and IAF 106. Of the 286 Goans who helped defend the nation's borders and honour, 263 (or 92%) are the MGP's unpatriotic, anti-national Goan Catholics, who comprise 30% of the population. 65% of Goa's Hindu population, in all, accounts for 23 defence officers. This is an interesting news to be told again and again. In last few Defence recruitment drive in Goa passing percentage is single digit. I am also interested 'and if author could provide us' the date of joining of these 286 Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature. Shrikant Vinayak Barve
Re: [Goanet] Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010
I may be totally wrong ...however there is every possibility when exceptional figure are presented. I feel that All the Goan officers serving for Portuguese may have joined the Indian Defense service after liberation (just like civil servant). Shrikant Vinayak Barve --- On Sun, 16/5/10, Valmiki Faleiro valmi...@gmail.com wrote: From: Valmiki Faleiro valmi...@gmail.com Subject: Re: Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010 To: SHRIKANT BARVE shri8...@yahoo.com Date: Sunday, 16 May, 2010, 8:35 PM Dear Mr. Barve, Will you kindly tell me who has given this interesting news -- and again and again -- before? I must be foolish to think I was attempting something like this for the first time... Will you kindly also disclose the rank/name of all other Goans (who you obviously imply I left out -- deliberately or otherwise) who served India as commissioned/ranked defence officers?? Will you also come to terms with the fact that I was on Indian defence officers of Goan origin, who are NOT recruited by way of recruitment drive in Goa -- but by an all-India competitive entrance exam for the NDA/IMA/etc? And finally, will you stop thinking that I am some walking encyclopaedia on defence officers of Goan origin? If you need to know the date of commissioning of any officer, you can jolly well search the official defence website www.bharatrakshak.com Or, if the shoe pinches, face facts, and keep your trap shut. Rgds, v - Original Message - From: SHRIKANT BARVE shri8...@yahoo.com To: goa...@goanet.org; goanet goanet@lists.goanet.org Cc: valmi...@gmail.com Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 3:07 PM Subject: Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010 My far-from-complete lists of Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature 286 names - Army 144, Navy 36 and IAF 106. Of the 286 Goans who helped defend the nation's borders and honour, 263 (or 92%) are the MGP's unpatriotic, anti-national Goan Catholics, who comprise 30% of the population. 65% of Goa's Hindu population, in all, accounts for 23 defence officers. This is an interesting news to be told again and again. In last few Defence recruitment drive in Goa passing percentage is single digit. I am also interested 'and if author could provide us' the date of joining of these 286 Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature. Shrikant Vinayak Barve
[Goanet] Of Portuguese Crosses, Indian Swords Goans.: HERALD(Goa), May 16, 2010
OF PORTUGUESE CROSSES, INDIAN SWORDS GOANS. === VALMIKI FALEIRO examines some aspects of Goa's contribution to the officer ranks of India's defence services, and unravels some offbeat patterns and snippets. === Many think the Portuguese came here with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other. They came with neither. They came for oriental silks-n-spices, and a hatred of Muslims who had occupied Portugal for five centuries, a bit barbarically at times, until 1238. Moors now controlled Asiatic trade with Europe. Then came Afonso de Albuquerque. Based in Cochin, he dreamt of total control of the sea-route between India and Europe. When Goan Hindus, repressed by Bijapur, invoked Albuquerque via Thimayya for deliverance, he changed course from a mission in West Asia and instead attacked the Bijapuri Muslims in Goa. Save a ban on sati, he pledged full local religious freedom. Envious compatriots, by intrigue at the royal court in Lisbon, had him deposed. The quest of control of Asian trade soon yielded to imperial ambitions. Enter the sword. Decades later, an ardent Guv won royal favour to the idea that faith of the king must be faith of his subjects. Enter the cross. Centuries later, that unlikely combination of Sword and Cross shows in a different Goan context. Such snippets surfaced when researching Goans in India's defence forces. But before that, a brief aside. No Goan Catholic my age would forget the MGP's mid- to late-1970s taunting tirade: Catholics are unpatriotic, anti-national, deport them to Portugal. Mental constipation, verbal diarrhea. Which of Goa's two major communities helped defend India more? My far-from-complete lists of Goan commissioned officers in India's armed forces feature 286 names - Army 144, Navy 36 and IAF 106. Of the 286 Goans who helped defend the nation's borders and honour, 263 (or 92%) are the MGP's unpatriotic, anti-national Goan Catholics, who comprise 30% of the population. 65% of Goa's Hindu population, in all, accounts for 23 defence officers. Where then were those MGP's impliedly patriotic, not-to-be-deported-to-Portugal Goan Hindu Generals? Radharao Gracias once publicly explained that in his earthy style: Sitting under signboards like Naik General Stores! May I borrow US-based Marcos and Jean Gomes Catao's little twist to Sir Winston Churchill's famous words, rarely in history has such a small community contributed such a large bevy of heroes to a nation. In this and the two parts to follow, we shall see how. Let's revert to the point. The story of two siblings - one serving in the defence forces, the other the Catholic Church, both often with rare distinction - is not rare. Every Goan would have heard of Siolim-origin John Lobo, the former Director of India's Intelligence Bureau and of the Central Bureau of Investigation. His much-revered brother was Bishop Ignatius Lobo, who passed away this February. The adage springs to mind, Ek put devak, dusro povak, tisro devcharak (one son for God, the 2nd for society/nation as a doctor, engineer, defence or police officer, the third, like my friend Radharao, possibly as a lawyer!) Lt Gen Francis T Dias of Velcao, between holding several key Indian Army posts, was the very first General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command. His brother, Ivan Cardinal Dias, rose to the No.3 position in the Vatican hierarchy - after the Pope and the Secretary of State, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, a position he still serves. Brig George Francis DeSouza of Saligao similarly held important posts in the Army. His brother was Archbishop Eugene D'Souza of Nagpur, later of Bhopal. Brig F. Reginald Campos' brother from Saligao was a Redemptorist priest, once a Parish Priest in Ambala. Maj Albert Francis Winington da Costa-Joshi, FRCS, from Saligao, was both in military and civil medical services. Of his sons, one is Brig Ian da Costa, another is Cmde Emile da Costa-Joshi. The third is Fr. Albert da Costa-Joshi, SJ. Col G Oscar Rebelo of Margao (ex-Curtorim) is brother of diocesan Vicar, Fr. Avinash Rebelo. Wg Cdr Raul do Menino de Jesus Oliveira Silva Rodrigues of Cavelossim, who retired much after flying Canberras in 5 SQN when in Agra in the late '60s, was youngest of ten siblings (five pairs). Eldest was late Fr. Bernardo Silva Rodrigues. Wg Cdr Aquinas (Aqui) Menezes from Pirna-Bardez is a serving officer. His eldest brother is the Redemptorist priest, Fr. Frederick Menezes. Jr. WO Noel Sequeira of Carmona served in the Army and later in the Goa Rajya Sainik Board. His brother is the diocesan priest, Fr. Nelson Sequeira. Lt John Fernandes of Candolim joined the Navy around 1939/40, served in WW-II, and left in the early 50s to join the Ministry of Defence in a civilian capacity. He was among 7/8 officers sent from Bombay to set up the Naval HQ in New Delhi (four in that group - including one Vasco Ferrao, a
