It would be interesting if Goans would comment on the article below by Sr. J.
Miranda. In past there were only armchair freedomfighters (Samir Kelekar) like
me and others who would comment and lament on the situation in Goa. But today
the story is different. Many Goan citizens such as Mr. Miranda have picked the
cudgels to save Goa from total destruction. Adv. Antonio Lobo is on a mission
for the same purpose. GSRP has also lent its voice, today the organization is
armed with young people who are ready to take on the fight. Goa Days are fast
approaching will the organizations in question discuss the Special Status issue.
BC
Are Goans short shrifted ?
Protection of Goa and Goans, their land, ethos, culture, identity and
language are undoubtedly issues that every true blooded Goan is not only
concerned but worried about, but has not been able to give expression to, in a
manner that would compel those in authority to act. Several politicians have,
on several occasions, raised the issue of special status for Goa, but only a
handful of them, like Shantaram Naik, Francis D’Souza, Reginaldo Lourenco and a
maybe a few others have been vocal, clear and sincere in conveying what Goans
actually want and urgently need and what they mean by this demand.
Goans gracefully accepted India’s sovereignty over Goa and never questioned it
despite the promises made by late Jawaharlal Nehru to Goans, including the
assurance that Goans would have the right to decide their own future, remaining
unfulfilled.
Unfortunately, however, Goans also remained silent spectators to the decisions
taken both by Portugal and India, on their behalf without having any mandate to
do so. It is interesting to note that while Portugal granted Independence to
all its colonies, except Macau, it did not feel necessary to consult Goans
prior to signing, in December 1974, a Treaty with India, “ on recognition of
India’s sovereignty over Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and related
matters”. Goa and Goans were sacrificed at the altar of Portugal’s longing to
free itself from isolation due to its faulty and intransigent policy on its
colonies and India’s anxiety in legalizing what till then was considered Goa’s
illegal occupation. Portugal not only denied us the right to autonomy, despite
persistent demands from certain quarters and the knowledge that a silent
majority was in its favour, but later compounded this sin by signing the 1974
agreement, without any
consultations with Goans or ensuring the safeguard of certain rights and
obligations, which would have protected us from the mess we are in today.
But all this is history now.
Lets us shed our tendency to indulge in blame game and find fault with everyone
else, except ourselves, on what is happening to us. Our deep and prolonged
slumber, lack of courage and absence of unity, tenacity and perseverance have
been the main causes for our present situation.
What is required from us now is to put our past behind, forget our differences,
particularly of caste, religion, language or script and unite for a greater
cause – the cause of our beautiful land and of our people. We owe it to our
ancestors to retain and to our descendants to save this earthly paradise from
destruction and ecological disaster and our people the ignominy of being
treated as second class citizens by none other than our own people. We have
rightly thrown one lot out. We will throw the other one too if Goans do not
have their way.
Time is running out for us.
We need to put Goa back on the tracks. We are not asking for much – just
protection of our land from sale to outsiders and controlled in- migration,
considering our fragile and limited infrastructure and resources. It is an
affront to our dignity and self- respect to see that Goa is up for sale and
Goans are being treated as aliens in their own land. With vultures walking in
with brief cases full of ill- gotten and unaccounted wealth, thanks to
Governments both at the Centre and in the States that thrive on this, honest
Goans cannot afford even a piece of land, leave alone a house to live in. The
previous Government, with sizeable number of Ministers and MLAs in real estate
and construction business, was averse to a law that would restrict sale of land
to outsiders.
But even Manohar Parrikar does not seem serious enough on this issue.
We heard him attentively recently, on the issue of Special Status, when in the
Assembly he roared that the Central Govt.
was taking from us more than what it was giving and that he would demand our
share and not ask for alms ( anv bhik magpa nam). Even when it came to
proposing a law prohibiting sale of agricultural land, he affirmed that only
agriculturists would be entitled to buy, without specifying whether it would be
restricted to goans. It is significant that except at Mathany’s funeral, when
he clearly asserted that he was committed to fulfilling his ideals, including
his dream of S