rui nuvo responding to Cornel da Costa (inter alia)
wrote:
1: Yes, I do belong to the social caste system in
which I happen to be a Brahmin.
2: My culture is Hindu. And I am a Christian.
3: Much of what you say I have heard on Goanent ad
nauseam eg Brahmins killing Dalits and raping their
women
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:24:44 -0400
From: J. Colaco jc [EMAIL PROTECTED]
May I suggest to all you good people that you keep
this caste nonsense out of the 2008 Convention in
Toronto?
From what I understand of Goa and our culture, these
international conventions are the last vestiges of
Goemkarponn left. The rest of Goa and Goan culture is
being wiped out. Please, let us do everything to
preserve our Goan culture - and not waste time on
useless and divisive issues. For one, Caste plays NO
major role in Goa today. Leave the Convention in
peace, please.
Mario observes:
I'm not going to presume to advize Kevin and Francis
et. al. what to include or exclude from their
convention, but c'mon, Jose, discussing caste is
nonsense, the issue is useless and divisive
Hardly, though I will agree with you that it may not
belong in such a convention depending on what its
mission is.
I don't know what you consider yourself, Jose, but you
sound like a REAL Bamon, with all due respect. Only
REAL Bamon's express irritation and impatience at
discussions about this caste nonsense and refer to
it as a useless and divisive issue.
I submit that ending any form of discrimination is
divisive to someone, but that doesn't make discussions
about ending it nonsense.
If your notion of preservation of our imaginary Goan
culture includes support for a continuation of the
diabolical caste system, then no, it is not a culture
that deserves to be continued as is.
Besides, hasn't Santosh illustrated with detailed
examples that there is no such identifiable Goan
culture that is shared by ALL Goans in real life?
All that those who identify with Goa have in common is
a Goan ancestry.
Jose wrote:
I submit that the practise of the Caste System makes
one a Hindu - It is definitely unChrisitian. ...as the
type of discrimination is contrary to the life and
teachings of Christ.
Mario responds:
So the practice of caste makes one a Hindu, hanh?
Does this mean that Charles Correia whom Rajdeep
Sardesai recently described as a PROUD Saraswat
Brahmin is really a Hindu? I'm sure that would come
as a shock to him.
Does it mean that the small handful of Goan Christians
on Goanet who express some or considerable irritation
with our calls to abolish this abomination because
they identify with a caste and use it in their
decisionmaking are all really Hindus?
No, they're not. They are Christians subscribing to
an obsolete system where those who consider themselves
to be from a higher caste apparently need a system
of social superiority for their own self-serving
benefit. Whatever its origins, the ONLY reasons for
its continuation is rank discrimination and an air of
assumed superiority.
We have seen some on Goanet express themselves in
favor of this diabolical system using subtle code,
like Goan identity, which apparently MUST be
preserved - along with the caste system of course.
We see our friend, Rui, who, to his credit, proclaims
his caste on his sleeve - and probably on his forehead
as well - put a new spin on it with this illogical
proclamation, My culture is Hindu. And I am a
Christian. I wonder what Christ or Pope Benny think
about this self-serving piece of sophistry.
There is no question that the Catholic Church in Goa
was complicit in continuing this particular aspect of
Hinduism for the most un-Christian of reasons,
perpetuating a false sense of superiority by some over
others and deliberately ignoring the most fundamental
teachings of Christ.
The Church could have easily stamped this out over the
last 450 years if they really wanted to.
Jose writes:
I must say that I believe that enough 'leveling' of
the playing field has taken place since 1947/1950. I
am opposed to any further reservations on the basis
of Caste / Tribe etc especially in the high tech and
highly specialised fields. walk in the park fields
Ok ...but no further. From now only Merit please.
Mario responds:
I agree that the playing field is leveling, but, as we
can see just from these discussions and the recent
honor killings in Haryana, it is not level enough.
Regarding reservations policies, while I understand
why they were instituted, they are fundamentally
flawed because they use current discrimination to
ostensibly fight past discrimination, making them a
win-lose situation depending on whose ox is being
gored. This policy gives admissions to many who are
unqualified and unable to meet the standards, leading
them to either drop out later because they cannot
cope, or graduate as sub-standard professionals.
The goal of a civilized society should be equality of
opportunity, not equality of outcomes. If the latter
is the goal it brings everyone down
