*Subject : Wendell please help preserve Goas' peaceful fabric by not giving Zimmler publicity* I refer to the article in your Sunday magazine dated 29th June titled ' *Iniquitous Inquisition* ' wherein excerpts of the interview conducted by Wendell Rodrigues with Richard Zimmler were published. The Inquisition which is a sad part of the medieval ages was mainly used in Europe especially to curtail traitors and heretics who were undermining the rulers whose subjects were victims to the atrocities committed by the marauding armies of the Turks and Vandal conquerors especially after the Constantinople fiasco . The same methods were applied in every colony to contain rebellious attitude .
The inquisition in Goa if ever it was held was for a brief period to contain mainly collaborators and those collaborating with the British and Dutch forces who had their eye on Goa because of its strategic location on the Arabian Sea coast. Zimmlers' assumption that 300 temples were razed by the Portuguese is absurd given the fact that temples flourished even in main cities like Panjim ,and Margao during the height of the Portuguese Rule. If some of the people themselves embraced the new faith and decided to worship in churches has nothing to do with the inquisition. People even followed certain traditions and customs of old for sentimental reasons and didnt do away with their way of life completely .For example some people till today believe in the age old caste system , the communidade system is followed everywhere , celebration of certain feasts etc. Richard Zimmler who has never been to Goa and is trying to convert fiction to fact and he is trying to create a sensation and negative publicity so that his book will sell . If we go by his teachings then perhaps we will see mistakes committed by every race and country. For example the massacre of Red - Indians , men , women and children by the Mormons and Jews in the infamous Utah Valley ( Salt Lake City ) and in certain States of the US and the subsequent mass graves were wiped out of history by Richard Nixon to please the American Jewish community . The planned killing of innocent Palestinians by the Israelis ,etc are to be best forgotten if one has to move along. Can we generalise and condemn all the German citizens for the holocaust ? If we want peace we must forgive and move ahead. I appeal to Wendell not to give publicity to such elements like Zimmler who want to rake up unnecessary and useless historical facts or fictions as they will provide fodder to those elements just waiting to create rift in Goa on communal lines and disturb the once peaceful fabric of our society. We have to move ahead together to create a strong and united Goa. Viva Goa ! *Cyril P.D'Souza*
