BETWEEN NATIONALISMS: OPERATION VIJAY AS THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION
By
DALE LUIS MENEZES
A few weeks ago, while reviewing Suresh Kanekar’s autobiography (a large part
of which dealt with the author’s experience during Goa’s freedom struggle) I
had claimed that accounts and histories regarding Goa’s decolonization were
viewed through a sacral veneer of nationalism and were hagiographical in the
presentation of their narratives. However, I had also pointed out that
Kanekar’s memoir could be used to think afresh about Goa’s decolonization. I
shall continue to grapple with this theme in reviewing Shrikant Y. Ramani’s
Operation Vijay: The Ultimate Solution.
Ramani has attempted to give a blow-by-blow account of the Indian army’s action
in Goa. He says that he has used both Indian and Portuguese sources. Using such
multilingual sources is a requirement of methodology but the problem here is
that Ramani is not critical of his sources. In many places he has, as admitted
in the preface, “literally” reproduced entire documents or primary sources; one
sometimes has no clue where Ramani is presenting/discussing his arguments and
where he is reproducing his documentary source. The use of source material from
the Indian and Portuguese sides, it must be mentioned, does help the reader in
the corroboration of the events/incidents.
19 December, 1961 was a momentous event not only for Goans but also for the
international community led by the United Nations. A brief survey of the
academic writings that were produced before and after 1961 (including an
interesting essay by Oliveira Salazar, the dictator of Portugal) suggests that
the debate has been either condemning/delegitimizing India’s claims or
justifying them. But a critical engagement with these ideas and arguments is
missing in the book. What we get is a rather simplistic, nationalist
understanding from the perspective of the Indian nation-state. 50 years later,
we need much more critical and probing reflection where, apart from the great
leaders, statesmen, gallant soldiers and international politics, ordinary men
and women – people who had/have diverse responses and experiences to the armed
action of the Indian troops also find place in our histories. Ramani in his
entire 420 pages does not even consider the insecurities and uncertainties fel
t by the population, but everywhere we are told that the “civilian population”
gave a “welcome [to] the Indian troops…”
Another reason why Ramani’s leaning towards a nationalist paradigm of history
is inadequate is how he understands and perceives the history of Goa. Firstly,
Ramani glosses over the native contribution in the establishment of Portuguese
rule in Goa, such as the help rendered by a certain Mhall Pai Vernekar. The
Estado sustained for so long only because it was propped up time and again by
native elites as well as the once wealthy casado (married Portuguese settlers)
population. Thus, to trace a long, linear, monolithic trajectory wherein
“…Albuquerque reconquered it [Goa from Adil Shah] on 25th November 1510 where
they remained till the time of Independence of India and thereafter upto 19th
December 1961when they were…forced to leave Indian soil forever” is found to be
problematic. We also need to recognize that the New Conquests were incorporated
in the Estado between 1763 and 1819. “Old Goa,” he says, “is a city of ruins
but some relics of Portuguese architect
ure dating back to 16-17th centuries still survive.” A simple trip to Old Goa
would prove otherwise.
Ramani recognizes that “[t]oday India and Portugal…are trying to forget the
dark pages in their historical past and learn lessons from history.” But
relying entirely on statist sources and histories and not engaging critically
with them, Ramani himself has, unwittingly or not, fallen into the trap of
‘forgetting history’. What on the other hand he ‘remembers’ is the same old
textbook-narratives that we are all familiar with and thus, nothing new is
contributed by the book.
Ramani asserts that “this is not a book of historical fiction”; yet the
footnotes, citations and bibliography do not conform to scholarly conventions
which would make one question the veracity of what is written and the scholarly
rigor put into the writing of the book.
By trying to demonstrate that a nationalist paradigm of history is inadequate,
my aim is not to delegitimize the sacrifices that many made for decolonization.
On the contrary, what I am trying to put across is that to reduce the history
of Goa’s decolonization solely to an episode of the action of the Indian army
is a great disservice to the people of Goa and even Portugal, who at that time,
let’s not forget, were under Salazar’s dictatorship. We need to recognize that
although colonial relations have ended (with India’s armed action); the
coloniality of relations still exists, as Fr. Victor Ferrao has demonstrated in
his Being a Goan Christian.
Ramani’s book moves between the narratives of two nationalisms: Indian on one
side and Portuguese on the other. But between these nationalisms, it appears
that a lot of questions and stories have been glossed over. Rather than a
history that is repetitive and cliché-ridden, we need to seriously think about
bringing in fresh questions and perspectives.
Comments/feedback @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
END OF ARTICLE
Operation Vijay: The Ultimate Solution by Shrikant Y. Ramani, 2nd Edn. (Panjim:
Broadway Publishing House), 2012; pp. xviii+422, Rs. 495/- [ISBN: 9789380837376]
Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
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Push thought to extremes
-Louis Althusser
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