GOANS MUST JUDGE GOOD FROM BAD by Jerry Fernandes - Saligao

Some people allege that Goans had no freedom and were treated like slaves during the colonial regime but at least during that period the properties of all our Goans were safe. Today, we have freedom and what not but our own elected people are auctioning Goa to the highest bidder. They are virtually selling almost everything in Goa including agricultural lands, ancestral homes through manipulations.

Now, what kind of freedom is this? In my personal opinion, if people are still praising the Portuguese in Goa then its only because they were practically wonderful administrators who treated this sacred land of ours like their very own. They use to protect Goa from neighboring invaders and in spite of being foreigners; they never went to sell our vast lands but on the contrary protected them by introducing various tough laws in Goa e. g. Communidades etc.

The best part about them was that they never allowed people from other states to illegally settle and to hijack Goa unlike our current so-called Indian rulers who only think of making a fast buck by selling Goa. Today, if Goa is regarded as the Number one tourist destination in the world we need to thank the Portuguese for it. Our Goan identity was preserved under the 450 years of Portuguese rule. Forget the distorted history of the Sangh Parivar on Inquisition; the Portuguese have done far more greater things for Goans then anyone else in Goa. In fact, these people introduced us to the game of football. We were exposed to the world of Western music. Similarly our distinct spicy cuisine was popularized by them. They have taught us to be a liberal-minded people and to respect the global culture of the world. I dont think the people who praise their former colonial rulers should be treated as anti-nationals but the people who support communalism and who divide their own citizens in the name of caste, creed and religion. They are the real anti-national people who are the real threat for this secular nation of ours.