SCRAP FREEDOM FIGHTERS PENSION, 50 YEARS IS ENOUGH BY Dr . Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão

I am putting forth here many of the benefits Goa and Goans have had prior to the year 1961 and the contrast that Goa and Goans are facing post 1961. It is for the knowledge of those Goans who were either born post 1961 or were too small to comprehend things.

There was no Income taxed in Goa, so your earnings were all for yourself. There was no Land acquisition and if Government needed, it was bought at market rate. Goans were employed in all government departments, barring a handful of top posts which were manned by the Portuguese.

There were parochial schools free of charge in many villages, there were English schools run by priests and nuns, most of which still stand today. There were facilities for further studies in Lisbon. The Medical College at Panjim was the first one in Asia.

There was strict discipline, and any infringement of the law you were in prison (mind you the police personnel were Goans.); you could sleep at nights with windows open, you could leave your house open and go out for some time, your garden fruits or plantation would not be robbed; Goa was secure.

There were rare cases of robberies and murders. I recollect a Goan surgeon’s license was cancelled for life for operating under influence of alcohol and resulting in removal of kidney instead of appendicectomy.

There was a dress code when entering cities, one had to wear a shirt, (no roaming bare chest like the foreign tourists or ghantis of today); no spitting, no pan, no blowing your orifices in public. The cities were therefore clean.

There was no slavery except for the few negro slaves that were always with the colonial rulers/explorers like the British, Spanish, Portuguese, etc., who were workers on the ships, and some of whom were kept employed in Goa on land. A majority of these slaves are in the US. That is how negroes landed in the US. And here in Goa too a few who in later years became the butt of jokes named “Humpree Agustin”.  There were no deaths in police custody. There was sufficient food for all as agricultural land was fully utilised. Farming too was economical as there was no theft of farm animals and birds.

The Portuguese did not loot Goa and siphon the riches to Portugal.  Even the mortgaged gold and money from ‘Banco National Ultramarino’ were returned to Goa. I wonder what happened to the unclaimed gold? And I remember that on 18th December 1961, the Portuguese military told the neighbouring Goans to take away whatever they wanted from their barracks so that it does not fall into the hands of the Indians. Such was their affection towards Goans. And when Indian Military entered Goa on the 19th December, they found the barracks ransacked & empty, which infuriated them; and a military Order was passed that houses would be searched and people would be jailed. There were also rumours that the Indian military officers served food in “bispotes” which people hadn’t taken.

With all this, was there any reason for anyone to be discontent? Or was it just ideology, that this land is mine and who are these outsiders to govern?

What is happening today is exactly the opposite of the above. People should realize that they are being openly looted from every side. Human rights violation in all forms is prevailing. Many people are jailed on false complaints, a threat police themselves give. People are deprived of fresh air to breath in mining areas; citizens are killed almost every day on the roads and by reckless mining trucks. People are deprived of fresh and clean drinking water and unadulterated food to eat. With commercial hospitals sprouting in Goa another novel human rights violation is taking place. Patients stepping into them are falsely diagnosed as very serious and secluded in ICUs, family terrorised and money extorted, unnecessary angioplasties and coronary by-pass are performed.

Goa government is now preparing to celebrate 50 years of “Liberation”. We right minded people of Goa demand first to scrap the pension and other facilities like reservations in professional colleges, jobs, etc. given to the so called freedom fighters at the taxpayer’s expense. They are no longer underprivileged, 50 years of dole is more than sufficient.